Prasad Chirnomula Opens Chef Driven Meal Delivery Service, Gourmet United

The former Easton Village Store on Sport Hill Road has a new tenant and it’s a chef you know.

Award winning chef, Prasad Chirnomula, and his business partner, Ron Berry, have transformed the space into Gourmet United, a takeout and delivery-based concept that, with Chirnomula involved, definitely features his lauded Indian cuisine alongside Mexican food under one roof.

Berry, who has had a long career in business development, marketing, analytics, entrepreneurship, and retail, said it took him and Chirnomula more than a few years to get Gourmet United up and running, dealing with permits and renovations, and because, as he puts it, “It’s two restaurants!”

You might be only half perplexed as it pertains to the double cuisine concept, but you shouldn’t be.

At Gourmet United, you’re welcome to order onsite, but it’ll cut down your wait time if you do so online.

Chirnomula’s Indian restaurants have popped up all over Connecticut for decades. We all remember all his Thali locations and we certainly know his namesake restaurant, Chef Prasad, in New Canaan that’s not just takeout, but occasional dine in, and plays host to chef collaboration multi-course tastings every month.

But Mexican? It’s not that farfetched.

Mole rojo with chicken and potatoes, rice & beans, flour tortillas (or corn, if you choose)

A heaping order of nachos with all the fixins - cheese, pickled jalapeños, black beans, pico de gallo, crema, and guacamole.

A trio of birria tacos made from slow-cooked brisket with consommé for dipping.

“I’ve always done Mexican,” Chirnomula says. “When I had successful restaurants in New Haven, Yale came to me and asked me to do it years ago (Oaxaca Kitchen). They made me an offer and put me in a space on College Street. I took some time off before opening that and went to Oaxaca to explore. Indian and Mexican are different styles of cooking, but have some similarities. I went to markets, worked with spices, chilis. Some of those spices aren’t new to me like cumin or nutmeg. They have their beans, we have ours. It’s a trend right now. Look at Masala y Maiz in Mexico City. The day we opened Gourmet United, The New York Times had an article that said Indian and Mexican go well together. It’s funky, fun stuff. Opening one kitchen is hard enough. This is two under one roof.”

The Indian food at Gourmet United shouldn’t take much explanation. Chirnomula’s been around a while and has a loyal following. He said you can expect many of the same dishes that are served in New Canaan, and executing those dishes and heading up the kitchen is Prashant Sharma, who Chirnomula says will take up a lot of his responsibilities after Gourmet United’s soft opening phase is over.

Prasad’s popular butter chicken

Tandoori grilled chicken kebab

On the other side of the kitchen, chef and consultant, Ivan Romero, formerly of Puerto Vallarta, now with his own consulting company, the Rosemary Group, is training the staff to rock out Mexican food like tacos, enchiladas, ceviche, burritos, moles, churros, and more.

Down the line, both Chirnomula and Berry plan to make homemade tortillas once they figure out demand and labor.

Fusion? Why not! As of press time, Gourmet United has already tinkered with some mashing of both of its cultures like with flatbreads. Think in terms of a naan crust, Mexican cheeses, and Indian toppings.

Samosa chaat - spiced potatoes, pastry, chickpeas, sweet & sour chutneys

One of Prasad’s favorite dishes is this spicy chicken 65 - crispy chunks of chickens, tempered curry leaves, green chilis, garlic.

And you’re probably thinking of a word…fusion, perhaps? That’s in the cards, too, and they’re already playing with it a bit.

“The flatbreads are naan with Indian toppings and Mexican cheeses,” Chirnomula says. “Just a little bit of fusion for now. Tacos are probably a natural progression, like we could do butter chicken tacos and more.”

For Chirnomula, the sizeable space also lends well to not only making fresh pressed tortillas in the near future, but they can grind large amounts of fresh spices, and it can be used for prep for his booming catering business.

As far as ordering is concerned, you can do it a bunch of ways; online, call it in, or in person. If you’re picking it up, pick it up when you’re told it’ll be ready. If not, delivery is available through Gourmet United’s website (it’ll come via Doordash) and you’ll find them on Doordash’s website or app, and through UberEats.

And even though it’s mostly takeout/delivery-based, Berry stresses that your food isn’t sitting under infrared lights.

“It’s all freshly made to order; your ticket comes in and your food gets made,” Berry says.

And…if you would like to stay and eat, there is a big back patio where you can chill and crush food at.

Chirnomula (middle) poses with chefs Ivan Romero (left) and Prashant Sharma

“It’s BYOB,” Berry continues. “Bring a batch of margaritas or whatever and call or order online ahead of time if you know you’re staying so you aren’t here waiting a half hour.”

If there’s one final teaser about Gourmet United, it involves Chef Prasad’s chef collabs. He’s adamant about trying that in Easton in some form, but he’s currently tinkering with the “how.”

We’ll tell you more when and if that happens.

440 Sport Hill Road, Easton
203.220.5050, gourmetunited.com