Southeastern Wisconsin’s ethnic food scene will welcome a Himalayan flavor this summer with the opening of The Cheel in downtown Thiensville on July 19.
Owned by husband and wife entrepreneurial team Jesse and Barkha Daily, The Cheel will serve both American and Nepalese dishes with both locally-sourced ingredients and ingredients directly from Nepal.
While American dishes on the menu will feature “a Himalayan twist,” according to the owners, Himalayan fare will feature flavors from Nepali, Tibetan, Burmese and North Indian cultures.
The restaurant’s menu follows the mantra “flavors from the Himalayas to the Rockies,” the owners said.
Recipes for the Himalayan dishes will come from the family traditions of Barkha, who is a native of Kathmandu, Nepal, with parents who grew up in India and Burma.
“Nepali food is known for its pure, intense flavors. I think it’s the mountain air and soil, a Himalayan terroir, which give our dishes their signature taste,” Barkha said. “But it’s also the ancient food preparation techniques my mother practiced and taught me that are instrumental in coaxing out their bold essence.”
Anchoring the Himalayan small plates and entrees will be momo, a Nepalese dumpling that is filled with seasoned meats and raw vegetables and steamed, baked or sautéed.
On the beverage side of the menu, The Cheel will serve a variety of cocktails celebrating the 1930s, when the building housing the restaurant was converted into a bar as Prohibition was abolished in 1933.
The Cheel will be located in a three-story, 1,600-square foot space at 105 S. Main St. in downtown Thiensville along its main thoroughfare. The space dates back to the 1890s and has been home to several restaurants and businesses throughout its history. Since Jesse and Barkha purchased the building last October, they have been renovating both its interior and exterior in preparation to open The Cheel.
While the interior will boast traditional décor from Nepal and will offer patrons a cozy, relaxed atmosphere, the exterior will be marked by a steeple topped by a bronze eagle. The eagle will serve as a reference to cheel’s English translation to “eagle.” Once the decorative eagle is placed on top of the building, the restaurant will be close to the tallest structure in Thiensville, according to Jesse.
“We’re hoping it’s going to be the flagship of the Thiensville/Mequon area,” said Jesse, who is also a partner at Core Consulting, LLC, in Thiensville.
And by opening their restaurant on such a visible corner of Thiensville, Jesse and Barkha aim to draw more traffic and patrons to the area, which has struggled to spur business development in the past 15 years.
“We want to put Thiensville on the map,” Barkha said. “That’s one of our goals.”
“People really don’t’ know Thiensville,” she said. “The best thing they know is Mequon. We want to showcase what Thiensville has to offer.”
For more information on The Cheel, visit the restaurant’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thecheel.
