Just in time for the long holiday weekend comes Brick Lane, the first independent restaurant by chef Sanjay Rawat, formerly of Kahani at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, a landmark wedding destination in the South Asian diasporic community. Rawat’s modern Indian restaurant debuts in the Arts District on Friday, May 22, as Southern California’s latest compelling entrant for reimagined regional Indian fare.
Rawat became a dominant presence at Kahani and at Irvine’s celebrated Indian restaurant Clay Oven. Orange County and Los Angeles County remain home to two of California’s largest Indian communities, with more than 160,000 people between them. Rawat’s reputation in Orange County picked up tremendously after landing at the Ritz-Carlton
in 2022, where he became an in-demand chef for weddings, Diwali celebrations, and other Indian events and festivals. The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel property hosts between 30 and 40 percent of Indian wedding ceremonies in the region.
At Brick Lane (named after East London’s iconic street known for its art and curry houses), Rawat partnered with couple and first-time restaurateurs Rishma Shariff and Sachin Nayyar, an immigration attorney and the chief executive officer of tech company Saviynt, respectively. Rawat had room to approach opening a restaurant with an expansive vision, using a charcoal grill, wood-fired tandoor oven, and blending California ingredients with traditional and regional Indian cuisine. “I am big on adapting things,” says Rawat. “Being an immigrant from India, then Malaysia, then Bermuda for work. In California, it’s been a lot of adapting culture, people, and flavor profiles wherever I go.”
Brick Lane’s business approach has familiar dishes, but unexpected arcs appear throughout. A departure from classic preparations, Brick Lane’s butter chicken gets delicately smoked with applewood. A kulcha flatbread arrives with soft brie and gooseberry chutney. Heat emanates from the halloumi cheese paneer and slow-cooked lamb neck laal maas curry. Watch a server cut open the biryani’s bread topping for a dramatic rice reveal, while tandoori prawn gets wrapped in naan and served with a curry leaf raita. Rawat also showcases four types of bread: a sourdough naan; garlic naan; paratha roti; and a spongy, leavened Parmesan khamiri. Desserts include a frozen yogurt chaat that features sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors.
Horacio Cortez (formerly of Hotel Oceana’s La Monique in Santa Monica) leads the cocktail program, for which he leaned into South Asian flavors with drinks like the jaggery Old Fashioned with whiskey, a vanilla and cacao-infused rum, rye, jaggery, and bitters. Prominently used in Southeast Asia, jaggery is an unrefined sugar made from sugarcane juice or palm sap. The international wine list has been curated by Rustic Canyon Family’s wine director, Kathryn Coker.
Brick Lane seats 150 diners in an expansive dining room and patio in the former Brera and short-lived Flor y Solera space, which closed in 2024. As for the building, it’s historic. The trio wanted to preserve the structure as much as possible: high ceilings with corrugated metal remain, as well as its brick walls and steel windows. A semi-private dining room sits toward the rear of the restaurant, while an open kitchen frames the room and South Asian artists like Ragini Prasad line the walls.
Rawat ultimately hopes to make an impact, one that just might mirror the successes of Downtown’s Baar Baar, Beverly Hills’ longtime Spice Affair, and Fitoor in Santa Monica. “I always saw myself being in LA and opening something here to reach more people. I just want to do some good and unique stuff that people will appreciate,” he says.
Starting May 22, Brick Lane will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at 1331 E. Sixth Street, Arts District, CA, 90021. Resy will handle reservations.
