We could all use more chai pie and lamb-mint-stuffed buns in our lives.

That’s just a general thought about life.

But it makes us want to talk about Pondicheri, the first New York spot from a Beard-nominated chef known for solid, interesting nourishment of the Indian variety. It’s open now with a limited menu and fully open for breakfast and lunch next Monday in NoMad.

So you’re working with a large, cavernous, industrial sort of space. The kind with oversize lightbulbs hanging from artfully tangled cords, a huge mural up front and a colorful brick wall that brings a travel scrapbook to mind in the back.

Swing by and grab something from the bakery up front: chai-cream-filled pie. Butter-chicken-stuffed turmeric buns. Roasted-chickpea fudge... Or should you care to claim a couple chairs, a more involved breakfast menu will offer things like a beet-lentil pancake topped with coconut, cilantro chutney and a fried egg.

Later in the day, you’ll find pork-shoulder-filled melon and coconut-ginger stew being assembled in the open kitchen. That, and other things you’ll find pair well with saffron-gin cocktails.

Now onward, to the slideshow...