Diwan

Entirely different from the rarified meals I've been eating in the last few weeks, today saw a visit to the superficially modest Diwan Indian restaurant in Midtown. I say modest because of a merely 14 dollar buffet - but with a quality that belied the price and a pleasant well apholstered setting, I think the modesty here is only skin deep.

No, I don't normally like buffets. I eat too much - the food is both bad and cold; you don't get any sense of the individual dishes. But Diwan is one of the best buffets I've ever been to, in part because of the rapid turnover inherent in a weekday New York lunch. The fragrant basmati rice (saffron-less, unsurprisingly) was hot and entirely fresh, the curries changed completely every few minutes, and a chef was on hand constantly producing top quality dhosas on a small portable griddle(lentil flour pancakes usually filled with more lentils and potatoes). When you add to that the quality of the food, I think Diwan is a great bargain. The paneer was excellent in a cream and tomato based curry, as was the boneless chicken. There was a flavorful saag spinach curry available, as well as fresh, hot, tandoori chicken. The naan bread delivered to your table was also obviously fresh - and if you couldn't tell from the taste you could certainly confirm your suspicions looking through the window framing the buffet into the open kitchen. And as for dessert, this is rarely a strength of an indian restaurant. But Diwan's large bowl of cream and rice pudding, flavored gently with lemon and perhaps a tinge of jasmin (and it should have had more) was a terrific, cool, finish to a fiery meal. For going out with friends, or for a charity lunch if your firm offers such a thing, don't hesitate - Diwan is an excellent choice.

In yesterday's New York Times, Mark Bittman says the following:

"There was a time when the appearance of the first ripe tomatoes would have inspired me to make the southern Italian sauce of raw tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil. These days, I turn to a Mexican-style salsa fresca: tomatoes, white onion, chili and loads of cilantro and lime. The differences in the ingredient lists are minimal, the preparation is identical, and each result is linked to its parent cuisine.

The Mexican version is lighter and brighter, I think, and seems a tad more versatile (the Italian salsa is used primarily on pasta). Both stretch the definition of sauce. Once, you would have called these preparations salads: a sauce was cooked, a sauce was smooth, a sauce was usually complicated. Fortunately, Americans' horizons have expanded, and we routinely throw fresh things like this together in 10 minutes".

Of course, I disagree. I believe that the sugo crudo I mention in my essay The Menu of a Harried Student is much superior to using fresh tomatoes in a Mexican salsa. But that might be because I'm terribly obsessed with good mozarella, and will take any opportunity to stuff it into a dish. Still, what I would say is that sugo crudo is a sauce, and salsa a sort of salad, or condiment. And that's without taking anything away from good salsa.