Ashwin Vilkhu

Coming Up

At The Kingsway in New Orleans, Ashwin Vilkhu worked as chef in a post that sharpens the read on his cooking: Modern Indian cuisine, built with refined technique and inventive flourishes. That work also moved into Pan-Asian dishes with a modern twist, giving the kitchen breadth without diffusing the point of view. The constant across the early record is precision, the kind that can hold in a polished dining room and on a busy pass. The Kingsway in New Orleans, LA gave Vilkhu a place to turn ideas into structure. In that setting, technique and imagination had to meet in public, and the result was a culinary identity able to move between Modern Indian cuisine and Pan-Asian dishes with a modern twist without losing coherence. The role matters here because it shows the shape of the work, not just the title on paper. Today, Ashwin is Head Chef of Saffron, Co-Executive Chef of Saffron NOLA, and chef of Sambongi Shoten. Those titles point to a working style built on precision and momentum, with responsibility carried across distinct kitchens rather than concentrated in one room. The list is brisk, but it reads as a single through-line: a chef keeping one point of view intact across multiple posts.

Where They Are Now

Vilkhu has continued that work across multiple current roles. He is listed as Head Chef at Saffron and Co-Executive Chef at Saffron NOLA, both in New Orleans, placing him in two named posts connected to the same city where The Kingsway formed a defining chapter. The city itself remains a kind of constant in his story, a place where his culinary language has been refined in parallel rooms and under different titles. Across these positions, the through-line is not a generic claim of range. It is visible in the named kitchens themselves: The Kingsway, Saffron NOLA, and Saffron. Each appears in his career not as atmosphere, but as a marker of role, city, and responsibility. There is a clear sense of continuity here, of a chef whose work is defined not by a single note but by the disciplined way he carries a point of view across settings.

In Their Words “The Kingsway also represents my first solo venture, where I truly felt like the king of the project, building a restaurant that reflects my vision.” “I love cooking with a wok for the 'wok hei' – the unique flavor it brings.”

Honors

Ashwin Vilkhu has received James Beard Foundation, Best New Restaurant (2018).