• Lassi

  28 Greenwich Ave., 212-675-2688

  It’s not that you can’t eat Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez’s fresh-tasting, vividly seasoned Indian food at her tiny Greenwich Village curry canteen. But with only five counter stools—and an ever-expanding, exceedingly loyal clientele—the place was built for heavy-duty takeout. And it’s the kind of food that travels exceptionally well: long-cooked chickpea stews; tender morsels of chicken in a rich and earthy paste of ground almonds, pistachios, and cashews; pungent braised greens with roasted cauliflower. Parathas, the griddled flat breads studded with add-ins like minced goat or daikon radish, are neatly folded, wrapped, and packed with containers of raita with chickpea-flour balls. The house drink, yogurt lassis in sublimely refreshing flavors like cardamom and coffee, are packed to travel, too—but they never seem to make it the whole way home.

From the 2006 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine