A lavish, 148-seat California-Indian restaurant will open in Menlo Park Jan. 15. Eylan — which means “proclamation” in Hindi — will specialize in live fire cooking and regional Indian specialties.
Leading the restaurant are business partners Ayesha Thapar and Chef Srijith Gopinathan, the team behind Ettan in Palo Alto, Copra in San Francisco and Little Blue Door in Los Altos. The focus at this location will be its wood grill, serving up an array of fire-licked proteins alongside traditional breads from regions throughout India.
Look for small plates, such as taro root chaat with winter vegetables and cured hamachi with a roasted red pepper sauce with lime and whipped masala buttermilk. Highlighted mains include pomegranate chicken kebab, served with lime vinaigrette, and a whole sea bream grilled in a spiced scallion crust and served with coconut and fish bone broth and nine-grain kitchari. Indian breads are also on offer, including two types of mutabar, one filled with sweet potatoes and the other with Dungeness crab.
Dessert highlights include a masala chai “sundae” featuring toasted ghee cake, whipped bourbon milk, cardamom-soaked cherries and a spiced crumble.
The libations menu includes an extensive wine list, craft cocktails and mocktails, such as Weak in the Knees, a milk punch with spiced tamarind syrup, lemon, demerara syrup and Pathfinder Amaro. Cocktails include a Bazaar Paloma, featuring mezcal, tamarind, grapefruit and warm spices.
Extra effort was put into developing the bar program’s low and no-ABV options, says bar director Christopher Longoria. “We know that guests can taste the difference when their beverage is crafted with care, and the same should be true regardless of whether they are choosing to drink alcohol.”
The interior of the restaurant glows with earthy, warm colors, greenery and geometric accents. It also has a 50-seat private dining room. Located in a new Stanford University-owned development called The Villa in Menlo Park, it is part of a 35,000-square-foot, three-level luxury shopping complex that includes retail shops with high-end jewelry and watches via Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry and boutique offerings from H. Moser & Cie, Ulysse Nardin, Buben & Zörweg, Greubel Forsey and MB&F LAB.
Details: Open from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday beginning Jan. 15 at 500 El Camino Real, Menlo Park; eylanrestaurant.com.