A new, high-end French-Indian fusion restaurant, IndeBlue, just opened in Washington, D.C. with two tandoori ovens, a wine bar and a lounge. The chef, Vikram Garg, was formerly the head chef at the Leela Kempinski Palace in Bangalore.

The style sounds fusion rather than the Indo-French cooking of Pondicherry, as exemplified by London’s La Porte des Indes. Quick, we need a food scout from the lowland swamp. DCist went and made me even hungrier:

Coldren told us in October that Garg is a master at “controlling spices” and the menu marries the best of French and Indian cuisine. Some examples: Petite Provencal naan with sundried tomato chutney; wild mushroom dosa… with bleu cheese gratin with white truffle oil; scallops scented with cumin on a bed of braised chicory; and veal-stuffed gnocchi served with chanterelles and infused with a fenugreek-chardonnay sauce.

More from the WaPo’s Tom Sietsema (any relation to the Village Voice food critic?):

One quiet thrill follows a request for saffron-and-cardamom-flavored ice cream. A waiter shows up at the table with a potato ricer filled with the cold stuff; a powerful squeeze of the ricer’s handles pushes it through dozens of tiny holes, creating a plateful of creamy noodles.

It’s definitely not a traditional restaurant — beef samosas, anyone?

It was perhaps one of most lavish non-political parties Washington has seen in quite some time… at least one woman, painted as a forest nymph, walked about the place in A Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque fashion.

Of the dishes, the beef samosa was the most interesting. Since using beef is traditionally prohibited in Indian cuisine, the combination tasted rather novel… we only had a chance to sample the lychee and mango martinis. Both were worth the wait…

The Undacova Experiment had dinner there:

There’s a lounge adjacent to the bar that is simply stunning.  The decor is rich in reds and oranges and much of it is tactile.  It’s a little retro-modern in its decor… If you hit the bar on the way over, get a Spanky.  Great drink — not sweet, but tart with crushed fresh raspberries.  REALLY tasty. 

D.C. apparently still has a Manhattan inferiority complex:

Afterwards we wine and dined the ladies at the super swanky IndeBleu. Walking in there you feel like you have been transported out of DC and into some Manhattan or London hot spot.

Some diner comments:

The food was not as Indian as I expected. More like modern American/French with Indian spices… [T]he design is amazing. Like nothing else in DC. They clearly spent LOTS of $ on the decor… The lounge area is especially unique with warm colors (browns, reds and oranges and curves all over).

The food tended to be bit heavy and busy for my taste…

I would feel a bit better if I didn’t even know that ballet had played a part in servers’ training or that a table rotated. I can’t help but feel this is going to be less about food and more about performance…

The space is phenomenal. I have a sneaking suspicion that the large red room on the second floor (with the fireplace) will be one of the more sought after seats in DC come the official opening…

v. curious about “swinging C-shaped couches on the main floor.” Hmmm. Hmmm. Interesting…

The best Indian/Fusian/Interpretative that I have ever had is at the one star Zaika in London. Four dinners, each one superb. I have not found anything even remotely similar in America, let alone elsewhere in London.

So is D.C., in fact, simply copying Manhattan?

Danny Meyer realized the upward arc of a hot trend possibility and Tabla opened in what, 1998-99? At least 4 other attempts at modern, creative Western-leaning Indian-driven restaurants in NYC opened afterward, with some very talented chefs exploring various degrees of “fusion,” Mantra emulated this and opened in Boston in 2001. It’s still an open debate how successful this “fusion” has been…