September 14, 2007

Sha Na Naan

Ishq Opens

Gandhi (as played by Ben Kingsley). Tamarind (in a nifty spice set you never use). Gauzy tunics (great, until they run in the wash).

So your concepts of India have nothing to do with reality.

Sham and Kavita Kamlani will bring you up to speed with their restaurant, Ishq, which opens today. Translated as “love,” Ishq covers north and east India — and adds influences from Persia, China, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, and England — to its dishes.

Vocabulary you’ll pick up includes: tandoor, a clay oven for cooking meats, seafood, and bread; chapati, a crisp lentil bread; naan, a soft flatbread; and curry, a tantalizing blend of exotic spices infusing dishes like chicken tikka masala.

Sit outside in the courtyard or along Ocean Drive, or in the dining room, which includes a fourteen-person community sharing table, gold interior (really, it’s pretty), carved marble slabs, and a bar inlaid with semiprecious stones.

What’s not to ishq about the place?

Ishq, 530 Ocean Drive (305-532-4747).