Welcome back to another installment of Ethnic Eating Adventures, in which we travel far and wide to discover the hidden culinary delights of New York City. Today, we're heading to Jackson Heights for some Tibetan delights at Himalayan Yak. more ›

Indians in New York, upset with Governor Paterson's attempt to tax cigarettes on Indian reservation, held protests and rallies yesterday. The Post reports that they are on...the "warpath: "Dozens of Native Americans -- including one brandishing a sign showing Paterson, a handgun and the words "I'm Hunting Indians. You See Any?" -- rallied on the side of the Thruway yesterday to protest the governor's plan to tax cigarettes on Indian reservations." more ›

Tamarind, Avtar Walia’s hit Indian restaurant in the Flatiron district, has just opened a capacious and elegantly understated location in Tribeca, designed by Wid Chapman. As you can see here, the two-level, 175-seat space is flooded with natural light, thanks to almost 100 feet of windows throughout the restaurant. We really like the look of this place—all the Brazilian teak ("sustainable"!) and sunshine makes us want to wander in barefoot off the beach and order a giant mango lassi. (We'll have to settle for strolling in off the Hudson River park.) In case you're wondering, the lovely flowers you see on every table are Vanda orchids from Thailand. more ›

The NY Times looks at recent census data that suggests an interesting trend in Chinese, Korean and Indian families in America: "If the first child was a girl, it was more likely that a second child would be a boy... If the first two children were girls, it was even more likely that a third child would be male. Demographers say the statistical deviation among Asian-American families is significant, and they believe it reflects not only a preference for male children, but a growing tendency for these families to embrace sex-selection techniques, like in vitro fertilization and sperm sorting, or abortion." CUNY's Joyce Moy says even younger immigrants have held onto the idea that "Families depend on the male child for support," while Dr. Norbert Gleicher, director of a "fertility and sex-selection clinic in New York and Chicago, said that from his experience, people were more inclined to want female children, except for Asians and Middle Easterners." more ›

Restaurateur Rohini Dey holds a Ph.D. in economics, formerly managed foreign investment policy at the World Bank, and owns hit Indian-Latin fusion restaurant Vermilion in Chicago. But despite her supposed business savvy, she just couldn't stop herself from going through with opening her glamorous, 12,000-square-foot New York City restaurant "At Vermilion" last November (photos). Obviously not the best timing, and today the Times checks in on the place, which was deemed a major "flop" by the Village Voice. Dey tells the Times, "From Day 1, we knew that this was a bad time to open, because every investor told us that. I persisted. Why? Well, because fools rush in." And lose their shirts. The place needs $6 million to $10 million a year to stay afloat, which means they have to start serving twice as many diners as they're getting now. No sweat, right? more ›

The Chestnut Bar: Carroll Gardens neighborhood restaurant Chestnut has expanded into the space next door with a “cozy, rustic bar.” We're told it’s got exposed brick, tin ceilings, a U-shaped bar, tall snack tables made of recycled Chestnut, and a collection of antique "chestnuts" (bottles like these, from which the restaurant got its original name). Chef and co-owner Daniel Eardley is all about the farm-to-table, sustainable agriculture thing, and his $30 three-course prix fixe menu (served Tuesdays and Wednesdays) will be available in the new bar space. There’s also a separate small plates menu for the bar only, which includes such items as Sardines on Toast with Niagra Falls grapes and cured olives, and Long Island Rabbit wrapped in smoked bacon, fresh ricotta, and swiss chard. 271 Smith Street, (718) 243-0049. more ›

On Monday Mayor Bloomberg announced a lawsuit against the Poospatuck Indian reservation on Long Island, in an attempt to stop the untaxed sale of 11.3 million cartons of cigarettes on the reservation per year. Today the Times has a great, long article about how the smokes travel from the wholesaler through the reservation and to the streets of New York, where "$5 Men" like "Paco" stand on corners and whisper, "Newports. Loosies. Shorts. Longs." Reporters at the reservation describe a booming business, where cigarette sales are made on a bustling main street and even out of residential trailers. One reporter saw a sign for Justin’s Smokes "on a tree outside a residential trailer. An occupant of the trailer ordered the reporter off the property, telling her it was not a cigarette shop. 'That’s just a sign on a tree,' the woman yelled." more ›

James (pictured), in Prospect Heights, specializes in farm-fresh French-American cuisine. It's said that chef James Calvert once catered a nightmarish photo shoot for the demanding Britney Spears, who dismissed his buffet and demanded BLTs. She then sent those back, insisting upon BLTs sans mayo. Irrevocably scarred, Calvert went on to open what Frank Bruni at the Times describes as "the kind of modest, warm refuge produced by a chef who wants to simplify things, to personalize things, to work on a scale that doesn’t require or invite the meddling of too many outsiders...It’s also an example of how quietly sophisticated the food at restaurants fashioned as affordable neighborhood bistros has become. No bigger, brasher restaurant around town served me an heirloom tomato salad this summer that I enjoyed any more than one at James." more ›

That mayor Bloomberg has an answer for everything. Cabbies want a fuel surcharge to help cover gas costs? Let them drive hybrids. The MTA is promising another fare increase? Let the smokers pay for it. Hizzoner said yesterday that the cost of subway and bus rides won’t have to go up much at all if the state collects taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations. "That just alone would replace one of those fare increases," Bloomberg told reporters, insisting that the tobacco revenue could plug a $700 million hole in the MTA’s budget. more ›

Biryani is classified as any number of spiced South Asian rice dishes, heavily spiced, and layered with meat—often chicken, lamb, or beef. The biryani at Sangam, a new hole in the wall spot on Bleecker Street just east of 6th Avenue, receives what owner Ishrat Ansari calls “an authentic royal haute cuisine preparation.” The description is definitely merited when it comes to his wife Rafat’s homegrown recipe, which is served all vegetable, with chicken, and—on special nights—with lamb. Her biryani is intricately flavored with freshly ground herbs and spices, bursting with heat and the taste of spices that have long simmered and melted into one another. more ›

This week the Times’s Frank Bruni hands down his verdict on Commerce (pictured), the trendy new inhabitant of 1911 West Village carriage house formerly occupied by Blue Mill Tavern, among others. Overall, he deems the new tenant fussy and cacophonous; chef Harold Moore’s “polyglot menu and intricately wrought dishes let him strut his stuff in a way that a more archetypal bill of fare might not. In doing so he creates a rankling dissonance, his dishes beseeching a closeness of attention that the frenzied atmosphere doesn’t easily permit.” more ›

Tandoori chicken, marinated in yogurt and spices, is notably tender and arrives on a bed of sizzling onions with a wedge of lemon at its side. The murg korma – a cashew nut curry with broiled chicken – was creamy with hints of sweetness and spice. All entrees come with a side of dal, a refreshing side of cucumber and yogurt raita, and basmati rice garnished with fresh peas. more ›