The Return of Max Chao
By CHARLES FERRUZZA
Sometimes in the restaurant business, a larger-than-life personality comes along who is so endearing and warm that his unique character transcends his dining room. Max Chao falls into that category. But the gregarious Chao has been missing in action from the local dining scene since he closed his last business, Ohana’s Hawaiian Barbecue, last year.
I’m happy to report the man is now back in business. Chao is serving as general manager for a new Indian bistro, Masala’s, scheduled to open in September.
Chao says he’s happy to be working for another owner for a change. Until now, he’s always worked for his family or himself. Unfortunately, at his last venture, Ohana’s Hawaiian Barbecue, neither the pineapple-marinated meats or the order-at-the-counter format did justice to either Max Chao’s personality or his distinctive cooking skills.
The Korean-born Chao – his family ran the New Peking Chinese Restaurant in Westport for years -- may be better-known to local diners for his previous restaurant, Max’s Noodles & More. That cozy little joint operated at 1728 Main Street until 2004, when the building that housed it was condemned to make way for a parking garage.
After moving out of that space, Chao leased space in Overland Park for Ohana’s, a quick-casual dining concept. Chao tinkered with the way food was served and even added some of the most popular noodle dishes from his previous restaurant, but Ohana had a tough time building a clientele. So Chao put the business up for sale.
That’s when his story took an interesting twist. “An Indian gentleman, Sudhir Dodda, wanted to buy my business to open an Indian restaurant,” Chao tells me. “But he liked my personality so much, he told me he’d only buy my business if I came with the deal. So I guess I was for sale too.”
A successful entrepreneur in the computer software business, Dodda is from a restaurant family in India and wanted to open a sit-down, elegant Indian venue in Overland Park. Chao says Dodda flew in Indian chefs from across the United States to interview before hiring Guru Kelam, who had been working in a restaurant in Atlanta. “Guru had been chef of a four-star hotel in India. We’ll have both northern and southern Indian cuisines,” Chao says.
And a few Indo-China recipes as well. The need for that became apparent when people started poking their heads in the front door and asking if this new Indian restaurant was going to offer Chinese fare, too. “But not traditional Chinese dishes,” Chao says. “Indo-Chinese, like chili chicken.”
The state-of-the-art tandoori ovens have been installed in the kitchen, and Chao and the staff have been doing test runs of the menu, which will feature the crispy, crepe-like dosas, goat stews and a wide array of vegetarian dishes. There will be a full bar too. But Max is most excited about not being the owner for a change.
“I was a little nervous at first,” he says. “I’ve never worked for anyone but my family or myself before. But I have a great relationship with the owner. We hit it off right away. And not having all the financial pressure on my shoulders has been a great relief. Now I can focus on the food and the service.”
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