The menu at It Happened in New York, the two month-old casual-dining restaurant in Bandra, reads like a tourist’s checklist of foods to have while vacationing in what is arguably the culinary capital of America. It’s a compilation of New York’s rich, multi-ethnic street and fast food such as hot dogs, burgers, bagels, grilled cheese sandwiches, New England lobster rolls, banh mi sandwiches, tacos, fried chicken and waffles, smores and cheesecake. There’s also a token ‘clean food’ section with salads and grain-filled bowls to appease vegans and gluten-shirkers.
Manashwi and Aastha Gupta, a couple previously in the carpet export business, are the New York fans running the spot. Their 2,700 square feet restaurant has replaced a three-storey outpost of the Jean Claude Biguine chain of hair salons and spas. Because they’ve retained JCB’s glass facade, you don’t quite get a sense that the place has been repurposed into a contemporary dining venue. It Happened In New York is a smartly appointed restaurant barring an out-of-place show marble fireplace on the ground floor. It has indigo walls, couches upholstered in red leather, patterned carpets and a cheerful yellow bar on the first floor, which is where we ate during our recent lunch visit. Striking though the use of colour is, the overall decor paints a pretty confusing picture of the Big Apple.
Our meal was more coherent, from the fun amuse bouche of cream cheese and jalapeno-filled rainbow bagels to the delightful finale of smores with a delicious twist. The servers are likely to urge you to try their craft tipples and order a portion or two of their flavoured popcorn. We left the drinks for another time but were glad we got the popcorn. The fragrant truffle and rosemary popcorn (Rs300), flecked with the fresh and dry herb, was irresistibly buttery with more of rosemary on the nose than truffle and worth an encore.
Next on this culinary tour, we consumed a plate of chicken wings inspired by Mission Chinese Food, an Asian-American institution with a Sichuan bent. The chicken ‘spwings’ (Rs480) as It Happened In New York calls them was a hot heap of wings blanketed in a tangy and pungent chilli sauce. The pile of well-cooked meat with crisp skin was quickly reduced to bones and was followed by the (thankfully) mild but outstanding pulled cumin jackfruit taco (Rs300). The soft taco was made using an earthy combination of black rice and corn flour and resembled a partially eclipsed moon. The taco enclosed sour cream, a crunchy tangle of red cabbage, fresh salsa and fleshy chunks of cumin-flavoured savoury jackfruit that proved a great substitute for meat.
Grain Story (Rs580), a meal in a bowl, was a healthy interlude in between the starters and entrees. Guilt-free food is rarely as appetising as this signature dish, presented as frightfully austere-looking rows of boiled black beans, black eyed beans, moong bean, quinoa and curried cauliflower quinoa concealing a layer of buttered Brussels sprouts and shredded carrot and beetroot. There was surprisingly no dressing over this nutritious assembly but once the colourful ingredients were tossed with the delicious garnish of pesto-drizzled bocconcini and crispy kale soaked in honey, it packed a flavourful punch.
The large plates section puts the spotlight on carbs. We picked the spicy pulled pork banh mi (Rs700) in which the baguette brimmed with mildly sweet, smoked pulled pork that deserves to be a dish by itself without the distraction of the bread and the salad packed in the sandwich. We neglected the baguette, but devoured the glossy and springy brioche in the chicken burger (Rs560). Cheddar and Sriracha mayonnaise made up the tasty glue between two firm and juicy chicken patties.
There was a practiced hand behind the cacio e pepe (Rs800), a Roman cheese, pepper and pasta dish. Powdered with ground black pepper, the optimally chewy, skinny spaghetti was uniformly coated with a smooth parmesan sauce. The garnish of shrimp covered in melted cheddar and salty tomato sauce was superfluous. From the list of sweet endings such as the classic New York cheesecake, key lime pie and a Jack Daniel’s flavoured pot of chocolate mousse, we picked the smores (Rs470) that proved a fitting end to this all-American indulgence. Theirs is a grown-up version of the popular campfire treat in which roasted marshmallows and four flatbread-thin sugar cookies were gussied up with tart cranberries, rhubarb compote, fresh blackberries and chocolate chips. Sweet, sour and crunchy, it was an improvement on the traditional dessert sandwich.
Get: Truffle and rosemary popcorn (Rs300), pulled cumin jackfruit taco (Rs300), Grain Story (Rs580); chicken burger (Rs560), smores (Rs470).
This review was conducted anonymously. It is our policy to wait at least a week after an establishment has opened before we review it.
Prices excludes taxes and a service charge of 10 per cent.
It Happened in New York, 68 Chapel Road, opposite Starbucks, near Lilavati Hospital, Bandra (West). Tel: 022 2644 6161. Open daily, from noon to 1am. Get directions here.