Tabla's Floyd Cardoz
Photo: courtesy of Tabla
New York City's Tabla gets “Braised and Brew-tiful” on March 3, when chef Floyd Cardoz will prepare a three-course, beer-paired menu at a special Zagat Presents dinner (space is still available; call 212-889-0667 to reserve). The chef spoke with us about what attendees can look forward to – and clarifies the rumors about a Tabla offshoot.
Zagat Buzz: First off, congratulations on being announced as a semifinalist for the James Beard Award nominations. What would it mean to you to win the Best Chef award?
Floyd Cardoz: I’ve been nominated five times before and haven’t got it, but if I did, it would mean a lot. It would mean recognition for Indian cuisine, which hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. It would bring more focus on what we do here. With Slumdog Millionaire winning all those Oscars, it’s brought the focus back to India and I hope it continues.
ZB: The event is focused on braised dishes. Is there anything you're serving that you’re especially excited about?
FC: There are few things. One is new – I tried it out a few weeks ago and I was so excited with the way it came out. It’s the first course, a braised – and I’m using the term loosely – fennel salad. The salad is braised in bacon fat. I’m very excited about it because I think the flavors of bacon and braising go together very well. The second course is the braised striped bass. Braising fish in India is very common but not very many other cultures braise fish. The last course is a braised oxtail, which has been on our menu every year since we opened.
ZB: There’s an educational component to the event. Will you be speaking about braising in general, or will attendees actually learn how to make some of the dishes?
FC: I’m going to give some information on braising, and might give some recipes too. Braising is a very misunderstood cooking technique. If it’s used right you can take the most inexpensive cuts of meat – in this economy that helps! – and make something extraordinary.
ZB: Speaking of the economy, are you making any changes at Tabla during these tough times?
FC: We have reduced our prix fixe from $64 to $59. As far as the menu upstairs, I’m being very creative in trying to keep things on the menu without supplemental charges…And of course we’ve always done prix fixe at lunch – we’re doing a $24 and a $29 prix fixe, which we’ve continued from Restaurant Week. Lastly, we’ve started offering items from the upstairs menu at the Bread Bar.
ZB: The other main component of the dinner is beer. What was your approach in picking brews?
FC: We are still narrowing down our choices. We have a great selection of beers. There’s a misconception that you need to have Indian beer with Indian food, and what we found is that there are great microbrews all over the country that work with our food.
ZB: We read you were opening an offshoot of Tabla – anything more you can say about it?
FC: I was misquoted on that. We have spoken about it in the company over the years, but nothing is set in stone yet. In this business you always keep your eyes open for something. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, and I’m not saying it isn’t going to happen.