She's Got a Ticket to RideEven though Raji Jallepalli-Reiss, Memphis's acclaimed Indian fusionist, has yet to renounce her hometown for permanent residence here, we expect to start seeing a lot of her. As executive chef(in transit) at Tamarind, she'll supervise a team of cooks and oversee a regional, idiosyncratic menu of Calcutta fisherman's stew, grilled venison chops, and roasted quail with tamarind-fig sauce and Hyderabad biriani. Formerly a consultant at surya, Jallepalli-Reiss was lured back into commuting by Tamarind owner Avtar Walia (pictured above, at right, with Jallepalli-Reiss, and his nephew and general manager, Gary), a partner at uptown's enduring Dawat. Like its posh precursor, Tamarind has a glass-walled kitchen equipped with tandoor ovens, but the design is more whimsical, with a passageway evoking an Indian village street leading to a skylit "town square" dinning room.(41-43 East 22nd Street; 212.674.7400) |