Here is a foodie neighbor’s eyewitness (tongue-witness? belly-witness?) account of Poppy’s preview night event.

On Poppy’s design:

The final result is cool, elegant urban, with sleek Danish-style blond wood furniture, golden-mustard colored walls to warmly contrast to the red bricks and a high, exposed wood beam ceiling. They’ve selected nice details, from the sort of industrial pendant lights to the aluminum chopsticks on the table. The kitchen is a semi-open affair, sort of a big box in one corner, where a strip of windows provides an aquarium style view inside.

On the food:

Then, came the thali, a tray with 10 separate elements. Arguably the best dish was the sublime melon, tomato and mint soup, a soft meld of flavors. But honestly, everything was terrific, from the small scoop of spiced chickpea salad had a bit of a kick to the inspired watermelon lime pickle. We talked, drank wine, tore at our nigella flatbread and sopped up the extras sauce from the basil chicken with chanterelles with the softly savory haiga rice.

On the dollars:

The full meal thali cost $32. Starters were $5 to $7 each, desserts are about the same. Yes, you can go across the street and have an entrée at the Deluxe from $9 to $14. But Poppy isn’t competing with that.

For the rest of us, Poppy opens tonight.