Indian-Mexican fusion restaurant opens in South Perry District

A new restaurant has opened in Spokane’s South Perry district that merges the cuisines of Mexico and India, offering everything from naan tacos to steak with masala compound butter.

Indicana, located at 1020 S. Perry St., celebrated its grand opening last week after a soft opening to test its menu. It is the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Chip Overstreet and chef Noreen Hiskey, who previously ran the popular Indian pop-up restaurant Inland Curry.

Overstreet said he met Hiskey, who served her popular Indian food every Thursday at Feast World Kitchen, several years ago.

“I was one of her best customers,” he said. “We ordered from her every Thursday. She was always creating foods from all regions of India. You never knew what you were going to get, but you knew it was going to be good.”

Hiskey describes herself as a passionate home cook who joined food groups to socialize after her daughter was born, then found herself doing pop-up cooking events. She was then asked to take over Inland Curry and she decided to take the plunge, encouraged by the fact that it was only one day a week.

“I thought it was good timing,” she said. “It was just enough to dip my toes in. It worked. I learned a lot.”

Hiskey loved experimenting with flavors and new ways to present traditional Indian food, so one day she sent Overstreet home with an experiment. It was a taco made with naan bread instead of a tortilla and the filling included Vindaloo -spiced pulled pork. Overstreet loved it, and more importantly, so did his son who was previously lukewarm toward Indian food.

“That was kind of the ‘aha’ moment,” he said.

He reached out to Hiskey and asked if she had thought of opening an Indian-Mexican fusion restaurant. He said if she was interested in the concept, he would love to be her business partner. The two worked together for two years to create and perfect the menu.

Overstreet grew up working in his grandfather’s restaurant, but had no business experience with one.

“I’ve never run a restaurant before, but I’m having fun and she’s having fun,” he said. “It’s been a dream for two years now and it’s finally coming to life.”

Hiskey said she was inspired to make her naan tacos, which are on the Indicana men u, by her non-Indian husband, who would often make his own makeshift tacos as he ate. She did a lot of research on Mexican and Indian food and was surprised to learn how similar the flavors are.

“I’m always looking for a new way to introduce people to Indian flavors,” she said.

Though she’s much busier now running a restaurant five days a week she said she was able to bring her whole Indian Curry team with her. She now has 15 employees. “I’m able to employ a full team,” she said. “They’re cooking, they know my flavors.”

Doing the soft launch was important because Hiskey wanted to do a final test of her recipes. “We tested it out and people loved it,” she said. “We wanted to get it really right before we launched it.”

Overstreet said he won’t be as involved now that the restaurant is up and running.

“I was here every night of the soft opening, but now I’m stepping back,” he said. “I’m chief taste-tester, very happily. I will never relinquish that role.”

Dinner at Indicana is an elevated dining experience with a full menu of appetizers, salads, soups and desserts, plus a full cocktail menu. One of the most popular dishes is banana leaf-wrapped salmon, which is marinated in a Yucatan style marinade and served with Kerala moilee, a South Indian style coconut stew. The salmon is charred on the grill, Hiskey said.

“The fish kind of poaches inside the leaf, making it very moist,” she said.

The fusion of Mexican and Indian flavors can also be seen in the desserts. The tres leches includes an Indian masala chai tea and the flourless Mexican chocolate torte has a hint of Kashmiri chili.

The restaurant has vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. There is also a children’s menu. Hiskey said she plans to open for lunch beginning in a few weeks with a more casual menu of tacos, burritos and bowls.