A road in the U.S. city of Edison will now be called ‘Mehtani Way’ in recognition of an Indian American whose chain of restaurants has contributed to popularising Indian cuisine and enriching the culture and economy of the township.
The plaque of ‘Mehtani Way’ was unveiled by Jun Choi, the outgoing Mayor of the New Jersey city Edison, at a ceremony over the weekend in presence of Satish Mehtani, whose family runs a chain of Indian restaurants in New Jersey.
Noting that such a ceremonial honour is reserved for war veterans, Mr. Choi said: “It is the first time I am dedicating a street to an entrepreneur, Satish Mehtani, who has contributed to enrich the culture and economy of Edison Township“.
ADVERTISEMENT
Edison has one of the largest concentrations of Indian Americans in the country.
‘Mehtani Way’ connects Oak Tree Road to Moghul Restaurant at Oak Tree Centre Mall, in the part of Edison that is known as ‘Little India’ as it has more than 300 South Asian businesses over a stretch of two miles.
Mr. Mehtani arrived in the U.S. in March 1970 from India where he had won a ‘Gold Medal’ for the construction of an Indo-Swiss Training Centre for Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
ADVERTISEMENT
After working as an insurance agent for 20 years in New York, he ventured into restaurant business along with his wife Sneh and opened a chain of restaurants in New York and St Thomas, Virgin Island.
After establishing Moghul and Ming in Edison, Mr. Mehtani launched three more restaurants, Ming II , Mehndi , and SM23 , in Morristown, New Jersey.
He launched Edison Day Care Center in 2008 in partnership with Dinesh Patel to provide relief and comfort to the most vulnerable sections of the society — the seniors.
“I have done my best to help the needy in the community where I live and work,” said Mr. Mehtani.
Yashpaul Soi, former president of Federation of Indian Association (Tri-state), complimented Mr. Mehtani on his accomplishment and said that Mr. Mehtani family has served the Indian American community for more than 35 years.
“They have been actively involved in the democratic process in USA and played important role during presidential and gubernatorial elections in the country. Mehtanis have always supported cultural and social events of the community,” Mr. Soi said in a statement.