Well, let’s just agree that Indian restaurants have made it big all over the world. And as foodies, there’s nothing more gratifying than seeing Indian restaurants making the world slurp, isn’t that true? Be it Asha Bhosle’s restaurant in the UK, called Asha’s, which even actor Tom Cruise visited while shooting his film, Mission: Impossible, or the popular Indian restaurant in Birmingham, called Varanasi, where actor Johnny Depp recently celebrated his trial win against Amber Heard. Johnny spent a whopping ₹48lakh while feasting on chicken tikka masala, lamb curry and more. Besides that, Indian restaurants abroad have also made it to the Michelin list. For instance, Junoon by Chef Vikas Khanna in New York City has made a mark after winning a Michelin Star for eight consecutive years.
Adding to the list of Indian restaurants making it big abroad is Chai Pani, an Indian street food restaurant in North Carolina, which recently won the title of the most ‘Outstanding Restaurant’ at the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago earlier this week.
Serving affordable and delicious Indian street food in Ashville, NC, Chai Pani beat other nominees, such as Brennan’s in New Orleans, according to a Bloomberg report. Literally translating to tea and water, Chai Pani offers a range of famous Indian street snacks like chaat that are known for a mix of spicy, sweet and tangy flavours. Special items on their menu include bhel puri, sweet potato chaat, chicken pakoras, sev potato, dahi puri, green mango chaat, aloo tikki chaat, and more.
The restaurant also offers a host of fusion wraps and burgers including vada pav rolls, crispy masala fish roll, and keema pav. And if you thought that the restaurant only serves interesting snacks, the menu will surprise you with a variety of South Indian dishes, North Indian thalis, bowls and desserts too.
On receiving the award, co-founder of the restaurant, Meherwan Irani, said, “Restaurants are so much greater than the sum of what’s inside the four walls. A restaurant has the power to transform the people that work there, transform the people that come in, transform the communities we are in, transform society. Restaurants can transform the world.” Earlier, he has been nominated five times under the ‘Best Chef’ category at the James Beard Foundation Awards.
Established in 2009 by Irani and his wife Molly, the restaurant has now spread across seven locations, including in Decatur in Georgia, Charlotte in North Carolina, and Atlanta in Georgia.