Bombay Velvet in Reston Will Show Off Regional Indian Cuisine With Global Influences | Eater DC

"Opening this month at 12100 Sunset Hills Road, Bombay Velvet will be a fine-dining Indian restaurant with velvet booths and a menu that showcases recipes from five regions of India—north, south, east, west, and coastal—while explicitly reflecting the culinary impact of foreign powers including the Mughals, Turks, Persians, Afghans, French, Portuguese, Armenians, and the British. Examples on the menu include smoky pulled chicken and corn chaat; lobster malai curry; and a Delhi gourmet butter chicken steak, each plated elegantly to pick up the cuisine’s colors. Chef Rajiv Chopra, a New Delhi native who has opened three Punjabi By Nature restaurants across Northern Virginia since 2010 and who also operates an Indian desserts store called Evergreen Sweets, is already looking for additional locations and hopes to open a Bombay Velvet in downtown D.C. by 2020. Cocktails will focus on homemade bitters, infused spirits, and Indian herbs and spices—examples include the Backwaters (coconut water, jiggery, cumin spice, and pineapple blended with dark rum) and the Thandai Colada (rose-infused vodka, almond milk, Thandai mix, fresh cream, pistachio slivers, dry rose petals, and cardamom pearls)—and the beverage program will feature wines, spirits, and beers imported from India; the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week." - Tierney Plumb