Earth NYC (CLOSED)

Hemant Phul spent the first 14 years of his life in Bombay before moving to New York. Now he and his wife, Bhavana, put an Indian spin on every dish, cocktail, table and chair at Earth NYC. They brought in Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra to style the servers’ uniforms and the bi-level interior, which features 132 candles mounted on a 30-foot wall on one side and a long, elegant staircase on the other. The menu includes a drink called the vodka Pani Puri, which combines spirit-infused water and tiny hollow, fried balls of crispy dough.