Chef Chintan Pandya is Executive Chef of Adda Indian Canteen in Long Island City and Rahi in the West Village, both of which are owned by restaurateur Roni Mazumdar. Born in Mumbai, Chintan incorporates the versatile recipes and tradition of regional Indian cuisine into his dishes at Adda, opening the eyes of New Yorkers to what Indian food is. The menu consists of Indian dishes that are popularly served on dining tables across the Indian subcontinent and nostalgic recipes that Chef Chintan and owner Mazumdar have come to love while growing up.
Embracing his interest for the culinary world, Chintan enrolled himself in one of the most prestigious culinary schools in India before moving on to continue his training at the Oberoi Centre of Learning & Development. There, he trained under the finest chefs from Oberoi Hotels. Later, Chintan joined Yantra, in Singapore, for four years as executive chef. In New York, he led Michelin-starred restaurant, Junoon’s kitchen as executive chef, utilizing the local produce of the Northeast, and demonstrating his devotion to refinement through localized ingredients and passionate artistry. In 2017, Chintan became the Executive Chef at the West Village artisanal Indian restaurant Rahi, which received a glowing review by notable restaurant critic, Pete Wells of The New York Times in his Critic’s Notebook about how Indian restaurants are playing to a modern audience. He praised the restaurant by stating “The most exciting food in this group, I think, goes to Rahi.”
In November 2018, Adda had the honor of receiving a rave review by Wells. The renowned critic lauded Chintan’s food at Addaas “a lusty, full-throated defense of traditional cooking” and gave it a radiant two-star review in The New York Times. In 2019, Chef Chintan was presented with the StarChefs New York Rising Stars award.
In February 2019, Chef Chintan’s hard work earned Adda to be nominated as a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant Category for the prestigious James Beard Award.