This Miami chef’s Indian restaurant is a hit in Kendall. Now it’s coming to Wynwood, too
Ghee Indian Kitchen, Kendall’s beloved Indian restaurant in Downtown Dadeland, is coming north once again.
The restaurant from Chef Niven Patel plans to open a second location in Wynwood by the end of 2024, according to Patel and his business his partner Mohamed Alkassar.
This is the third expansion for Ghee, which was named a Bib Gourmand by Michelin, a designation that means it serves good food at moderate prices. A second location in Miami’s Design District closed during the 2020 pandemic.
Fans of that Design District spot, Patel says, are a main part of the reason Wynwood was such an appealing location for a new Ghee.
“We had a really great client base in the Design District,” he says. “They miss having Ghee in that part of town. Anytime we’re on that side of town, guests are like, ‘You need to be on this side!’ I think that was the main driver.”
The new restaurant will be in the AMLI Wynwood apartment complex at 70 NW 25th St., which is scheduled to open soon. Alkassar, who estimates the new Ghee won’t open until fall, says Wynwood’s density should drive traffic to the restaurant, especially since by the end of the year many of the developments going up will be open and construction should ease.
“There’s a lot of foot traffic,” he says. “Ghee is one of those restaurants where you can dress up and go for a nice dinner, but it’s also great for walk-ins who want to grab a casual bite. We actually think we’re opening at the perfect time.”
The menu will be similar to what you’ll find at the Kendall Ghee, with a few new twists. The new restaurant will include a kebab grill to cook marinated meats and vegetables from Patel’s Homestead farm — and a ventanita from which to order them.
“We’re going to open the take-out window at night after we close and do late-night Indian street food,” Patel says. “You just come up to the window and order handheld things that are easy to eat.”
The new space will be larger than the Kendall Ghee, which gives Patel more flexibility in the kitchen, too. Recently he and Alkassar traveled to India, where they are having furniture made for the new restaurant.
But one important element of the original Ghee will be echoed at the new spot: the elephant mural. Patel and Alkassar have commissioned artist Matthew Ryan Herget to create an “evolution” of the famous Dadeland elephant, a design centerpiece at the Kendall restaurant.
The announcement of the new Ghee comes just months after Patel announced that he and Alkassar would no longer be operating their restaurants Orno and Mamey at the Thesis Hotel in Coral Gables. “It’s heartbreaking for me and my partner to part ways with two teams that we love so much, these restaurants are dear to our hearts and we’ll miss all our guests,” Patel wrote on Instagram.
Now, though, Alkassar is more philosophical about the loss, especially with the success of their two newest restaurants, the Italian spot Erba in Coral Gables, which was named one of the best new restaurants of 2023 by Esquire, and NiMo, a coastal Mediterranean spot in Tequesta in Palm Beach County.
“It’s the best thing to happen to us,” he says. “We’re sad to lose something that meant so much to us, but it helped us realign our values and propelled us forward.”
In the spirit of looking ahead, Alkassar and Patel dissolved their Alpareno Restaurant Group and have rebranded as FEAL Hospitality, as in short for “fealty,” as a reminder to “stay loyal to our values,” Alkassar says.
