Tamasha, Raleigh’s newest Indian restaurant, is already receiving high accolades after only a few months of being open. OpenTable and People Magazine have honored the restaurant as one of the “50 Most Beautiful Restaurants in America” and the only restaurant in North Carolina with that award.
The team was brought together by owners Tina Vora and Mike Kathrani through an intense search and interview process. This was the first time that the Kathranis have ever worked in the restaurant industry.
Over seventy chefs were chosen for an interview and dish creation. The restaurant team and creator at Cheeni Durham helped make suggestions and helped them find a chef.
This is when Bhavin Chhatwani came into the picture. Chef Bhavin is the Executive Chef at Tamasha.
He worked in several places around the world, including a two-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco where he was leading it as a Senior Sous Chef. Originally he grew up in India and he decided that he wanted to make dishes from different regions of India.
“I call this menu my love letter to India. Each dish is my own recipe and curated by me. It has been inspired from my culinary journey back in India and then the US,” he said.
The menu is traditionally Indian, but the creation process includes French cooking techniques and more. The produce, seafood and meat is sourced locally and they aim to select food without hormones or preservatives. They aim to be fresh and attentive to all details.
The Byadgi chilli shrimp is a popular seafood dish. The Kerala pork belly bao is another favorite that takes two days of dry aging and thirteen hours of cooking.
Murg pasanda is a dish that features five different kinds of nuts such as almonds, cashews, poppy seed, chironji and coconut. Most of the dishes are slow cooked and each dish has its own sauce.
“Each and every dish is unique. Even if you have some of the common dishes like Butter Chicken which you almost find in every other restaurant. It will be very unique in taste,” restaurant visitors have claimed.
“This is the best Butter Chicken they have ever had in their life,” said Chef Bhavin.
As guests are constantly mesmerized by the wonderful meals at the restaurant, they remain at the top of their game for their outstanding food and drinks.
“As a team, we wanted to bring something together where we would be known as the best Indian restaurant in the United States,” said Chef Bhavin.
Owner Mike Kathrani chimed in, “We wanted to bring something to Raleigh which Raleigh has not seen in Indian food.”
Chef Bhavin had hand selected his entire team from all over the world who have worked with him before. The entire staff prioritized hard work and the delivery of only the best and finest.
“Tamasha means grand performance. We wanted to bring a very elevated Indian experience to the Raleigh market,” said Kathrani.
This five-star experience starts as soon as you arrive at the restaurant. The front of the house is trained extensively to make all guests feel like royalty. The interior is exquisite with beautiful designs executed by his wife and businesswoman Tina Vora which earned them the accolade as one of the most beautiful restaurants in America.
“Our goal is to give you the feast to the senses,” said Kathrani. “We provide impeccable service when you come in to dine with us. Our team understands that our vision is to provide a Michelin star experience.”
Their goal is to have wine dinners, tasting menus and grow to 250 wines in the selection.
“Our bar team has done such a phenomenal job in creating amazing cocktails which pair with our food and we have an amazing wine program which we are growing leaps and bounds.”
“We cannot thank Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over the state of North Carolina enough for the response and love that they have shown us. We are thrilled.”
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