Creative chefs don't fade out,...At Kishti, Apu Gomez's delicately spiced dishes that drew inspiration from different corners of India attracted a faithful band of customers. Kishti closed down about a year ago but Gomez has not been idle. He helped the owners of Indian Taj, one of the best buffet places in Queens, open an opulent restaurant on Long Island and a restaurant on the ever-busy Bleecker Street. The Taj group has also opened Darbar In the east Midtown duplex... Gomez offers many tasteful and eye-catching dishes, especially the Trans-Ethnic Maine Crab Cake ($10) at Darbar. When the menu says the dish is made of chunks of crab flavored with ginger and curry leaves, it is not mincing words. Rarely have I eaten crab cakes that are so flavorsome and filled with genuine crab meat...Another winner among the starters is the humble but ever-so-abused Vegetable Samosa ($4). The potato and pea filling is tastier than the Samosas found at most New York restaurants. The dish has very little oil too...I am intrigued by Beetroot Malai Kofta ($11). But more than any of the above dishes, I would want to investigate the lunch buffet. At Kishti, chef Gomez used to whip up an amazing buffet for $11. Here, the week-long buffet costs $9.50. Every time I have passed by Darbar, I have seen a full house - it seats about 80 people for the buffet - between noon and 2 pm Soon to be introduced is a taster's menu, $80 for non-vegetarian and $60 for vegetarian. The price is a bit stiff for Indian taster's menus but the dinner comes with wine. Beguiling items include the Appam Roll, which was a big hit at Kishti, and which isn't available on the regular menu as yet. The non-vegetarian menu includes Garlic Venison Chops and Lobster Balchow, the vinegary Goan classic. In the vegetarian section, I am intrigued by the Jack Fruit Pakoras and the Methi Corn Tikki. Onion and Black Pepper Kulcha comes with vegetarian and non-vegetarian taster's menus. What makes the dining experience a bigger pleasure is that there is no Indian vocal music or recorded sitar music. Instead, there are lovely instrumental numbers from some of the most melodic Hindi films. Manager and part-owner Manek has a sense of humor. When he saw the chef greeting a customer, Manek refused to charge the man, without realizing he was a food writer. 'If the chef knows you so well, how can I charge you?' Manek asked, adding the customer was dining at Darbar for the first time. 'Its our office policy,' the writer said, 'to always pay for the food.' Manek hesitated for a moment. 'In that case, I think I should charge you double,' he said with a smile.