Restaurant trends in New York City don’t last long, but restaurant-in-residence dining is starting to gain traction. With this relatively new restaurant concept, dining spots offer seasoned chefs a platform to serve their culinary creations to a new audience, the way a museum will feature rotating artists for several weeks or months. Like Resident and Mastercard’s Priceless, a rotating, notable chef takes over the kitchen until the next one.

While restaurant-in-residence dining experiences in NYC are having a breakthrough, you can thank Lexus for spearheading this trend in 2018 with the opening of Intersect By Lexus.

Intersect By Lexus is located in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, offering a cafe, bar, lounge, two gallery spaces and the main restaurant, which is helmed by executive chef Nick Martinez. Intersect By Lexus works in collaboration with Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality, which owns and manages Michelin and James Beard-awarded restaurants, ensuring diners a quality, destination-dining experience.

From now until June 1, 2020, Intersect by Lexus is featuring Hussain Shahzad, executive chef of celebrated O Pedro in Mumbai, India, which serves elevated and innovate Goan cuisine.

Goan cuisine is rare in America, in that many U.S. restaurants don’t serve this regional cuisine from India, which is heavy handed in Portuguese influences and coastal flavors. Shahzad has managed to elevate traditional Goan dishes at O Pedro with forward thinking and contemporary techniques. 

Portuguese influence makes Shahzad’s Goan dishes unique

Goa was colonized by the Portuguese in 1510, so the state has been heavily influenced by Portuguese culture, and you can find it in the food, which makes Goan cuisine incredibly unique and independent from traditional Indian cuisine.

Some traditional techniques in Goan food include smoking meats, drying fish, wood-firing poee (rather than naan), and utilizing chorizo and coconut. At Intersect By Lexus, you can expect dishes that embrace these Goan staples—but with Shahzad’s creative twists—like sourdough poee with “balchow butter,” chorizo-braised octopus, Goan-striped bass curry and “canned” sardines.

Shahzad is inspired by popular Goan restaurants

There’s a handful of elevated, stand-out restaurants in Goa, and Shahzad is a big fan of some institutions that have put Goan food on the map. Gunpowder is a hotspot, gracing “best restaurants in Goa” lists by major outlets (from Conde Nast Traveller to Vogue India), known primarily for its curries. Spice Goa in a random, off-the-radar location is known for its fish curries, prawns and homemade masala, and it’s a favorite for Shahzad. Shahzad is also a fan of Nostalgia, one of the longest-running top restaurants in Goa set in an al fresco, boho-eclectic space and famous for its meat and vegetarian dishes. 

Before I continue to the Shahzad’s menu at Intersect By Lexus, click this link or banner below to get the best airfare to NYC. Booking Buddy scours the top booking engines to get the cheapest flight, and it’s definitely worth it (they basically do all the work for you).

Take a look at the full menu offered at Intersect By Lexus

O Pedro 

at INTERSECT by LEXUS

2020

COCKTAILS

Pedro’s Gin & Tonic

Mr. Fernandez’s Fancy Drink

Vasco Sour

Not A Bloody Mary

Meri Tai

BREAD

Sourdough Poee with ‘Balchow’ Butter

QUARTER PLATES

Charred Pumpkin Pâté

‘Canned’ Sardines

Lamb ‘Guacamole’

HALF PLATES

Lotus Root Chilli Fry

Purple Potato & Kohlrabi ‘Dangar’

Seafood Tower 

Prawn ‘Balchow’

 Crispy Puffer Fish 

Alaskan King Crab ‘Kismur’

Chorizo Braised Octopus

Quail ‘Piri-Piri’

Choriz Chili Taco

Veal Tongue Carpaccio

Roasted Bone Marrow 

FULL PLATES

Sun-dried Green Pea Curry ‘Watana Rassa’

Goan Striped Bass Curry ‘Sheet Kodi’

Whole Red Snapper ‘Rechado’

Pork Neck ‘Assado’

Grilled Rib Eye ‘Jeere-Meere’

 Duck ‘Xacutti’

DESSERTS

Lisboa Pastel de Nata

Crêpe Cake 

Portuguese Doughnuts ‘Sonhos’

Kokum Sorbet ‘Sundae’

O Pedro is Intersect by Lexus’ fourth restaurant-in-residence since opening in 2018, following Frenchie (Paris, London) by executive chef Gregory Marchand; 040 (Chile) by executive chef Sergio Barroso (and ranked among the 50 Best Restaurants in the World); and Mishiguene (Argentina) by executive chef Tomas Kalika. 

Click here to make a reservation.

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