A B O U T  C H A I  P A N I

About the Owners:

Chai Pani is the brain child (or maybe mid life crisis!) of husband & wife, Meherwan & Molly Irani. Meherwan is the executive chef & chief chaiwalla and the visionary behind the concept & menu. Molly directs the front of the house and is the creative & artistic force that brought the concept to a vibrant reality.

(To read more about the Chai Pani story visit the Press page)

Meherwan grew up in Ahmadnagar, India (near Mumbai) and learned to cook at his mother's side. He came to the US in 1990 to earn his MBA and for 15 years had a successful career in sales & marketing in the San Francisco Bay Area. While being exposed to some of the best restaurants on the West Coast he fell in love with the culinary arts and started to develop his cooking skills at every opportunity.

“I'm basically a self taught home cook & earned my chef's coat on the job. I jokingly tell people that I studied at CIA – the Culinary Institute of Amrit (my mom)!

It seems that the typical Indian restaurant is in a rut – the ubiquitous lunch buffet, white table cloths & ornate plates, slightly austere service, and a predominantly North Indian menu. I wanted to bring the rest of India to the table – the colorful, vibrant & exquisite flavor profiles, the innovative regional diversity, the fun, excitement & bright flavors of street food and the simple refinement & comfort of home cooking.”

Meherwan can be reached at meherwan@chaipani.net

Molly grew up in the restaurant business. Her parents owned a popular & award winning restaurant in Myrtle Beach, SC and her mom is an accomplished pastry chef and restaurateur. From as far back as she can remember Molly has been in and around food, kitchens, cooking and restaurants and she brings a deep & intuitive understanding of service, hospitality & customer care to the culture of Chai Pani.

Molly can be reached at molly@chaipani.net 

Our Food Philosophy:

We buy fresh produce daily from local purveyors and try to source from local farms when practical. We use all natural and sustainably raised chicken, and our meats and dairy are all natural, and antibiotic & hormone free. We cook in pure trans-fat free canola oil or ghee (clarified butter) and there's no artificial flavors or ingredients in anything – ever.

We import the highest quality specialty items from India, roast and grind our own spice blends, and we make all our chutneys and sauces in-house.

We are members of ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) and support and respect our local farmers.