Saffron, from Chef Ashwin Vilkhu and his parents, Arvinder and Pardeep Vilkhu, is one of Uptown’s most popular dinner destinations. Vilkhu is adding to his family food legacy with the introduction of The Kingsway, 4201 Magazine St., a contemporary Asian fine dining restaurant, and an homage to Vilkhu’s third-culture upbringing. The four-course prix-fixe menu offers distinctive Chinese and Vietnamese flavors and techniques.
Saffron began as Vilkhu’s parents’ catering operation in Gretna in the 1990s before it started offering weekly meals from its location in a small strip mall. From there, Saffron and the Vilkhu’s vision expanded to Magazine St. and immediately became popular.
“When we opened on Magazine St. it was packed from day one and it still is,” Ashwin Vilkhu explains. “Because of the pop up on Friday nights we became popular and upheld the brand ever since.”
Vilkhu joined the family business in 2015 after Saffron had built a following from its weekly Gretna pop-ups. Before joining his family at Saffron, he boasted a culinary and bar background, working in fine dining and holding a master’s degree in hospitality.
He explains, “I wrote my thesis on what Saffron could be. It was a business plan from staff to food to equipment.”
After a long search for the perfect space, Saffron settled into the building at 4128 Magazine St. in 2017. The restaurant, which serves Indian food in a high-end atmosphere, has become one of the city’s most beloved establishments and has been recognized repeatedly by the James Beard Foundation.
It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that the Vikhus decided to expand their brand. They found the building for The Kingsway on Magazine St., not far from their first venture. Building renovations and adding their own touches to the restaurant took three years.
Vilkhu says, “Everything in the restaurant was intentional. From the doorknobs to the chairs to the food and beverages to the spoons. We recognize that every few years the market starts changing and the diner wants something different.”
The Kingsway is named after Kingsway Drive East in Terrytown, where the Vilkhus raised their family. Ashwin wanted to honor his family and childhood with the name. The Kingsway, an homage to the family’s Asian roots and the global cuisine that Ashwin grew up on. Ashwin and his sister became accustomed to their father’s delicious food, and he wanted to pay tribute to the fact that they share a passion for community and a diverse array of flavors and customs.
The pre-fixe menu is an homage to memories. The food that Arvinder used to cook was reimagined with a little more elegance and finesse, but at its core, it remains home cooking. One dish, Salt-Baked Shrimp with cabbage and onions, is inspired by a dish that used to be served at Kim Son, a now-shuttered Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant in Gretna, where the Vilkhus ate frequently. Another dish, Scallion Lamb with garlic, peppers, sesame, and red chili, is a boneless lamb leg sliced into strips. The dish is a tribute to Arvinder’s experience working in international hotels, where he learned to cook cuisine inspired by chefs and cultures from all over the world. The food is cooked in a wok, which lends it a distinctive flavor.
Other dishes include Duck Breast à L’Orange, Peking-style duck with honey and pineapple; Herbed Snapper with nuoc cham, dashi, peanuts, and shallots; and Izakaya Steak with shishito, katsuobushi, and mushroom.
“I know people want different flavors and different experiences, but instead of doing an ala cart menu of items, why not put eleven items on a menu and have them all be perfect?” he explains. “It’s a lot of pressure and more work to make eleven items perfectly versus forty-one items okay, but we want to give our guests and incredible experience with the best food and ambiance as possible.”
Colin Williams leads the beverage program through his signature culinary lens, while General Manager and Sommelier Taylor Adams has curated an extensive wine selection that complements the food’s bold, umami-rich flavors.
Vilkhu says, “Asian flavors aren’t that easy to pair with wine and cocktails because of the bold flavors. Colin and Taylor are doing a wonderful job of uplifting the food through beverage because we don’t want to neutralize the flavors. When everything is balanced it makes the food sing even more.”
Cocktails include Special Delivery, tequila, Thai tea cream, orange, lemon, lime, cream, egg white, and bitters; The King’s Way, gin, Asian pear cordial, Cocchi Americano, and dry vermouth; Night Market, black sesame-infused gin, passionfruit, roasted peanut, lime, and fish sauce; Red Gang Tailor, rye, plum wine, sweet vermouth, sherry and Szechuan pepper.
The Kingsway also offers an à la carte tableside tea service featuring a curated selection of Chinese and Taiwanese teas.
The Kingsway is open Tuesday through Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
