How Three Chefs are Turning Heritage Into Celebrated Cuisine

This story was originally published on FSR. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily FS Insider.

At the heart of Musaafer’s menu are select ingredients and spice blends, specifically sourced from families in India who have been using them for generations.

Mithu Malik’s restaurant Musaafer—Urdu for “traveler”—takes its patrons on an unfiltered journey through India, inspired by executive chef Mayank Istwal’s 100-day journey through India’s states and territories. Along the way, Istwal didn’t just collect recipes—he cooked them in the very homes where they’d been passed down for generations, learning from cooks whose families had made these dishes long before him. 

When Malik opened this restaurant alongside her husband in Houston, it quickly earned recognition as the first Indian restaurant with a female owner in Texas to earn a Michelin star. Following the success of the Houston location, they opened another in New York City. 

At the heart of Musaafer’s menu, interwoven with the stories and faces of those Istwal met on his cultural trek through India, are the select ingredients and spice blends, specifically sourced from families in India who have been using them for generations. 

“Musaafer seeks to elevate Indian cuisine and take it away from the general concept of a big bowl of curry and rice with naan. Istwal’s journey is integral to our menu design, which rotates three times a year, because we’re constantly taking from the bank of recipes we built and brainstorming how to use modern techniques and artistic presentations,” Malik says. 

Take the laal maas, for example: a smoked goat meat dish smothered in mathania chili, freeze-dried garlic, and millet brittle. It hails from the northwestern state of Rajasthan, where chefs once accompanied kings on hunts into the jungle. The dish was traditionally made from game meat, but after hunting was banned in the 1970s, it’s now made from goats. 

Then there’s the masala papad appetizer, a modern interpretation of matthi, a deep-fried pastry traditionally eaten with pickled mango, also known as achar. Musaafer’s version is slightly thinner and crispier, with spice-cured tuna, avocado, and an achar emulsion. 

This is just the beginning of elevated Indian cuisine’s representation in the United States. Malik sees a bright future ahead—not just for Musaafer, but for a culture ready to experience the breadth and magic of Indian cuisine. 

For Eunji Lee, a South Korean pastry chef classically trained in Paris, it was a dream come true to combine her French training with Korean ingredients as executive pastry chef of Jungsik, the three-Michelin-star modern Korean restaurant in New York—and the first Korean restaurant in the U.S. to earn that distinction. 

Today, she owns her own pastry boutique in New York City, Lysée, whose menu combines three cultures—French, Korean, and the city itself. There’s the traditional Korean influence, like the matcha floating island dessert with Uji matcha and Yuja sorbet; the French, with madeleines made from passionfruit cream, passionfruit glaze and a roasted coconut crumble; and the classic New York marble pound cake, with a chocolate caramel glaze. 

Her favorite dessert reminds her of childhood—a cake made from Korean toasted brown rice mousse, caramel, pralines, and a pecan sable sourced from Georgia. The idea came to her from a childhood memory of her grandma, who lived in the countryside and farmed rice. She can remember the aroma of brown rice being cooked on the stove, and it sticks with her until this day. 

“I try to tell my story through my dishes, starting with the Korean ingredients and culture I grew up with, the French techniques that I learned, and who I am now, which is a New Yorker,” Lee says. “Dessert is its own language, and I want people to experience it in a deeper and more meaningful way.” 

Like Lee, Ochi Latjuba Vongerichten represents her dual culture through the New York City restaurants she owns with her husband and chef, Cedric Vongerichten. These include Wayan, a modern French Indonesian restaurant, and Ma.dé, an intimate concept specializing in Padang-style dining—one of Indonesia’s most iconic regional cuisines. Ma.dé, meaning “second born,” is a deeper, more personal exploration of Vongerichten’s roots in Jakarta, where she was born. 

“Growing up in Jakarta, food was always at the center of everything: family celebrations, everyday life. Those memories inspire me every day,” Vongerichten says. “I want our guests to experience the real flavors of Indonesia while making them feel comfortable trying something new.” 

Inspired by West Sumatra and the spirit of communal abundance, dishes are served family-style and all at once, traditionally eaten with the hands. The menu is built around three main components—gulai (curry), lado (chili pepper), and bareh (rice)—and often features coconut milk and spicy chili. 

Dishes include fried chicken smothered in a sweet chili sambal; butterfish glazed in calamansi and lime, served with coconut salem rice; Asian pear salad; baked razor clams with sambal butter and coconut crumbs; and yellowtail king sashimi paired with coconut, makrut lime, and rhubarb. 

Padang cuisine is bold, full of spices, and meant to be shared—it’s what Vongerichten loves most. Many specialty ingredients are sourced from Indonesian farmers. What they can’t get from Indonesia, they source from local farmers in New York. But the soul of the dish never changes, and the goal is to inspire guests to learn more about Indonesian culture and hospitality. 

Wayan, the couple’s first-born concept, presents Indonesian cuisine with a modern French twist. The menu includes bold satays, with options ranging from chickpea to scallop, chicken, lamb, and shrimp. A host of small plates are served, from the tamarind citrus salad to escargot rendang served with toasted brioche, garlic-herb butter, and lime.   

There’s the roasted duck, a cornerstone of classic French cuisine, but the Wayan way is served with calamansi gulai (often called Indonesian curry), Asian pear, and cashew nuts—perfectly encapsulating the fusion of cultures.  

With Vongerichten’s restaurants among the only Indonesian concepts to receive recognition in the U.S. Michelin Guide, she shares Malik’s sentiment: The future is bright for Indonesian cuisine. 

“It is a huge honor, and it is a recognition for Indonesian cuisine as a whole. Indonesia has one of the richest food cultures in the world, but it’s still underrated,” Vongerichten says. “I hope this encourages more people to discover it and inspires more Indonesian chefs to share their stories with the world.” 

The post How Three Chefs are Turning Heritage Into Celebrated Cuisine appeared first on FSR magazine.