Food and Drink Review

Smørrebrød—the open-faced Danish sandwiches—arrive on the New York sub scene with this modernist cafe. House-made rye is topped with ingredients like beef tartare or chicken salad and baked root vegetables. Drinkers can throw back a shot of homemade aquavit to go with the Northern European fare. The minimalist 45-seat spot channels Scandinavian cool with white oak floors and chairs by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen. 

Spice is at the heart of Indian cuisine, at Aabhar we strive to overlay one carefully-selected spice over another, to create a rich, delicious texture in our food. At Aahbar we serve mainly North Indian food, which is not necessarily hot but is well spiced.

When an ambitious restaurant opens on fringe territory in New York, critics and buzz prospectors have a collective conniption. We trip over ourselves to declare a neighborhood an up-and-comer—Bed-Stuy, Harlem, Long Island City—fanning down our excitement like a pack of overheated Scarlett O’Haras. That’s the tragic thing about a great chef planting a flag on virgin turf: The neighborhood story tends to overshadow the culinary one.