India is known for its diverse food recipes that are served at famous Indian restaurants worldwide. Traditional Indian curries and breads are popular for their use of flavourful herbs and spices in different countries. This love for Indian cuisine has further extended to street-style specialties like bhel puri, tikki, chaat, vada pav and more. An Indian restaurant, 'Chai Pani', serving street-style food, has been voted as the best restaurant in the US. Situated in Downtown Asheville in North Carolina, this eatery has been named America's most Outstanding Restaurant at the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago.
The snack corner beat Brennan's in New Orleans to bag the top title. 'Chai Pani' is famous for serving street food items like Aloo Tikki Chaat, Sweet Potato Chaat, Bhel Puri, Pav Bhaji, Chicken Pakoras and more at nominal prices. Apart from snacks, the restaurant also serves fusion wraps, burgers, a variety of North Indian and South Indian thalis, bowls, and desserts on their menu. Check out below:
"Some of the best food of any country is its street food, and 'Chai Pani' features chaat - crunchy, spicy, sweet, tangy, brightly flavoured Indian street snacks. And because there's nothing more comforting and delicious in any culture than a home-cooked meal, Chai Pani also brings you thalis - traditional family meals highlighting India's amazing culinary diversity." mentions the details on the restaurant's official website.
The first outlet of the restaurant was opened in 2009 in Asheville and is run by five-times James Beard-nominated chef Meherwan Irani. It has now spread across seven locations, including in Charlotte in North Carolina, Decatur in Georgia, and Atlanta in Georgia.
During his award acceptance speech, Irani talked about restaurants having the power to transform the world. "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," he said.