As Seen on TV

Bungalow proves that a celebrity chef can still draw a crowd.

- MATTHEW SCHNEIER

At 4:58 p.m. on a recent Thursday, a group had gathered along First Avenue. In passing, one might have assumed they were mourners at the R. G. Ortiz funeral home, whose black awning dominates the block, except that — contra Ortiz — they were exclusively South Asian: ammis in saris, tourists corralling sulky teenagers, a pair of beautiful 20-something women in unseasonable suits and Hermès sandals live-streaming into an iPhone. “He’s hosted MasterChef India for seven consecutive seasons,” one of them said to whomever was watching. The “he” is Vikas Khanna of the ready smile and the Byronic curl of thick black hair, who at that moment was snipping a fistful of chamomile from a sidewalk planter. At five on the dot, the doors were opened and everyone poured in.

Bungalow, Khanna’s new restaurant in collaboration with the restaurateur Jimmy Rizvi, takes its name and its inspiration from India’s Raj-era country clubs. It is, accordingly, a fairly Brahmin experience. A flotilla of waiters patrol the large dining room, offering serving suggestions in Bungalow-embroidered uniforms, two or three to the table; it wouldn’t have surprised me to have been offered a robe or a pool towel.