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Renowned L.A. chef Neela Paniz to open restaurant in Napa

NAPA – After more than 25 years pleasing the palates of foodies from across the world in Los Angeles, distinguished chef and author Neela Paniz will open her first solo restaurant in downtown Napa appropriately named “Neela’s.”

“My husband and I have been coming up to Napa on and off for about 12 years, and every trip made me feel like ‘Wow, I really love it here,’” she said.

For the past two decades, the self-taught chef and her business partner David Chaparro have run what is now an acclaimed Indian bistro in Los Angeles called Bombay Cafe. Though she often visited the Napa Valley on vacation, she has also come on many occasions as an instructor for the Culinary Institute of America’s renowned Worlds of Flavor Conference and Festival.

“We came back again this April and I thought, ‘Yes, I am going to do this.’ And we immediately contacted a broker, and I think we looked at just about every available space in Napa,” she said.

Though Ms. Paniz has never had any formal training, the India-native is recognized for her unique and traditional recipes among the most distinguished culinary circles and has sold thousands of her 1992 release “The Bombay Cafe” cookbook.

“I’m not like every chef who ‘learned to cook in their grandmother’s kitchen.’ In India, we don’t do a lot of cooking. Everyone has domestic help, and I actually learned to cook in this country.”

Ms. Paniz moved to the United States about 40 years ago for school and lived with an aunt who taught her the basics of Indian food. She then began working with her family’s home chef, who became a mentor and taught her the true skills of traditional cooking.

“It was something that seemed inherent to me once I started,” she said.

Pulling inspiration from those memories of cooking in home kitchens, Ms. Paniz’s restaurant will feel much like coming into a traditional Indian home. One-hundred-year-old family heirlooms, bronze statues of Ganesh and antique pottery will line the walls next to furnishings accentuated with jewel tones of green and blue.

“I think there is a common image of an Indian food restaurant as being dark, incense burning. But my restaurant will be bright and lively, very comfortable that gives you the feeling you are walking into my home,” she said.

The cuisine will include a catalog of her most celebrated recipes mixed with new flavors in both small and large plates. Ms. Paniz said often writers erroneously describe them as fusion or Califronia-stlye, but it actually more correctly resembles home-style cooking.

“My food is unlike what people would traditionally think of when they think Indian, heavy, rich,” she said.

“I cook foods from childhood, light but satisfying. I don’t use a lot of oil or greases. … It’s like taking old recipes and presenting them in today’s mood.”

Dishes will be complemented with a list of local, regional and world wines, as well as imported lagers and beers from India. Once a week she plans to showcase a variety of traditional flat breads stuffed with diverse combinations from imported vegetables to fine cheeses.

“I am so excited because this is the first time I am doing this all on my own,” she said. “And I hope to create something that is pleasing to the eye and the nose and definitely the palate.”

Ms. Paniz signed the lease for the 2,700-square-foot site on Main Street last week and hopes to open the fine dining restaurant sometime in early December.

Broker Scott Hunter represented Suisun City developer The Wiseman Co. and Coldwell Banker Commercial Brokers represented Ms. Paniz in the 10-year lease agreement.