Perfect Chemistry: Ajja Restaurant at Two Years

This Five Points establishment from Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler has cemented their importance on the local and national food scene.
by Catherine Currin | photography by Baxter Miller

On a typical night, Ajja is a-twinkle. Lanterns sway gently inside the covered patio, where the walls are populated with quirky art, objects and greenery. There’s a group around the fire pit, winding down with cocktails in hand. There may be a band tuning up on the stage, regulars chatting up the bartender and longtime servers, and Raleigh fixture Paul Siler, in one of his vintage button-ups and a neckerchief, roaming from table to table, welcoming guests in his self-defined role as “director of vibes.”

When chef Cheetie Kumar, along with her co-owner and husband Siler, opened Ajja two years ago, it was met with a mix of relief and, perhaps, skepticism. Many mourned the closing of Garland about a year prior, a critically acclaimed restaurant that ran on W. Martin Street from 2013 to 2022 and established Kumar as one one the preeminent chefs of the South. With its inventive, Indian-inspired menu and mosaic-mirror entrance, Garland somehow managed to serve both the nearby business crowd and the downtown cool kids. Sandwiched between music venue Kings above and bar Neptunes below (both of which were also owned by Kumar and Siler), Garland was part of a burgeoning downtown.

The pandemic slammed the breaks on that momentum. Garland closed, then reopened in a modified fashion, but eventually closed for good in 2022. In the meantime, Kumar was honing her voice within the industry, using her cachet to advocate for chefs and restaurant industry workers for fair pay and benefits during the pandemic — she even spoke in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business, arguing for a replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. “The pandemic shined a light on problems everyone knew about with restaurants,” says Siler. Kumar helped form the Independent Restaurant Coalition, an organization that lobbies for small restaurants across the United States, with the hope to sustain the current and future workforce of these unique spaces.

By early 2023, Siler and Kumar turned their focus to building a new restaurant, just a little outside downtown. “ When we acquired the space, it was coming out of the pandemic and we were a bit scarred from that,” says Kumar. “We felt this was a space where we could shift and adjust if we had to.” The move to a smaller commercial strip in Five Points mirrored larger trends, too: with more folks working from home than commuting to an office building, diners shifted more toward patronising neighborhood establishments, even as Raleigh continued to grow. “After running a large restaurant and venues for over a decade, it was a big shift to open such a small restaurant,” says Kumar. “Being within a neighborhood was totally different, too.”

Kumar, Siler and their team worked to create a vibrant respite in their new locale. Their space on Bickett Boulevard was originally shared with Anisette Bakery, with Ajja occupying the back of the building and patio. Soon after Ajja’s opening, Anisette closed and Ajja reconfigured their square footage to accommodate more indoor dining. “With that space coming available just after the restaurant opened, I think we ended up building the plane while we were flying it,” says Kumar.

Ajja is not a traditional restaurant, she says. To start with, there’s no front door: a bright, 60s-style mural welcomes guests as they stroll behind the building to Ajja’s host stand. Behind it sprawls a patio with covered seating, in addition to a lawn with fire pits, a cabana and a stage. Lush, green plants line the walkway and hang happily throughout the bar. Lanterns and trinkets are scattered from the ceiling and walls. The space is open and airy, yet feels intimate — like you’re tucked away somewhere far from the hustle and bustle of Raleigh, despite the skyline view.

The indoor dining room has several tables and bar seats to peek in on the action in the kitchen, but in many ways it’s secondary to the outdoor areas. Throughout, Ajja takes advantage of a chopped-up floor plan to create intimate areas for dining and gathering. “I love going to places where even if you’re around a lot of people, you’re in your little nook,” says Siler.

Ajja’s menu is full of Mediterranean, Asian and Middle Eastern influences, and Kumar and her team created an eclectic spread perfect for convivial dining and sharing. “The menu is a little bit modular. There’s these very distinct sections, but it’s never about the individual course, it’s really about the waves of food that hit your table,” says Kumar. Mix and match from the Dips & Spreads section with the mezze platter, complete with homemade bread (fans of Garland will find the warm Moroccan hummus a subtle nod to the downtown favorite). The Pickles ‘n’ Snacks options allow you to incorporate a seasonal pickled veggie or marinated olives for a briny addition to your plate, while the Market section offers seasonal vegetables like charred asparagus or coffee-roasted carrots.

Among the From the Grill selections are hearty dishes like a Harissa grilled shrimp with lentils and a lemon chicken cooked in a tagine, a traditional Moroccan clay pot. “There are a lot of different components of flavor that allow you to make your own experience with every bite,” says Kumar. “You can add a pickle for something crunchy and something spicy and there’s a little drizzle of honey with vegetables. It straddles so many flavor profiles and it’s fun to do that with a lot of little dishes on the table.”

Kumar notes that dining over shared dishes has become increasingly popular in the U.S. (in addition to Ajja, you can do it at other newer Raleigh spots like Madre and Figulina). But this communal menu has been a longtime tradition in many cultures, says Kumar: “A lot of the world eats that way.” Plus, the way they designed the menu — dishes coming out as they’re ready, in waves — fortuitously lends itself to the limited space they have in the kitchen.

Lindsay Ogden, who worked with Kumar and Siler at Garland, is at the bar’s helm integrating distinct cocktails and a curated wine list with the food menu. “I want the vibe of the cocktail list to be as lighthearted as the space, but as seriously tasty as the food menu,” Ogden says. “We fully embrace creativity and are not afraid to add unusual ingredients or flavors.” Among them: black garlic, sweet potatoes and sunflower milk.

“Much of our inspiration comes from smelling, tasting and experimenting with the spices and ingredients in the kitchen’s pantry,” Ogden says. “It’s very common to see myself or one of my bartenders standing in the kitchen, opening up spice jars and taking them back to the bar to experiment with.”

Ogden is currently loving head bartender Maile McNaughton’s milk punches, made with North Carolina-
stilled Kill Devil Spiced rum and Oak City Amaretto. The boozy punch is infused with cinnamon, banana, tamarind and lime, perfect for a patio or cabana hang. (The cabana, one of Siler’s many nooks at Ajja, is “your quirky uncle’s living room,” he says. The walls are lined with astroturf, adorned with eclectic art and Siler’s grandmother’s embroidery. “On paper, it seems kind of silly. But all together it feels really cool.”)

In addition to cocktails, the wine list is intentionally sourced. “I seek out small producers and underrepresented regions, as well as native grape varieties that are often passed over for the more recognizable ones,” says Ogden. “I am very proud to introduce folks to wines from places like Croatia and Cyprus, or from local producers who care as much about their employees as they do the environment.” Kumar says they also feature female winemakers as often as they can. “I think it’s super important in our industry to make sure that there’s gender, racial — all kinds of diversity,” she says.

“One of Cheetie’s goals in life is for fairness to happen,” articulates Siler. “She wants things to be as equitable and as fair as possible.” The Ajja leadership team is largely female, for example, but Kumar says that happened organically: “ I believe in having different perspectives and different strengths; it takes a lot of chemistry to make a good team.”

That chemistry seems to be working: since opening, Ajja has been nominated for a James Beard award and Kumar has twice been named a finalist for Best Chef: Southeast. Kumar also continues to advocate for small businesses and restaurants in North Carolina and beyond. She currently serves as the vice president for the Independent Restaurant Coalition and the Southern Foodways Alliance, as well as in a board position for the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA). “For a long time, places like Ajja didn’t have a voice on the big stage,” says Siler. “We should do what we can to fix that.”

That commitment to community is evident on the daily at Ajja. In addition to regular dining hours, Ajja hosts special events like a monthly makers market and live music, showcases of local talent that infuse energy into Raleigh’s creative scene.

The staff welcomes regulars by name and greets newcomers with interest, drawing each of its guests into its own little orbit. That’s part of the plan, says Siler: “We want coming here to eat to be a transportive experience — we want you to feel enveloped in Ajja.”