Thali Chef Trades Naan For Tortillas

After years of serving up biryani and saag paneer, chef Prasad Chirnomula stood in the kitchen of his newest downtown restaurant preparing ceviche and gazpacho. The leap from Indian to Mexican is not as far as you might think, he said.

Chirnomula made that observation in the crowded kitchen of his new Mexican restaurant, dubbed Oaxaca Kitchen, which opened last month on College Street between Chapel and Crown. Outside in the dining room, a Cinco de Mayo lunch crowd filled the stools and cow-skin draped booths. On the wall was a sign that read ​“Made In Mexico 100%.”

It’s not the sign one might expect to see in a restaurant started by a native of India, who has five Indian restaurants to his name, including New Haven’s Thali and Thali Too. But subcontinental cuisine and south-of-border fare are actually rather similar, Chirnomula said.

He was standing in a swirl of activity in his kitchen, wearing striped trousers and a double-breasted chef’s jacket embroidered with his name. Click the play arrow at the top of the story to see him prepare a couple of Oaxaca dishes. Click here to see a menu.

“The cooking techniques of Mexican food are very close to Indian food — what I do on a day to day basis,” he said. ​“It’s roasting of spices, cooking with lots of tomatoes, lots of garlic, lots of onion.”

“It’s amazing how close the cuisine is,” he said. ​“They make tortillas; we make naans and rotis.”

In between preparing tacos, gazpacho, seafood salad, and ceviche, Chirnomula explained how Oaxaca came to be, starting from his childhood in India, where his father wanted him to be a doctor. Chirnomula went to cooking school instead. He eventually made his way to the United States, ​“the land of opportunity.”

He landed in Connecticut — where he had a cousin — with only $100 in his pocket he said. That was 25 years ago. Now, at age 47, Chirnomula has opened six restaurants, counting Oaxaca. His Thali Indian restaurants are in New Canaan, Ridgefield, Westport, and in New Haven, where he has also opened Thali Too. The restaurants have won a statewide following.

When a spot opened up on College Street — it was last occupied by Cafe Adulis, an Ethiopian restaurant — University Properties invited Chirnomula in to see the space, he said. ​“I took one look at it and I wanted to do something here.”

He asked for a couple of days to think about it, and quickly came up with the concept of a gourmet Mexican restaurant. ​“Next thing I know, I’m traveling to Mexico, to Oaxaca, taking lessons, working with cooks there.”

He brought back with him a taste for Oaxacan cheeses, like queso fresco, a mozzarella-like white cheese. The dishes at Oaxaca are also characterized by a number of moles, or Mexican sauces. At the bar, dozens of tequilas are on offer, alongside a selection of beers and wines.

Oaxaca also offers table-side guacamole preparation, as does another downtown Mexican restaurant, Geronimo, a block away on Crown Street. Chirnomula said he had no problem opening his Mexican restaurant so close to Geronimo and other downtown Latin-American restaurants, like Sol de Cuba and Pacifico. They are all great restaurants, he said. ​“People will go there, they’ll come here. … We give them a destination.”

After discussing restaurant theory, Chirnomula returned to the practice, putting together two goblets of ceviche. His recipe is distinguished by the use of a mango sorbet, which offers a sweetness to mix with tang of olives and the spice of chilis, he said

His gazpacho also features a sorbet, a savory one made of red peppers. ​“A gazpacho can sometimes be a little boring, but with that sorbet in there, it opens up so beautiful,” he said. ​“I won’t be surprised if it’s going to win one or two awards.”

“For me, food has to travel in one’s mouth. Just like a human being wants to be around people and friends and travel and have fun, as soon as you take your first bite in, you’re tasting sweetness, sourness, bitterness, spiciness,” he said, describing his ceviche.

“I’m full of flavors.”