After running an Indian-cuisine catering business for nearly 10 years, Sangeeta Yadav set her sights on expanding her company to include an upscale Indian restaurant.
But arranging the financing was an elusive recipe.
She and her husband, Vijay considered several options. They looked at borrowing the small business administration but decided that path was too restrictive and require too much paperwork.
Meanwhile, the Yadavs found area banks couldn't relate their version.
"if we had wanted to open a steakhouse or a bojangles', they could have associated that," Vijay says.
Ultimate , the couple followed a common financing route for a small business -- they raised an undisclosed amount of money through family members and friends.
Sangeeta opened Saffron Indiana Cuisine in Ayrsley Town Center, on N.C. Highway 49 at interstate 485, last summer.
Saffron was built on the shoulders of the catering business Yadav started in 1996. Operating from 500-square foot kitchen on South Boulevard, her Sangeeta Indian Catering served wedding parties with crowds as large as 1,000 as well as providing food for a range of corporate gatherings.
She did the cooking herself, with Vijay and Friends helping with deliveries to banquet halls and hotels.
By 2001, Sangeeta was believed charlotte was ready for an Indian restaurant with an upscale flair. But as the mother of two teen-age girls and the owner of a busy catering operation , She didn,t have time to pursue that idea.
By 2006, however, the Yadav' older daughter had entered college. And Charlotte had experience an influx of Asians as well as newcomers from other parts of united states who also were familiar with Indian Cuisine.
"The timing was right," Sangeeta says of her decision to open Saffron and expand her company to eight employees.
The 3,000-square-foot restaurant is large enough to accommodate the Yadav's catering business and host gathering as well.
Each table features a white table cloth, stylish redwood chair, and a rose in a glass bowl. Sheer drapes grace the windows, one of which features a swing chair imported from India.
"This is just a vision we had," Sangeeta says. Fashionable Asian restaurant such as Saffron and Copper on East Boulevard are playing a key role in expanding Charlotte's dinning options, says Peter Reinhart, chef -on-assignment at local Johnson & Wales University campus.
He Says the Yadavs deserve credit for serving familiar Indian dishes "But with a contemporary twist and a presentation not easily found in other restaurant".
For a trip out of Ballantyne, try Saffron, an Indian Restaurant in Ayrsley on NC-49 Just off 1-485.
The Skinny on Charlotte's Best Restaurants
Having lived in the City of New York for nearly eight years, I had many chances to sample the cuisine of India. But I could never get past the Americanized versions of Tandoori chicken and curried salads...
Source : http://www.chfmag.com/PDF/11-07%20issue-low%20res.pdf (Refer Page 20) By Kelly Gray
Published on : November 2007
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