Mehtaphor
Duane Street Hotel, New York City

Chef Jehangir Mehta, whom you may remember from season two of The Next Iron Chef, is no stranger to whipping up big flavors in close quarters. After honing his technique at Jean Georges and Mercer Kitchen in New York City, Mehta opened Graffiti, which has a scant 50 square feet of kitchen space and just 18 seats. Mehtaphor, the chef's 45-seat venture in Tribeca's Duane Street Hotel, is decidedly larger, but it's still the kind of place where you'll be getting to know your neighbors. All the better, we think, to help you decide between the banana-leaf cod with coriander chutney and onion-chickpea fritters, the onion-seed shrimp kebabs on green-papaya raita, or the vegetarian burger with garlic fries and chipotle mayonnaise. Like Mehta, the hotel seemingly bends the laws of physics (or at least of NYC real estate): Despite the building's slender profile, the 45 minimalist guest rooms (blond wood furniture, white duvets, and floor-to-ceiling windows) measure a minimum of 250 square feet—larger than the average Manhattan hotel room.

Mehtaphor
Duane Street Hotel
130 Duane Street
New York City, New York
Tel: 212 542 9440

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