Sahar Siddiqi is the Chef de Cuisine of Chai Pani Decatur, the Indian street food restaurant known for changing the perception of Indian food in America. She is a first-generation Pakistani-American (or American-Pakistani, as her father insists) who grew up outside New York City, attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, and worked her way through renowned kitchens including State Bird Provisions in San Francisco and Atlas in Atlanta. Sahar came to the Chai Pani Restaurant Group in 2019 and two years later she was promoted to lead the kitchen as CDC. In 2023, the James Beard Foundation recognized Sahar as a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast. She currently lives in Atlanta’s EAV neighborhood with her spouse and two daughters.

Nick Barr became the Chef de Cuisine of Chai Pani Asheville in 2024, seven years after joining Chai Pani Restaurant Group. Growing up on the North Carolina coast then the piedmont, Nick began his restaurant and chef career in the mountains. After working nearly a decade with a restaurant chain, Nick became obsessed with local agriculture and left his job as General Manager to work in permaculture. Nick pursued a variety of agriculture endeavors like starting his own condiments business, delivery service and family CSA, before joining the kitchen team at Buxton Hall Barbecue in 2017. He was GM at the beloved Nani’s Piri Piri Chicken from 2020-2022, and then returned to lead the Buxton Hall kitchen for its final two years of service. Nick lives on his own Big Ivy Little Farm in Weaverville, NC, with his partner and their chickens, goats and homestead hogs.