Years ago Tom told me about a guy who brought his family here from India who was the Maître D’ at The Pickwick Club. He was in pursuit of The American Dream, with a weekend Indian restaurant on the Westbank. Tom considered it the best Indian food in the area. I only went once with him and it was indeed a very good experience.
We were both excited for the Vilkhu family when they announced the opening of Saffron Nola in a happening dining row of Magazine Street. After 26 years on the Westbank and as caterers and a few years doing pop ups, this was an exciting development for them and for the restaurant scene. Diners didn’t have to make their way to the little strip mall on the Westbank to have the exciting food that Arvinder and his now-grown son Ashwin were offering in the new glamorous space Uptown.
Despite my enthusiasm about this development, I never made it to Saffron Nola until recently. In the early years of Saffron Nola, Tom would meet up with Mary Leigh there. It is a testament to the goodness of the place that our daughter, who is hardly an adventurous diner (she takes after her mom) loved every meal she had there.
Ashwin has recently opened a prix fixe tasting menu place across the street called The Kingsway, named for the street in Gretna where the family lived. That charming detail made me immediately want to go to The Kingsway, though for the reason I just mentioned I am hardly a candidate for such a committed way of dining.
But I am still planning a visit there, so I thought it a good idea to visit Saffron Nola first. The family dynamic is still in place, with the guys in the kitchen and the girls in the front of the house. We were warmly greeted at the door by Ashwin’s sister.
It’s a handsome place befitting the cuisine. A long bar makes up the left side of the space, and comfortable booths fill at least half of the seating in the dining room. The kitchen is in the rear and is open to passers-by on the way to the rear restrooms. There is a tiny patio that is not open for dining. Too bad. The kitchen and all these back areas are spotless.
We started with some Naan bread. There is a whole section devoted to breads and dips (sauces and condiments.) I’m not a fan of Pappadam, so we chose some flavored Naan: one each of the chile/cheese and garlic versions of the classic Indian bread. And kebabs are irresistible to me. If there is such a thing on a menu I will get it, so the Chicken Lasooni made the cut, and the other starter was the Curried Seafood Gumbo. For entrees Biryani was a given, and the Pork Vindaloo was selected by my usual method of process of elimination.
The Naan was pillowy and soft, but the most distinctive thing about it was the taste. Like Anton Ego in Ratatouille, I was immediately transported to the home of my youth when I tasted this Naan. I couldn’t identify the taste right away, but it was instantly familiar. It took a few bites, but it was identical to a taste in the home of my youth. It tasted exactly like the Pillsbury biscuits from the container we used to whack on the edge of the counter. I know this is a fine dining establishment that is doing everything in house, but closing my eyes and just tasting this Naan, I was flooded with memories of my childhood. And that was a sweet experience. I was so fascinated by this unexpected association that the added flavors of this bread escaped me.
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The kebabs were a beautiful sight. Simply plated, they had a lovely char in all the right places, and the shock of pink from the pickled onions popped on the plate. A small ramekin of the tomato masala was next to the kebabs. But these were hip kebabs, which means they were made with dark meat. I actually prefer dark meat to white meat, if I am eating it off the bone, but the word kebab suggests to me the same thing a chicken sandwich suggests, i.e., white meat. When dark meat is contorted in this way I get annoyed. I checked the menu for a warning, because I am notorious for not seeing important things on menus, but dark meat was not stated. They were delicious anyway, after we unrolled them. The tomato masala was pretty spicy, and the combination of kebab, sauce, and pillowy Naan was great. And pickled onions make everything better.
Seafood gumbo is becoming almost as ubiquitous lately as crispy Brussels sprouts, but this curried soup has been on this menu for as long as I have been paying attention. It came to the table as the most appetizimg visual. It glistened and bubbled with a glamorous sheen that made us want to dig in immediately. But those bubbles were a dire warning to wait. It was a while before it seemed safe to try it. The crab claw came out first, and that was a treat. I love when pieces of crab are part of a seafood gumbo. The spice level here was a hot as the temperature. This was a very nice gumbo, served with Basmati rice on the side, which we appreciated even though it needed the rice to mitigate the heat, both literally and figuratively.
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The Biryani came in a nice Staub Dutch oven. As I would expect in a hip restaurant, it came with a soft-boiled egg on top. I love eggs, but to me this trend of putting eggs on everything is weird. I don’t want the oozing of a soft yolk dripping down my hamburger, and I don’t want it on top of my Biryani. I ate it alone, as I always do in these instances. This was an enormous portion topped with a layer of extra-crispy fried onions over a deep bed of yellow rice. This was not the best version of Biryani I’ve had. The rice was a little mushy, maybe because of the quantity and the tight lid? There wasn’t as much chicken as we expected, until we dug all the way down. It was shredded and braised. And this was the spiciest version of Biryani I have had. We still loved it.
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The Vindaloo was a pretty plating too. The row of Basmati rice was lined up alongside the stew with one inch chunks of tender pork in a spicy sauce. A good version of this classic dish. Cilantro leaves were carefully placed on top as garnish.
Indian food is simple and unapologetically real with its vibrant spices, and eating it is a cultural journey as well as a culinary one. I look forward to exploring more of this food as a grateful bystander, celebrating the success of this American journey. I love this food, and this story.
