A new Indian restaurant is coming to Atlanta, and it's got Michelin cred. Ghee Indian Kitchen, which has two locations in Miami, will soon open in West Midtown. The new restaurant is to open in the 5,300-square-foot space in the Star Metals project (1050 Howell Mill Road, Suite 109), previously home to Wagamama.
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| Ghee Co-owners Niven Patel and Mo Alkassar - Official |
Chef Niven Patel, who spent three years as chef de cuisine at the James Beard award-winning Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, opened the first Ghee Indian Kitchen in Miami's Dadeland neighborhood in May 2017 before its immediate popularity led him to add a second location in Miami's Design District just six months later.
The restaurant gets its name from the clarified butter used in India for everything from cooking to medicinal cures. “Ghee' means 'pure' and has a symbolic meaning both spiritually and in the kitchen of an Indian home. I want to share with my guests true Indian cuisine with dishes that incorporate modern techniques with traditional Indian-style cooking,” Patel told the Miami New Times ahead of the Dadeland opening.
The Design District location closed in 2020 during the pandemic, but was replaced with a new location in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood this past December.
The restaurant's menu features "seasonal and contemporary spins on traditional fare." Ghee Indian Kitchen has been included in the Michelin Guide's Bib Gourmand each year from 2022 through 2025, according to its website.
Patel and business partner Mohamed "Mo" Alkassar are behind Ghee and several other concepts that comprise their restaurant group, Feal Hospitality. Other restaurants in the group include Erba Italian restaurant in Coral Gables, island-inspired Paya in Miami Beach, and Coastal Mediterranean spot NiMo in Tequesta, a village in Palm Beach County.
It's unclear if the group will be able to utilize it in the same way in Atlanta but "Rancho Patel," a two acre farm in Homestead, Florida is the primary source of produce for all Feal restaurants, according to the company's website.
Ghee at Star Metal marks the group's first foray into Atlanta, a move likely influenced by landlord Allen Morris Company, which is based in Miami.
Upscale Indian is an offering not currently found in West Midtown, but one that has found a following elsewhere in Atlanta. Tabla, which is described as an "Authentic Indian restaurant with a modern gourmet twist" has locations in Midtown and Buckhead. Atlantans will also recall Archa Becker's Bhojanic, which got its start in Decatur in 2003 before opening in Buckhead in 2012. The Decatur unit closed at the end of 2015 followed by the Buckhead restaurant in 2020 during the pandemic.
As a market, West Midtown has been hit especially hard by restaurant closures, with ToNeTo Atlanta having reported on more than a dozen in the area over the past eighteen months. Ghee joins upcoming neighbor Zeke's, a Haitian eatery backfilling Slim + Husky's Pizza, which closed this past September, as two of the first new ventures to open in place of recent closures.
When ToNeTo Atlanta visited the Ghee space earlier this week, we observed that the restaurant has already applied for its liquor license, with a source suggesting they may try to open before the end of the year.
Have you ever been to Ghee Indian Kitchen? Do you think Ghee Indian Kitchen will find success in West Midtown? What is your favorite West Midtown restaurant?
Please share your thoughts below.
3 comments:
Are any of these places doing any research on the Howell Mill area, to find out what people WANT? Or is it just... here's some open space, let's set up a shop and hope for the best? Because it's been like the Bermuda Triangle lately over there. Let's see... a lot of college kids in that area, the Interlock skews younger due to that bar and Puttshack, I wouldn't think that Indian would be the logical choice, it seems more of a older, family oriented cuisine.
Oh parking
Oh chiicken
Knowahyuisayion
Nah india
I’ll be intrigued how well they’ll succeed as West Midtown is very tough area for any restaurant - For it to become a destination spot, it has to have very far reaching client base. West Midtown is essentially a younger demographic, and may not be too attracted to an upscale restaurant. I’ll be watching.
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