Acclaimed restaurateurs Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya lay out NYC expansion plans

They kicked off the year with one of the city’s buzziest new restaurants, and now they’re on an expansion tear. The New York Times reports that restaurateurs Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya of crowd-favorite Indian restaurants Adda and Dhamaka, among others, are supercharging their restaurant group Unapologetic Foods this year with a range of growth plans.

The duo confirmed with the Times that they’ll be expanding in the East Village with two new fast casual restaurants: fried chicken spot Rowdy Rooster, opening in August, and kebab-focused Kebabwala, which is slated to open the following month. In Park Slope, a new, larger Masalawala will open in November and include a retail component. The pair’s existing restaurants are getting a refresh, too. Chef Vijay Kumar, previously of Michelin-starred Rasa in California, has been brought in to revamp the kitchen at Rahi with a menu of regional southern Indian food, to debut in September. Adda will be relocating to a larger spot a mile away and will get a liquor license.

These plans are incremental steps toward the pair’s overall goal of expanding “well beyond New York,” according to the report. “Until we really reach the heart of the country,” Mazumdar tells the Times, “I don’t think we can really move Indian cuisine forward.”