Meherwan Irani

The Path

Indian street food, in Meherwan Irani’s hands, is treated as a cuisine with range, speed, and a clear point of view. At Chai Pani Asheville, it is not presented as a fixed idea or a museum piece; it is served as food with urgency and structure, bright enough for a modern dining room while staying legible to its own lineage. The work is direct. It asks American diners to meet Indian food on its own terms, without flattening it. Study came before the restaurant line. An MBA program gave Irani a business foundation before hospitality became the center of the work, and that sequence shows in the way the restaurants are built: disciplined, deliberate, and not dependent on mood. Since 2009, he has been chef-owner and founder of Chai Pani, and since 2017, founder of Spicewalla. Those dates mark a steady expansion of the same point of view across restaurants and product. Mentorship sits inside that same practice. Since 2018, Irani has been a participant and mentor of Brown in the South collective, extending the work beyond his own businesses. The role adds another channel for exchange, where the emphasis is not only on output but on how flavor, identity, and representation are discussed and passed along. As Executive Chef and Chief Chaiwalla of Chai Pani Restaurant Group, he holds titles that reflect both the scale of the group and the hands-on nature of the job.

The Work Today

Within Chai Pani Restaurant Group, the operating structure is split across kitchen leadership and company leadership: Meherwan Irani serves as Executive Chef and Chief Chaiwalla, and also as co-founder, chef and CEO. At Chai Pani in Asheville, he remains chef-owner, while Spicewalla continues under his direction as owner and Executive Chef. The throughline is spice, but also authorship; the same voice runs through the restaurant and the pantry. Indian street food is the core specialty, and the execution is about clarity rather than nostalgia. At Chai Pani Asheville, the food has been described as immediate, and that word fits the style of service and the flavor profile alike. Kale pakoras and sloppy jai have been cited as immediate hits and part of Chai Pani’s stereotype-shattering food, while okra fries, seasoned with punchy chaat masala and a spritz of lime, have been noted as a unique dish blending India and the American South. The point is not fusion for its own sake; it is a precise, readable collision of references that still leaves the food grounded in Indian street-food logic.

Signature

Meherwan's signature dishes include kale pakoras, sloppy jai, okra fries, and Botiwalla.

In Their Words “This was not the kind of food I grew up eating. I knew that something had to change with the way Indian food was being represented in America.” “Food that tells a story of identity and belonging is what Chef Meherwan Irani is proud to share.”

Acclaim

Meherwan's honors include James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant.

FAQ