RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina is home to 11 semifinalists for the 2023 James Beard Awards.

Preeti Waas is in the running for the best chef in the Southeast. This comes less than a year after she opened her Raleigh restaurant, Cheeni Indian Food Emporium.

What You Need To Know

  • North Carolina is home to 11 semifinalists for the 2023 James Beard Awards

  • Preeti Waas, owner of Cheeni Indian Food Emporium in Raleigh, is up for best chef in the Southeast

  • Waas believes this opportunity could give Indian food the recognition it deserves

Fresh naan is a staple at Cheeni. 

“I love it because it's like this lovely, sticky, bubbly, fluffy kind of dough and bread,” Waas said.

In May, it’ll be one year since Waas opened the restaurant.

“What we are is a homestyle Indian cafe, small little kitchen. We make everything from scratch. We bake everything here because we are a bakery as well, which is unusual to find in an Indian restaurant or a cafe,” Waas said. “I love feeding people. Nothing makes me happier.”

She had two cafes before this but says she wasn’t truly embracing the meals she grew up eating until she opened Cheeni.

“I had never served Indian food before. It was always American, baked goods. I felt comfortable trying to assimilate. Turns out that I wasn't comfortable with that at all. I never really started cooking my heart out until I started cooking the foods of my childhood,” Waas said.

Nine months after opening, she was announced as a James Beard Award semifinalist for best chef in the Southeast. She says she didn’t even know she was nominated for the award, applauding her for sharing the cuisine she’s so deeply connected to.

“Something that I shied away for so long about myself and now to be recognized for it, celebrated even,” Waas said.

Waas believes this opportunity gives her a larger platform to share Indian food with even more people, which in turn could change the way it’s perceived.

“Food that doesn't belong to America is still seen as ‘other’ or coming from a different country, which it is. Most food in America is from another country. Indian food has not fully been absorbed into the American fabric yet,” Waas said. “The Indian food experience has been downgraded so much in the U.S., in my opinion. I want people to walk in and feel like, ‘Oh, this is not like any other Indian restaurant I've been to,’ because it isn’t. Especially when people look at our menu and don't see the familiar offerings.”

When people leave Cheeni, she hopes they walk away with more than just a full belly, embracing the contributions different cultures have.

“I choose to represent the best of India within the walls of Cheeni, and that is hospitality, great food, camaraderie, respect for one another,” Waas said.

The Saturday after the semifinalists were announced, Waas says they served four times the amount of people for dinner than they usually do.

Cheeni Indian Food Emporium is at 1141 Falls River Ave., Ste. 124, Raleigh, NC 27614. Reservations are not required and seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Nominees for the James Beard Awards will be announced March 29 and winners will be celebrated on June 5.