Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter. To get the full newsletter every Wednesday, subscribe at sltrib.com/newsletters. Hello, Eaters! Lavanya Mahate, the entrepreneur behind the Saffron Valley chain of Indian restaurants along the Wasatch Front, told me she opened her group’s first high-end restaurant in September because, in part, “I was ready, I guess, for another project.” Central by Saffron Valley, at 454 E. 300 South near downtown Salt Lake City, isn’t just a project — it’s an experience. Central — in the building that used to be home to Faustina and later Stanza — is “elevated” compared to the cozy, family-style service at Saffron Valley’s locations. “The flavors are the same. Whatever we do, the flavors have to speak to the authenticity of the food,” Mahate said. “The presentation might be different, to appeal to the innovative and [to be] aesthetically pleasing.” For example, some dishes are served in a tiffin carrier, a stacked series of metal containers. The tiffins, she said, evoke the dabbawalas, a remarkable and mostly error-free system in Mumbai that transports thousands of lunches from homes to workplaces every day. The new restaurant, Mahate said, “really is a journey through India, a culinary journey. Our food is really inspired by all these places.” It’s a journey by train. The decor is inspired by India’s railways, which Mahate noted are an integral part of Indian society. As a child in India, Mahate said she regularly took the train, shuttling between her father in Andhra Pradesh and her mother in Chennai, about 400 miles apart. A mockup of an Indian Railways train dominates the center of the main dining area, with the front of the locomotive visible through the front windows. The clock above the train is modeled after the central clock in the Chennai train station, she said. Signs denoting train platforms jut out above the booths along the east wall. There’s an “emergency brake” handle patrons can pull. And a bar in the back evokes an old-style club car. (Central’s liquor license application is pending, Mahate said.) There’s a mezzanine area that can accommodate 80 banquet guests, and Mahate has ideas for turning the basement into a speakeasy. Mahate said their South Jordan restaurant, where the group started, can’t accommodate a large party, and the Sugar House location — where Mahate’s nonprofit RISE Culinary Institute is based — is too close to St. Ann Catholic Church to get a liquor license. (The Saffron Valley chain soon will be undergoing changes. Mahate said she split the restaurants with her husband in their divorce three years ago. She’s keeping the South Jordan and Sugar House locations. Her husband still operates the restaurants in the Avenues, Riverton and the University of Utah — though, she said, he will be changing the name.) The menu at Central spotlights dishes from different parts of India, with traditional dishes and modern variations. I sampled a few items chef Vignesh Kalai and his team prepared (such as the railway veg cutlets), and want to try more. I also had naan still warm out of the tandoori oven, which was an incredible experience. (Read on to the “Dish of the Week” to learn about one of my favorites.) Live deliciously, Sean Food News • Melanie Bjork-Jensen, a West Jordan nurse and part-time baker, won the season finale of Food Network’s “Halloween Baking Championship,” and the $25,000 top prize, with a chocolate-and-peanut-butter cake inspired by the fear of being crushed to death. I talked to Bjork-Jensen last week, and she opened up about feeling “imposter syndrome” among the other contestants. Look at the Instagram account for her business, Cake by Melanie, to see that she’s no imposter — and that, as the show’s producers told her, she’s “a hoot.” Openings: • Chomp Donuts & Coffee — which aspires to making “elevated” doughnuts, fresh with high-quality ingredients — will be open soon at 1612 W. Ute Blvd., in Park City’s Kimball Junction. The shop will serve Millcreek Coffee Roasters, and has a mobile doughnut truck for catering and delivery (in the Park City area). • After three years of selling ice cream at farmers markets and pop-up sites, Hidden Oak Gourmet Creamery has a brick-and-mortar location — in Church and State, at 370 S. 300 East in downtown Salt Lake City. The shop, which held its grand opening last week, specializes in French-style artisanal ice cream made from scratch. The shop is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (Hours may vary when Church and State is holding an event.) • One of Salt Lake City’s landmark dining spaces, the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building at 15 E. South Temple, is reopening soon. The Roof has started taking online reservations (at theroofslc.com) for its opening Nov. 14 and after. The restaurant boasts “unforgettable views and a culinary experience that’s uniquely Utah.” The Roof’s opening follows a renovation that also saw the opening in June of The Garden on the building’s ground floor. Closings: • Current Fish & Oyster, the high-end seafood restaurant at 279 E. 300 South in downtown Salt Lake City, will close next month, according to an Instagram story. Current opened in 2015, in a renovated brick building that once housed a car dealership and later an antique shop. “Thank you to everyone who was a part of this wonderful journey,” the Instagram message said. The restaurant’s last night is set for Nov. 8. • Chubby Baker, a doughnut business that highlights Asian-inspired flavors, will close all three of its locations on Nov. 9, owner Ying Nance announced on Instagram and Facebook on Sunday. Nance cited the “rising costs of goods, payroll and so many other expenses,” and her desire to spend time with her family. Chubby Baker has locations at 317 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City; 9470 S. Highland Drive, Sandy; and 1167 S. State St., Orem. Dish of the Week I’m usually neutral on biryani. At many Indian places I’ve dined, the traditional rice dish can be pretty bland, just something to sop up the curry. Central’s saffron fruit and nut biryani ($19), though, is a star dish in its own right. The mix of rice and vegetables, slow-cooked for hours, is a perfect mouthful — I would love to have the skill to caramelize onions to such a deep brown — and the aromatic spices are intoxicating. The cashews add a pliant bite and the raisins provide a pop of sweetness that make every forkful delightful.
