Following closely on the heels of opening his Worthington spot Joya’s Cafe, chef Avishar Barua debuts his latest restaurant Agni this week! Named for the Hindu god of fire, Agni is centered around live-fire cooking, which means lots of smoking, grilling, and otherwise fun with fire.
Agni takes up residence in the former South High Street space of Ambrose & Eve, which sadly closed during the pandemic. The building has been given a remodel that retains the same general layout and homey touches of the previous tenant.
All throughout you’ll find nods to Avishar’s Bengali and Midwestern heritage, imbued with the sense of playfulness that comes through in his cooking.
The beverage menu features wines by the glass and bottle and a collection of cocktails that are fun updates to classic libations. Pictured here are the Cubra Libre and Jack + Coke.
The Jack + Coke, for instance, takes its two namesake ingredients and adds in a bit of tamarind and a touch of smoke.
I’m not going to describe everything that’s on the menu, because it will surely change over time. But it’s currently structured as a tasting menu. Each spot in your reservation will get multiple courses, with little surprises and additions along the way.
But suffice it to say that we love eating Avishar’s food, from his adventures long ago at Veritas in Delaware to his time leading the kitchen at Service Bar, to Joya’s Cafe, which we have to actively resist visiting every day.
During the friends and family preview, we managed to say hi to the chef, who kindly risked scorching himself by posing in front of the hot grill.
Live-fire cooking like this is taking off in Columbus, with places like FYR at the Hilton Tower, Nomad at Polaris, and the forthcoming Hiraeth from the owners of Chapman’s. These specialized grills come with moveable shelves so chefs can smoke, sear, grill, and more.
Agni features a small chef’s table that faces the grill. It will surely be a hard seat to book, although be advised that the grill puts off a lot of heat.
As you walk down the hallway to the back of the restaurant (and you absolutely should check out the murals in the bathrooms), you’ll see down into the kitchen.
Again, I won’t describe everything here, but you can rest assured there’s plenty to revel in, with dishes that start out familiar but take surprising or inventive turns.
And of course you’ll find with some amazing dessert that draws on familiar flavors if you know Avishar.
I’m sure you can tell that even after one visit, we wholeheartedly recommend Agni. We’ve long been fans of Avishar, so it was an easy sell, but after years of knocking it out of the park at local restaurants, representing Columbus proudly on Top Chef, doing amazing stuff at Joya’s – he’s really coming into his own, and Columbus dining is all the better for it.
(And if you’ve never been to Joya’s, you can read about it here, and then you need to visit for a kati roll or fried rice or cheesy double crunch or breakfast sandwich or all of it!)
Agni is currently open Wednesdays through Sundays, 5-11 p.m. Reservations can be booked through their site: dineatagni.com/reservations
Agni
716 S. High St.
Columbus, OH 43206
Web: dineatagni.com
IG: @dineatagni
