Jan NorrisNew downtown: Chhauka owner wants to go beyond the typical Indian menu.
The Southern-inspired Sassafras in downtown West Palm Beach will soon become the regional-Indian Chhauka.
Rodney Mayo, head of Subculture Group, has joined with Miami restaurateur Pravin Mascarenhas to bring Indian cuisine to 105 S. Narcissus Ave.
“I don’t know why, but Sassafras just really didn’t take off,” Mayo said. Of his many restaurants, it was one of his favorites, he said.
He is keeping the space to bring in a cuisine that he says is needed downtown.
Mascarenhas will be the owner-operator of Chhauka Modern Indian Kitchen and Bar, and he has tapped a former partner and eight-time Michelin chef, Hemant Mathur, to create the menu that will represent several lesser-known regions of India.
Mathur, the first Indian chef awarded the Michelin star in North America, is most known in Florida for the popular Masca in North Miami. His base is New York City, where he runs a successful catering company as well as Saar Indian Cuisine and Bar, and the now-closed Devi, where the Jaipur native won his first star. He’s won seven times since.
Not your typical Indian restaurant
Chhauka loosely translates from Hindi to “seasoning” or “spicing up,” Mascarenhas said. “It is a word you use in the household kitchen: Indian mothers, tempering or seasoning the food. They say, ‘Shall I chhauka the dish?’”
Though India is a mostly Hindu and Muslim society with dietary restrictions and vegetarian dishes prominent, there are regions that feature beef and pork in Northeast India, and Southern India such as Mangalore and the Coorg region, he said. They will lend their flavors to the menu, veering from the familiar Indian food common in many U.S. restaurants.
Diners can expect Coorgi pork, an aromatic, slow-cooked pork curry; fish pulimunchi, a spicy curry; and sukka mutton, a dry curry with onions. “From Goa, we would introduce dishes like chorizo pau, recheado fish fry and Xacuti chicken.”
He explained the step up in complex spices in the dishes. “Many who open restaurants in the U.S. stick to chicken, lamb or goat. I guess they thought it would be offensive to Indian clientele,” Mascarenhas said. “I don’t want to have the regular curry dishes. I want to show another side of India. Nice, fun, and elegant.”
A full bar will have its own menu and what Mascarenhas calls “an amazing cocktail program.” A late-night, jazz-infused atmosphere also is planned. “Subculture likes this kind of tie-in,” he said.
To further the culture, weekend brunches here will be a “celebration of arts, music performances and much more,” he said. Curated brunch menus will rotate throughout the seasons.
While the menu is in progress, Mathur promises seafood, lamb, beef and a “good selection of vegetarian dishes also.”
Still, he said, it will be approachable. “I don’t do fussy foods.”
He mentions a popular fun dish on the menu at Masca he will bring to West Palm — pani puri shots.
“It’s a whole wheat puffed crisp, served with a flavored water. We will serve three different waters — tamarind, mango and a cilantro-garlic.”
Dishes will be shareable, but small plates and larger entrees will be presented as well.
The restaurant will have 50 seats indoors and 60 outside. It’s expected to open mid to late October for dinner, and expand service soon after.
Jan’s a journalist covering the South Florida dining scene for 30-plus years. (She knows where the bones and onion peels are buried.) She’s a Florida native, remembers the state pre-Disney, and travels frequently to visit family and friends from the Keys to the Panhandle.
