A new chapter in the heart of Auckland.
Cassia will open the doors to its brand-new restaurant at 58 Albert Street on 1 September, marking a bold new chapter for Sid and Chand Sahrawat’s celebrated contemporary Indian restaurant and its return to the heart of Auckland city. The opening follows the conclusion of Cassia’s 10-week residency at Ozone in Grey Lynn on 28 August, with the team moving into a permanent new home at 58 Albert Street.
Dubbed Cassia 3.0, the new restaurant marks both a homecoming and an evolution for the much-loved Auckland institution, following the closure of its original Fort Lane restaurant after the Auckland Anniversary floods in January 2023, and its subsequent relocation to SkyCity, where it remained until June 2026.
“For us, it’s a new beginning, finally coming home again, but with a fresh start,” says Chand Sahrawat. “We’re taking Cassia back to what it was at the very beginning – owner-operated, hands-on, in the heart of Auckland and close to our guests.”
While unmistakably Cassia, 58 Albert Street will look and feel markedly different from the restaurant Aucklanders first came to know and love.
Designed by Gerrick Numan of Millé, the new restaurant draws on the strongest elements of Cassia’s previous iterations while establishing a distinct identity of its own. In contrast to the intimate, subterranean and moody feel of the original Fort Lane restaurant, Cassia 3.0 is light, bright and open, with floor-to-ceiling windows connecting the restaurant to the city around it.
Spread across two levels, the contemporary space combines exposed brick and industrial detailing with warm lighting and will accommodate up to 120 guests. Three private dining rooms will provide dedicated spaces for larger groups, celebrations and corporate events.
The sense of evolution continues on the plate. The new menu brings together the dishes that have become synonymous with Cassia’s refined, creative approach to contemporary Indian cuisine, alongside new flavours created for Cassia 3.0.
Fan favourites remain firmly in place, including Cassia’s iconic pani puri and much-coveted Mughlai lamb chops, alongside the crisp eggplant sev puri and Massimo’s burrata with pickled chilli salan.
Joining them is a new Tandoori chicken xacuti, inspired by the flavours of Goa and served with Cassia (cinnamon) and black vinegar. The Goan-inspired aromatic curry pairs smoky tandoori chicken with fragrant xacuti, featuring a blend of cassia, black pepper, star anise, and dry red chilies to create a balance of smoky, spicy, and warming flavors, along with a hint of tanginess from black vinegar.
“It was important to us that Cassia 3.0 still had the dishes people know and love,” says Sid Sahrawat. “The pani puri and lamb chops have been with us for so long and are such a big part of Cassia – people would probably never forgive us if we took them off the menu! “The move also allows us to evolve and introduce something new,” says Chand.
“The tandoori chicken xacuti draws on the flavours of Goa, where I spent my summers as a child. On our first holiday to India as a couple, I took Sid to Goa, and he fell in love with the unique Portuguese influence on Goan cuisine. The coastal ingredients, spice, and tang from black vinegar stayed with Sid, but we’ve given it our own Cassia interpretation.
“That balance between familiarity and discovery is what I want this next chapter to be about,” says Chand.
Returning alongside Sid and Chand is Matthew Aitchison, Cassia’s original restaurant manager and now General Manager of both Cassia and The French Café. Recently awarded the MICHELIN Guide Sommelier Award, Matthew will lead the front-of-house team and oversee a new wine list created to complement the menu.
For Sid and Chand, opening on Albert Street also reflects their confidence in Auckland’s city centre and its future, following the transformation of Albert Street and ahead of the City Rail Link opening.“We want to be part of the revival, not arrive once the city is already humming and simply benefit from everyone else’s work,” says Chand.
“We’re backing our ambition with the city’s ambition to thrive and become vibrant again.”
After more than a decade of Cassia and an unexpected journey following the floods, Chand says what she hopes guests will feel when they walk through the doors of Cassia’s new permanent home can be summed up in two words: “Welcome back.”
Cassia, 58 Albert Street, Auckland CBD. Opening 1 September 2026.
Open 7 days a week: Dinner 7 nights from 5 pm, open all day from lunch on Thursday and Fridays
cassiarestaurant.co.nz @cassia_auckland/
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