195: Chintan Pandya

By Aliza Abarbanel & Matt Rodbard

This Is TASTE

28/02/23·59m 13s

Indian chef and Unapologetic Foods cofounder Chintan Pandya is a James Beard Award–winning chef and runs some of the best restaurants in NYC, including Adda, Dhamaka, Semma, Rowdy Rooster, and his latest Bengali triumph, Masalawala & Sons. We invited Chintan into the studio because, dude, we wanted to know how he keeps opening hit after hit. We wanted to talk about regional Indian cooking and how most American Indian restaurants focus on such a narrow spectrum of the recipe canon. And we wanted to find out about expansion plans—and a cookbook. And an upcoming trip to India. We really enjoyed catching up with one of the bright stars in the New York City restaurant scene.

Also on the show, Aliza and Matt talk about some recent favorites including S&P Lunch, pop rock cake pops for ravers, Queens SF, How Far the Light Reaches, and Cadbury Curly Wurly Squirlies.