Meet the Chef Who Changed Indian Food in America Forever

Meherwan Irani has played a pivotal role in reshaping how America sees, eats, and thinks about Indian cuisine.

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Published on June 5, 2023

After moving to America from India for grad school, chef Meherwan Irani quickly grew frustrated with the generic buffets that seemed to be the status quo in South Asian restaurants. “This was not the kind of food I grew up eating,” he recalls. “I knew that something had to change with the way Indian food was being represented in America.”

In 2009, he opened the first location of Chai Pani, his Indian street food restaurant that brought a bold, uncompromising vision of Indian food to life, in Asheville, North Carolina. That vision blended the best of India and the American South in unique dishes like okra fries seasoned with punchy chaat masala and a spritz of lime, a clever reinterpretation of an ingredient with deep roots in Southern cuisine.

At Chai Pani, Irani embraced the spice-forward flavors and accessible street foods of the subcontinent. And he did it in a predominantly white city that didn’t know much about South Asian food. The fact that Chai Pani is now an integral part of the region’s restaurant culture is a testament to his trailblazing success. His efforts have finally begun to reach the national consciousness—in 2022, Chai Pani Asheville received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant.

But as much as Irani has encouraged fidelity in Indian cooking, he has also helped free it from the authenticity trap, shepherding in an era of experimental creativity. He is a participant and mentor in the boundary-breaking Brown in the South collective of chefs who are challenging the norms of Indian food, Southern food, and even American food.

The Chai Pani Restaurant Group has grown to include six restaurants, which are not limited to Indian concepts. These include a fried chicken counter, a Carolina barbecue spot, and the fast-growing Botiwalla chainlet. Across all his businesses, Irani has created a rare culture of hospitality that emphasizes community. Together with his wife, Molly, the group’s cofounder and chief hospitality officer, he strives to prioritize relationships.

Irani’s culinary influence goes beyond restaurants, too. In 2017, he started the spice company Spicewalla, which has since bloomed into an e-commerce juggernaut, with an inventory of over 250 fresh, quality spices. Last summer, Spicewalla opened its first retail pop-up in downtown Asheville.

Irani is quick to deflect praise, saying he was an early adopter in a long line of genre-defying chefs. Modesty aside, it’s clear Irani has changed the face of Indian food in this country. And to think, it all started at a buffet.