Pei Wei co-founder readies Indian-Asian venturePei Wei co-founder readies Indian-Asian venture

Ron Ruggless

DALLAS Mark H. Brezinski, a co-founder of the Pei Wei Asian Diner and Tin Star fast-casual concepts, said he plans to launch a chain of combination fast-casual/full-service Indian-Asian restaurants in December called Bengal Coast.

Brezinski, who sold his interest in his Pei Wei units back to parent company P.F. Chang's China Bistro earlier this year, has created Bengal Coast Restaurants LP to develop the new concept, starting with the prototype here.

The restaurant will devote about a quarter of its seating to fast-casual service, in which customers will order at a counter and the food will be delivered to their tables, and the remaining 75 percent, or about 120 seats, will offer table service. Bengal Coast also will have a full-service bar in the store, which is in the Oak Lawn section north of downtown Dallas and covers about 5,000 square feet.

Brezinski said both sides of the restaurant would serve the same menu with the same portions, prices and presentations. The fast-casual side, openly connected to the full-service restaurant, would have its own entrance for the convenience of patrons who want a quicker meal, he said.

“[The] expected average check is in the $15 to $18 range, with salads in the $10 range; sandwiches in the $9 range; stir-fries and curries in the $10 to $14 range; and kebabs in the $12 to $15 range,” Brezinski said. “A full selection of appetizers – from samosas to ‘small sticks’ kebabs to ‘little gem lettuce cups’ will be from $4 to $7.”

Brezinski said after seven years of focusing on Pei Wei’s Asian cuisine, he felt the public was ready for popularized Indian food. “I believe our culinary trends are leaning toward new and more flavorful spice blends,” he said. “The food can be lighter than the public currently perceives, and the chance to introduce these wonderful spices and flavors is a challenge I relish.”

Brezinski and his wife, Jana, traveled with a chef friend to Bangkok, Thailand; Mumbai, India; and London to get ideas for menu and decor.

“Our experience confirmed to me that this was the route I wanted to take in this new venture,” he said. “It is important to note that Bengal Coast will not be exclusively an Indian restaurant, and I describe it more as a fusion of Indian and Thai food with some Malaysian and Indonesian influences.”

Bengal Coast has hired Anupam Joglekar as executive chef. He is a Mumbai native and trained and worked with the Oberoi Hotel chain, serving as executive chef for 14 years. He most recently was executive chef at Mantra in Boston, an Indian-French fusion restaurant.

Bengal Coast also has hired Neville Panthaky, who was born and raised near New Delhi. Panthaky is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America who apprenticed and worked for two years at Tabla in New York City with chef Floyd Cardoz.  Panthaky most recently was chef de cuisine at Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa in San Diego.

Brezinski said he sees the first Bengal Coast, which will be located on the first floor of a multi-use high rise, as a “petri dish.”

“I see three possible growth elements: the fast-casual side by itself in tighter, more urban spaces; the full service in more suburban, full-service oriented locations; and the combination of both styles where space and demographics indicate the opportunity,” he said. “Having this flexibility may be key to spreading this new cuisine into more areas — providing, of course, that we can make the first one prove we have earned that opportunity.”

Brezinski said he delights in the entrepreneurial side of the restaurant business.

“Innovation requires some risk-taking,” he said, “but I am very confident that this risk is more calculated given the culinary trends and increasing consumer demand for ‘what’s next.’”