This May, Rahul Khanna and Kabir Suri of Azure Hospitality - one of India’s most successful restaurant groups - will launch their first UK venture on Mortimer Street in Fitzrovia.
Inspired by India’s diverse culinary heritage, the ground floor restaurant, Pali Hill, will offer an eclectic menu of regional sharing plates. Meanwhile, Bandra Bhai will be a lively underground cocktail bar, inspired by the illicit hangouts of India’s smuggling era.
The name Pali Hill comes from one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Mumbai; an area particularly well known for the apartment ‘building societies’ that appear all over the country. These building societies see old residential blocks filled with people from all over the Indian subcontinent.
As a result, their kitchens are always a melting pot of different regional flavours and culinary traditions, with residents often sending dishes to other flats for neighbours to share. This idea of a diverse food culture, with sharing and community at its heart, will be reflected in the atmosphere, interior design and menus at Pali Hill.
Tying the diverse flavours of India together will be the large grill that takes centre stage in Pali Hill’s open kitchen. Designed by Head Chef Avinash Shashidhara, the menu will include seasonally changing small plates such as Poori sagu with spring peas and broad beans and Salad of banana blossom, black chickpeas, fresh coconut and lime.
There will also be large sharing dishes such as Steamed Parsi-style sea bream with coriander, mint and green chilli and Coombe Farm kid goat pulao with Merinda tomato and yoghurt raita. Dishes from the grill will include Razor clams with kokum juice and fresh coriander and Grilled Middle White pork with sweet tamarind, crushed black pepper, bay and fennel.
The menu will also feature lesser-known gluten-free flatbreads made using rice, jowar and ragi flour as well as regional classics, chaats, home-style dals, fried fish and slow cooked meats.
Designed by Luke Ridge (previously The Ivy Club and Dandelyan), the drinks list will transform tales of India into contemporary cocktails. For example, The Don has been inspired by the Bollywood movie character’s love of whisky and spice, and the Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy honours the king of Indian disco in a drink with tropical flavours of coconut-washed rum and melon.