above (from left): The evening begins with a signature cocktail. New Canaan Chefs Prasad Chirnomula and Luke Venner of Elm seamlessly blended Indian and New American ingredients and cooking styles. An Elm favorite, Maine oysters with green apples, is garnished with Chef Prasad’s saffron mignonette.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BREAD & BEAST AND VENERA ALEXANDROVA
It’s the hottest ticket on the culinary scene. Chef Prasad Collabs are drawing chefs and devoted foodies to New Canaan for dinners that meld seemingly disparate cooking styles into multi-course gourmet meals. On a recent evening, Chef Luke Venner of Elm joined Chef Prasad in creating a dinner for 50 guests. The evening felt like a celebration.
About three years ago, Prasad Chirnomula started thinking about his long career in Connecticut, and all the talented chefs he knew at restaurants throughout the state. He thought about Arturo Francho Camancho, Emily Mingrone, Billy Grant, Tyler Anderson, Nicholas Martschenko and Renee Toupance and how rarely they were able to interact, each working so many weekends and holidays in their own restaurants. What if he invited them to his kitchen? Community through culinary collaboration. “I want to cook with the best of the best chefs,” Chef Prasad said. Chef Prasad is one of the best of the best. He was named Best Caterer in the state by the CT Restaurant Association; he caterers multi-million-dollar weddings at the Biltmore in Asheville and sites closer to home. He has appeared on the Food Network show Chopped. It’s been 25 years since Chef Prasad opened Thali in a restored bank on Main Street. He grew Thali from New Canaan to Ridgefield and Westport, and entered the New Haven market with the vegetarian Thali Too. After shutting down his restaurants, he realigned and in 2018 opened Chef Prasad, a boutique Indian restaurant in the town where he had a solid base of long-term customers and friends, as well as nearby fans willing to drive for his Konkan crab.
On a recent Thursday evening, Main Street in New Canaan had a rolled-up sidewalk feeling, except for the historic white clapboard building at No. 62. Inside, guests were lined up at the bar while bartenders were shaking up a special cocktail, a smooth and powerful limey concoction topped with whipped cream. A buzz of conversation and expectation filled the room.
Chef Prasad and guest Chef Luke Venner worked at the counter that runs the length of the far wall of the dining room. It was stacked with containers of spices. Chef Luke, who is known for ingredient-driven New American cooking at Elm, has a background in French and Japanese cooking. “Indian is not in my background, so it has been fascinating to me to break the boundaries in my brain, putting two things together I would never do and realize it actually tastes good,” he said.
Among the passed hors d’oeuvres, were chickpea panisse, a fried base for Luke’s smoked carrot hummus, which Chef Prasad topped with an evocative coriander flower. Bites of tender Colorado lamb were bathed in a peppy sauce. Mini samosas were filled with goat cheese and morels and served with fig chutney.
Puchka were a revelation to Chef Luke. The crisp semolina puffs are a favorite street food in India. Also known as pani puri, they are traditionally filled with spiced potatoes, peas and onion and filled with tamarind mint water, and eaten in one bite. They are known for being addictively crunchy, spicy, sweet and sour.
THE CHEFS SAID THAT PLANNING A MULTI-COURSE DINNER IS EASY FOR THEM; THERE IS A CERTAIN STRUCTURE AND PROGRESSION. PRASAD LETS THE VISITING CHEF LEAD THE MENU.
For the first course, Chef Luke filled puchka with avocado mousseline and tuna tartare. Whether devoured in one bite or two, the taste sensation went from crispy, creamy, cool and clean to spicy. Mini coronets of padadam were filled with fresh mango, dusted with red chile.
The chefs said that planning a multi-course dinner is easy for them; there is a certain structure and progression. Prasad lets the visiting chef lead the menu. “I know the chef’s cooking. I’ll say, give me four bites and five courses,” he says. “We look at the menu together and I’ll say, ‘You sear the scallop and I’ll do the sauce.’”
That became the second course, a tandoori-spiced seared Maine scallop paired with delicate florets of cauliflower, lightly charred and resting over nutty, creamy korma sauce. Roasted grapes brought a contrasting sweetness and warm ghee vinaigrette a mellow acidity.
Gnocchi seemed an obvious choice to Chef Luke for the third course because it can be sauced so many different ways. He transformed sweet potato gnocchi, into what he jokingly called “Indian alla vodka sauce.” Chef Prasad elucidated, “Chef Luke loves my butter chicken,” so he draped the creamy, aromatic sauce over the slightly sweet dumplings, and topped them with fried curry leaves.
The fifth course was duck, rubbed with garam masala before being confited in duck fat. It was served on creamy basmati rice and scattered with winter truffles. For dessert, sticky toffee pudding, the moist date-filled cake, was flavored with chai and served with coconut milk duche de leche.
To make 50 dinners of four appetizers and five courses takes 20 hands in the kitchen, with both chef’s teams working together. Which brings up the question that Chef Prasad is asked again and again: “Why do you do this?” Along with stretching creative boundaries, it’s a way for the chefs to connect with each other. “We also talk about life and all the sacrifices we make as Chefs,” he explains.
For guests who are lucky enough to snag a ticket to these often-sold-out Chef Collabs, it’s also a chance to gather with friends or meet new ones. The cozy dining room has high-top community tables, which prompted guests to introduce themselves to one another and start chatting. A couple had recently returned from Chef Prasad’s three-week, five-star trip to India. “I have high expectations and Chef exceeded them,” said Charles Moretz, Jr. Among the guests was Chef Damon “Daye” Sawyer of the lauded 29 Markel Street Restaurant in Bridgeport. He and Prasad have done collabs at each other’s restaurants and are looking at doing a dinner together at the James Beard House in New York City.
As word has spread about the Chef Collabs, chefs are reaching out to Chef Prasad, saying “sign me up.” Upcoming Chef Collabs will feature Bill Taibe, Chef Plum, David Standrige and more. “Learning never stops,” said Chef Luke, “Especially if you work with someone new. I would come back again and again.”
CHEF PRASAD’S UPCOMING COLLABS
MARCH 6
with Chef Tyler Anderson of MILLWIGHTS
MARCH 20
with six-time Emmy-award-winning Chef Plum
APRIL 6
with Chef Jarred Falco of BAR ROSINA
(dubbed CT’s best new restaurant)
MAY 8
with Chef Bill Taibe of THE WHELK, KAWA NI & DON MEMO
JUNE 10
with Chef Ro
(recently named 2024 Food and Wine Game Changer)