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So Amrita Jogi and her husband, Manish Kumar, opened a small intimate Indian restaurant in Milwaukee, WI, last year with extended family.
But they live near the Jersey Shore in Millstone and wanted to bring the ambiance and vibe of New York City —where Manish still works in fashion — to Monmouth County, Jogi told Daily Voice.
Their new, second restaurant, also called Saffron, will open on Friday, Dec. 15 on West Front Street in Red Bank.
They are business partners with Manish's brother, Hanish Kumar, and Hanish's wife, Fatima Kumar of Milwaukee. "We have a good workflow going between the four of us," Jogi said.
"The whole vibe is so different in New York and I love that," Jogi said. "I wanted to bring that to Jersey. . . .I wanted to have a modern, royal vibe so that when people walk in they feel like royalty."
The interior design features accents of gold, hand-painted murals, and marble tables, which were hand-selected to give this space a modern facelift.
"Everything was done from scratch," Jogi said.
All four commute between Milwaukee and New Jersey as does Executive Chef Abhishek Patil. (They have four other chefs at each location with their own niche dishes.)
The vibe is as rich as the food Saffron wants guests to indulge in.
The signature dish is saffron butter chicken. They'll also serve crab dosa which is like a savory crepe. Jogi loves seafood and when people think about Indian food they don't associate it with seafood. "So we wanted to change that," she said.
And they'll serve smoked lamb chops which is one of her husband's favorite dishes.
Chef Patil has developed a menu that pushes the boundaries of Indian cuisine by incorporating Western techniques and flavors India offers from all its regions and presenting them to audiences who may have never tried Indian food before.
Jogi said it was easy for her to transition from fashion to food since she loves to host and feed people. "I want it to feel like they're walking into my home and I'm taking care of them."
Saffron is replacing Front Street Trattoria, which closed in 2020 after 35 years in business.
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