Indian Street Food Restaurant Chai Pani Revamps Its Menu and Reopens Its Decatur Dining Room

A lot went down this week in restaurant openings and new restaurant announcements. Here are a few openings and coming attractions to know about right now.

Restaurant openings to know

Chai Pani — Decatur

After revamping the menu and the interiors two weeks prior to the pandemic-related shutdowns in March 2020, owner Meherwan Irani has once again retooled the menu for his popular Indian street food restaurant in Decatur. This time Irani is bringing it back to the food roots of his childhood growing up in the Deccan Plateau in India.

Irani says the pandemic really put his vision for Chai Pani and its food into perspective. Until just recently, the dining room had been closed, with the restaurant doing a brisk takeout business and offering seating outside on the parking lot patio. Now fully reopened, Irani is now ready to showcase the latest menu he reworked with culinary director Daniel Peach and new chef de cuisine Sahar Siddiqi (Atlas), which includes dishes like tomato pakoras, misal pav, kolhapuri mutton, Bengali fish fry, and Goan prawns masala. But don’t worry, the SPDP is still on the menu.

Dinner only for now. No weekday lunch service. Weekend lunch and takeout begin soon. Masks required.

Steak Market — Midtown

Remember that gold leaf-encrusted steak situation headed to Midtown? The 200-seat, multi-level restaurant Steak Market and its members-only cigar lounge officially open on Sunday, August 29, in Midtown. The restaurant is located in the former Simon’s restaurant space on Juniper Street. Beyond its steaks, including one wrapped in gold leaf, the restaurant also serves seafood and raw bar selections, whole racks of lamb, and weekend brunch. As for beverages, expect a vast wine list, cocktails, and the bar offering a collection of 300 varieties of scotch and whiskey. Masks highly suggested.

Steak Market

Steak Market

Coming attractions

Jinbei West — Peachtree Corners

Jae Choi, the owner behind Japanese restaurant Yakitori Jinbei, is partnering with chef G. Garvin of LowCountry Steak in Midtown, to open Jinbei West in Peachtree Corners, What Now Atlanta first reported. Expected to open this fall on Town Center Boulevard, the restaurant will serve a mix of Korean and Japanese fare, including okonomiyaki, Korean fried chicken, sushi, and ramen. [WNA]

Leftie Lee’s — Avondale Estates

Chef and baker Vivian Lee of Korean-inspired baked goods and grazing boards pop-up Foodcation Forever is now serving her baked goods from newly opened Virginia-Highland market-cafe Kinship and also plans to open a sandwich and bake shop in Avondale Estates. According to the AJC, Lee will open Leftie Lee’s at the Olive and Pine complex in early 2022. Once open, the restaurant will offer breakfast and lunch to include pastries and sandwiches on freshly baked breads, like a mojo roasted pork sandwich served with fried yucca and cabbage slaw and a Korean barbecue sandwich with scallion slaw. [AJC]

Sunshine Alchemy — Atlanta

Vegetarian and vegan food truck Sunshine Alchemy is opening on Presidential Parkway as part of the growing collection of Prep Atlanta incubator restaurants, What Now Atlanta reports. Opening this fall, expect the menu to include cocktails on tap, beer, and wine paired with dishes like barbecue jackfruit, vegan nachos, and vegan burgers. [WNA]

• A Running List of New Restaurants That Opened This Month Around Atlanta [EATL]
• All the Upcoming Atlanta Restaurants Opening in 2021 and 2022, By Neighborhood [EATL]