Laut Chef’s Malaysian/Indonesian Cafe Wau Arrives on the Higher West Facet

Restaurateur and chef Salil Mehta is increasing his Southeast Asian restaurant footprint in NYC. Soon after opening strike places to eat Laut, around Union Sq., and Laut Singapura, in Gramercy Park, Mehta is gearing up to open Wau, a new Higher West Facet establishment, at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 81st Avenue, on Thursday, September 9. This time all-around he’s concentrating on showcasing kampung-style and consolation foods dishes from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Diners common with Mehta’s dining places will locate many similarities on the menu with dishes like the Malaysian curry and rice dish nasi lemak, the Indonesian fried rice dish nasi goreng, and the Malaysian-Indian stuffed savory pancake murtabak. But unlike the much more purple meat and seafood aim of the other establishments, Wau will spotlight chicken in its dishes, as nicely as additional vegan and vegetarian fare.

New additions incorporate a vegan calamari geared up employing younger coconut meat that is fried tempura-design along with bell peppers and chiles. Then there’s the nasi biryani, a Malaysian regional version of the rice dish that’s geared up with cranberries and cashew nuts, amid other substances. Mehta has also created a Thai tiramisu for the cafe where ladyfinger biscuits are dipped in Thai tea and then layered with a combination of coconut milk and coconut flakes, among the other ingredients.

Protechnyc/Wau

Protechnyc/Wau

Protechnyc/Wau

Protechnyc/Wau

“I would describe this as back again to principles Southeast Asian ease and comfort foodstuff,” Mehta tells Eater. “It feels like simplicity has been missing in latest periods, and we really don’t want to concentrate on overcomplicated stuff appropriate now.”

There’s also an exciting cocktail menu created by Colin Stevens, who earlier worked at spots like the Normal Hotel’s Increase Boom Room. Assume drinks like the wau-lah, a painkiller-like cocktail, a creation of coconut product, pandan, and palm sugar which is shaken with each other with orange and pineapple juice. “It will come out awesome and frothy,” states Mehta. “It is kind of like a Singaporean edition of a piña colada.” Then there is the white espresso martini, an espresso martini-like consume, but a person made with sweet Malaysian white coffee.

Wau seats 45 persons within at whole capacity at diner-fashion booths and scaled-down tables for two. There’s bar seating for an added 10 people today, and Mehta has also established an expansive outdoor seating spot for 65 individuals that is meant to resemble hawker marketplaces in Malaysia and Singapore.

Wau is the hottest effort and hard work for Mehta, a prolific NYC restaurateur and chef, who aside from Laut and Laut Singapura, has also been guiding the Flatiron district Shanghainese cafe Baodega, and the now-shuttered Indian-Chinese establishment Chinese Club. Following the opening of Laut in 2010, the establishment became of just one the first Malaysian eating places to get a Michelin star. Mehta has numerous a lot more jobs in the pipeline together with a new cocktail bar and likely a second location for Laut, but mentioned it’s too early to share details for that at current. For now he’s focussed on welcoming diners to Wau.

“I truly feel like Southeast Asian cuisine is a really great representation of meals across Asia with all its various influences,” suggests Mehta. “I want to to carry on demonstrating how remarkable meals from sites like Malaysia and Singapore is.” Wau is open each day from 12 to 10 p.m.

Protechnyc/Wau

Protechnyc/Wau