Restaurants Chefs Chef Floyd Cardoz's Guide to Mumbai Where to eat in Mumbai, India. By North End Grill. He tells F&W how to pick a perfect holiday food gift and more. What’s your favorite holiday food gift? I love giving something that’s a little more practical, like brandied or bourbon cherries, spice mixes, things that people are going to use, that won’t sit on a shelf. Or alcohol that people are going to drink. So if someone likes Scotch, make sure to give them a Scotch gift, not a liqueur they’d never want. For spice mixes I do rubs, like mustard and coriander and pepper. I keep the packaging simple: I just put it in a bag and give a recipe. I also like to give a bacon-of-the-month subscription, because who doesn’t love bacon? What’s your favorite holiday cocktail? I love Champagne with something—a little tinted liqueur, or something light, like pomegranate seeds, they look nice and festive. A tamarind margarita also goes down very easily. I make that year-round, because people love it so much. I put in tamarind paste, triple sec or Cointreau, a good tequila, and a splash of orange juice and fresh lime juice. Can you share a great entertaining tip? As soon as people come in, have food ready to go. It could be as simple as a terrine or platter of charcuterie, anything so it’s easy to eat and can sit out for a while without going bad. What are 3 don’t-miss places to visit in New York City? If I have guests coming to the city, I always take them down Fifth Avenue to see the lights and the window displays, particularly the Lord & Taylor showroom windows. In Midtown, Fifth Avenue has such a festive, happy, it’s-Christmas feeling to it. If my guests have kids, I always take them to FAO Schwarz. It’s a madhouse, but it’s also something you’ve got to do if you come to New York. I always love going to the Union Square Greenmarket at the holidays. They have the wreaths, the dried flowers and all the foods that you want to serve, everything you associate with the season. What’s the one dish you’re most known for? At the holidays, for my family every year I make a Goan pork stew called sorpatel, with steamed rice cakes called sanna, which my mom and my grandmother and great-grandmother used to always have at Christmas. The stew is made from pork belly with a little bit of liver, vinegar, chiles and a lot of garlic, clove and cinnamon. The meat is smoked and fried and stewed. It takes three days. It’s not easy but it’s absolutely delicious. The steamed rice cakes are slightly fermented—you soak the rice overnight, then grind the rice, then let it sit open overnight so it kind of ferments, then you add a little fresh coconut so it has a slight sweetness. It’s not as sour as a sourdough, but it has a slight sourness to it. What’s your favorite cookbook of all time? I don’t read too many cookbooks, but there is one book that I absolutely love, called 50 Great Curries of India, by Camellia Panjabi. The 50 curries are just so different, but so authentic, too. She gave me a copy maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I just respect her tremendously, and I’ve been suggesting it to everybody ever since. What’s one technique everyone should know? Basting meat. I use a spoon, not a basting bulb. It helps give the meat the flavors of whatever you’re cooking it with, like garlic or rosemary. And it helps give the meat color. I generally suggest people baste as many times as they possibly can. Even if you’re just cooking a steak, I’d say baste it every 4 to 5 minutes if you can." tabindex="0" data-inline-tooltip="true"> Floyd Cardoz Floyd Cardoz F&W Star Chef » See All F&W Chef Superstars Long-known for his spectacularly creative Indian cooking at Tabla, Floyd Cardoz is now the chef at New York City’s North End Grill. He tells F&W how to pick a perfect holiday food gift and more. What’s your favorite holiday food gift? I love giving something that’s a little more practical, like brandied or bourbon cherries, spice mixes, things that people are going to use, that won’t sit on a shelf. Or alcohol that people are going to drink. So if someone likes Scotch, make sure to give them a Scotch gift, not a liqueur they’d never want. For spice mixes I do rubs, like mustard and coriander and pepper. I keep the packaging simple: I just put it in a bag and give a recipe. I also like to give a bacon-of-the-month subscription, because who doesn’t love bacon? What’s your favorite holiday cocktail? I love Champagne with something—a little tinted liqueur, or something light, like pomegranate seeds, they look nice and festive. A tamarind margarita also goes down very easily. I make that year-round, because people love it so much. I put in tamarind paste, triple sec or Cointreau, a good tequila, and a splash of orange juice and fresh lime juice. Can you share a great entertaining tip? As soon as people come in, have food ready to go. It could be as simple as a terrine or platter of charcuterie, anything so it’s easy to eat and can sit out for a while without going bad. What are 3 don’t-miss places to visit in New York City? If I have guests coming to the city, I always take them down Fifth Avenue to see the lights and the window displays, particularly the Lord & Taylor showroom windows. In Midtown, Fifth Avenue has such a festive, happy, it’s-Christmas feeling to it. If my guests have kids, I always take them to FAO Schwarz. It’s a madhouse, but it’s also something you’ve got to do if you come to New York. I always love going to the Union Square Greenmarket at the holidays. They have the wreaths, the dried flowers and all the foods that you want to serve, everything you associate with the season. What’s the one dish you’re most known for? At the holidays, for my family every year I make a Goan pork stew called sorpatel, with steamed rice cakes called sanna, which my mom and my grandmother and great-grandmother used to always have at Christmas. The stew is made from pork belly with a little bit of liver, vinegar, chiles and a lot of garlic, clove and cinnamon. The meat is smoked and fried and stewed. It takes three days. It’s not easy but it’s absolutely delicious. The steamed rice cakes are slightly fermented—you soak the rice overnight, then grind the rice, then let it sit open overnight so it kind of ferments, then you add a little fresh coconut so it has a slight sweetness. It’s not as sour as a sourdough, but it has a slight sourness to it. What’s your favorite cookbook of all time? I don’t read too many cookbooks, but there is one book that I absolutely love, called 50 Great Curries of India, by Camellia Panjabi. The 50 curries are just so different, but so authentic, too. She gave me a copy maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I just respect her tremendously, and I’ve been suggesting it to everybody ever since. What’s one technique everyone should know? Basting meat. I use a spoon, not a basting bulb. It helps give the meat the flavors of whatever you’re cooking it with, like garlic or rosemary. And it helps give the meat color. I generally suggest people baste as many times as they possibly can. Even if you’re just cooking a steak, I’d say baste it every 4 to 5 minutes if you can. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 24, 2017 Photo: © Nicole Franzen Star chef and Top Chef Masters winner Floyd Cardoz opened The Bombay Canteen in Mumbai in early 2015. For the last year or two he’s been going to Mumbai every few months to spend time at the restaurant and to travel around India for food inspiration. His new cookbook, Floyd Cardoz: Flavorwalla, will be available April 5th. Later this year he'll open a new restaurant in NYC, Paowalla, which takes its name from bread sellers in Goa. For too long, the dining options in Mumbai were either very formal or street food, without a lot in between. Lots of new restaurants have opened over the last year or two, however. Many are traditional, regionally focused Indian spots, but there are also some great Chinese places, as well as some modernist Indian, and European-inspired restaurants as well. These are some of my go-tos. Fantastic Chickpea Fritter Sandwich: Ashok Vada Pav © Floyd Cardoz Vada pao or vada pav (pronounced wuh-daah pow) is a popular street food dish. It’s a deep fried potato fritter or dumpling served with chutneys on a soft roll. At Ashok the dumplings are made with chickpea flour, and they’re topped with crispy chura (deep fried pressed rice). It’s absolutely to die for. Kashinath Dhuru Marg, Dadar, Mumbai, Maharashtra Incredible Rice Pancake: Swati Snacks © Floyd Cardoz Swati Snacks is really inspiring. All of the snacks are vegetarian. There are always long lines, but it’s worth it. I love going there for inspiration for menus. The panki chatni, a rice pancake steamed in a banana leaf, is incredible. Opp. Bhatia Hospital, Tardeo Mutton Stew: Britannia Café in Ballard Estate © Floyd Cardoz One of the last Parsi cafes left in south Bombay, it’s a family restaurant opened by Iranian immigrants and now run by the third generation. There are two things I particularly love here: the mutton or goat berry pulaos and the dhansak (mutton in lentil gravy). Berry pulaos with meat is a traditional Iranian dish. The owners import the barberries in the dish from Iran, but they make it spicier here, more like an Indian biryani. Wakefield House, 11 Sprott Road © Floyd Cardoz Superb Seafood: Jai Hind Lunch © Floyd Cardoz Jai Hind Lunch Home is one of my favorite seafood spots. I especially love the fish curries and the whole fish crusted with semolina. The neer dosa (thin rice crepes) are great too. Hill Road, Bandra © Floyd Cardoz Killer Fish Curry: Hotel Highway Gomantak © Floyd Cardoz Another favorite seafood spot is Hotel Highway Gomantak. It's great for lunch. The fish curries are really good and the fish is limited to whatever they pick up from the market in the morning. It’s run by a husband and wife team; the wife does the cooking every morning. 44/2179 Pranav Co-op. Housing Society, Gandhi Nagar, Highway Service Road, Bandra © Floyd Cardoz Playful Pork Vindaloo Tacos: The Bombay Canteen Dining out can be very expensive in India, so we wanted to do something affordable at Bombay Canteen. It’s not pure Indian. We combine regional dishes and adapt classics. For instance, we do a playful version of vindaloo, a well-known Goan dish, called desi tacos. Instead of the classic roti that often accompanies meat dishes, we serve the pork on thepla flatbread like a taco. Our menu changes frequently, which also isn’t very common here. Unit 1, Process House, Kamala Mills, S.B. Road, Lower Parel Fantastic Indian Small Plates: Hotel Deluxe © Floyd Cardoz This is another classic spot. I get the vegetarian thali and then supplement that with fish or chicken. It’s really spicy and served on a banana leaf. You eat everything with your hands. 28, SBS Road, Pitha Street, Near Hitkari House, Fort © Floyd Cardoz Great East-Meets-West Dishes: The Table Chef Alex Sanchez, who cooked in some of the top kitchens in the U.S., makes European-American food adapted for India. The menu changes frequently. Ground floor, Kalapesi Trust Building, Opp. Dhanraj Mahal, Apollo Bunder Marg, Colaba Exellent Chinese-Inflected Food: One Street Over This spot is from two chefs who both used to cook in Chicago. It’s Asian-inflected, kind of American Chinese, and they’re doing really interesting food and good cocktails. 809, 35th Road, Khar West Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit