Nameless Non-Tiffin from Tiffin’s Munish Narula Coming Soon

But he still won't tell us who the chef is or what's on the menu

Last week, Tiffin mastermind Munish Narula invited us to a meet-and-greet with architect Winka Dubbeldam at the site of his upcoming, as-yet-unnamed Indian restaurant at 777 South Broad Street, which we first mentioned back in June. We told you then it would be a different concept than Tiffin (liquor licensed, no delivery, “finer” dining), but what more did we glean from Narula’s preview party?

While there were renderings galore, sadly, the space was still just a concrete shell — and by concrete shell, we mean there was literally nothing there except us, some hotel pans full of (delicious) Tiffin food and a PowerPoint presentation of Dubbeldam’s renderings projected on a wall. While the renderings were intriguing, Narula was short on details and long on caginess: he’s hired a chef, but he won’t say who the chef is (the chef is still employed elsewhere). Said chef is not Indian and, intriguingly, has never cooked Indian food before. Narula told the Restaurant Club he chose a non-Indian chef because he wants him to have an open mind and not a set way of preparing Indian fare.

As for the decor, if things work out the way Dubbeldam intends, this could be a really unusual, amazing space: a centrally located open kitchen with tandoor ovens encased in glass, so they’re visible to the diners. The room will be carved into intimate dining areas — some with communal tables — divided by screens; she also has plans to encase the exterior of the restaurant in mesh, in order to filter the light — and, no doubt, to block out some of the less-than-picturesque scenery along South Broad. In fact, the only aspect of the restaurant we’re not especially excited about: the unisex bathroom (no matter how cool it might look). Like Hot Wave plates, we’ve seen enough of this trend to last us for a long while — and who ever thought this was a sexy idea in the first place? The Restaurant Club is rarely a prude, but prefers to primp in the company of her own gender.

Narula says he’s hoping for a February opening.

Previously: Tiffin’s Munish Narula Goes South with a New Indian Concept [Restaurant Club]
Read More: Let Them Eat Korma: How restaurant revolutionary Munish Narula sparked Philly’s Indian explosion [Philly Mag]