Bar Naan Welcomes Acclaimed Chef Valice Francis and Opens Monkey Bar Speakeasy in Brookfield

Despite being open since the end of 2023 and a positive reception from the get go, Brookfield’s Bar Naan was missing something.

If you ask its sibling duo owners, Regal and Renal Patel, and they’re honest about that.

“We’re not restaurant people,” Regal says. “My sister, my mom, and I were doing it. When we started, it was decent. Then, my mom came to help us, and it was good. Now? It’s much, much better.”

Coming from their family’s hotel business (and Regal was formerly an investor in Pieology Pizzeria), the Patels knew, even with limited restaurant experience, was that they needed a chef.

That’s where Valice Francis enters the picture.

Francis, for those unfamiliar with him, came to the states back in 2022 to be the executive chef of the New York City branch of one of the world’s most renowned Indian restaurants, Indian Accent, a place he says increased his restaurant knowledge big time.

“When I got to Indian Accent, it was the number one Indian in the world with locations in Delhi, London, and New York,” Francis says. “I worked on writing new menus, but learned a lot about cost, human resources, and operations.”

Later, Francis would wind up in San Francisco’s Rooh, a progressive Indian restaurant, that’s got plenty of cred behind it as well.

“When I was out there, this company called Farming Hope held a cooking competition out there (with a basket of mystery ingredients like on Chopped), and I won,” Francis says. “People started to take notice of me (asking to connect). I remember having 100 business cards and they all got handed out. I started getting recognized in the media, in magazines. (At Rooh), we eventually got a letter recognizing us in the Michelin Guide.”

Now, at the beginning of 2026, Francis is cooking on the opposite coast, at Bar Naan, all because, as Regal puts it, “I lied to get him here,” telling Francis he wanted to hire him to oversee the kitchens at all his family’s hotels.

“I had to convince him really hard to come here,” Regal explains. “We had no luck trying to find someone who fit on our own, so I used an agency, and his name popped up. I told him to give me a shot, to come here, to check it out just for one day. He flew out from San Francisco, came and left the same day. I don’t know, but something spoke to him. I even tried selling him on the great schools we have in Connecticut for his son. Maybe it’s because we want to do something different here instead of using this baseline of gravies and curries that Connecticut is used to serving, not all the chicken tikkas and butter chickens. He’s able to do what he does and create elevated Indian dishes like they do in New York and like he did in San Francisco.”

Francis simply replies to that with, “I like these two, though.”

But it’s more than that. He has freedom at Bar Naan to freely express himself through food. And even though Bar Naan could never remove chicken tikka masala from its menu for obvious reasons, Francis’ stamp, even just four-plus months in, is all over the menu in dishes both new and by tweaking existing favorites.

And because of the addition of Francis, Bar Naan is expanding.

Back through a portion of its kitchen there’s a two-night-per-week speakeasy called Monkey Bar, an idea Regal based on “when British and Indian people would meet in secret” during the 18th and 19th centuries during conflicts between the British East India Company and Indian states.

“It’s our own take on it, like what would they eat and what would a palace speakeasy even look like?” Regal says. “I wanted something exotic. The people that design our hotels, we hired them to do this custom monkey head fireplace, like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom vibes. It’s cool, but captures people’s minds, and the menu is all different from Bar Naan. The cocktails are emotionally driven with some theatrics, dry ice, crazy (some edible) garnishes.”

As far as the menu is concerned at Monkey Bar, think small, shareable plates, and for style, it’s American with hints of Indian influence that Francis describes as “familiar with a twist.” There’s fried chicken, but with tandoori spices; tuna tartare with mango and fennel, finished with sesame, daikon, and ponzu; and fall-off-the-bone braised, then fried pork ribs, glazed with raw mango honey.

To experience Monkey Bar, Francis’ menu, and what they’re mixing behind the bar, however, there’s a catch. First priority is given to friends, family, and good customers that have become friends. And there’s a Monkey Bar minted coin they were given that grants you access. But…if there’s a free seat or table and you’re a walk-in, they’ll absolutely welcome you back there with open arms.

For those with coins, you already know, but to those who want to swing by, Monkey Bar is open Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. until midnight, but if the party keeps going, they’ll host you until 2 a.m.

But none of this, Regal insists, would have even been possible without the addition of Francis.

“Getting him was the first step for Monkey Bar and bringing us into the future,” he says. “He’s slowly making what we have better at Bar Naan, too. I knew I needed a real chef. He had me bring in a charcoal tandoor and all this new kitchen equipment in. Everything is done here with Indian grains, Indian spices, our naan and paneer is homemade. The preparation that the kitchen staff does, it’s silly, insane stuff. Guys like Valice don’t like basic things. It’s an art for him. I want to make sure we’re considered one of the best restaurants in Connecticut. I want James Beard someday. (I opened this) to do something different around here. This isn’t cookie cutter and we’re not the same as any hole in the wall Indian restaurant.”

For both Regal and Francis, what they’re trying to also do is, despite still offering it, is to get people out of the mindset of continuously ordering chicken tikka, and to get you to try other things.

“Indian cuisine isn’t just about chicken tikka or tandoori chicken,” Francis says. “Every 100 miles in India, the language changes and the food changes. There’s a lot of variety in our cuisine. Our goal at Bar Naan is to make it those home cooked meals that your mother used to make, but better, and people are liking it.”

And pretty soon, Bar Naan is opening a second location in the former Taco Co. space in Shelton around late summer of 2026. And this location promises to offer the option of a tasting menu. Stay tuned.

15b Federal Road, Brookfield
475.237.5471, barnaanct.com

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