Victory Park to Get 2 New Restaurants from Group Behind Sanj; Signs Big Chef

The Tivona Group is the hospitality group behind Sanjh, an upscale Indian restaurant that opened in January 2024 and has leveled up Indian food's gastronomic footprint in North Texas.

This fall or winter, the group is opening a two-in-one concept that, instead of following trends and opening a restaurant with a speakeasy, they're designing a double-decker restaurant serving two different types of cuisine. Downstairs: Urban Italia. Upstairs: a resurrection of the Saffron Room.

Urban Italia, as its name suggests, will recreate the comforting and bold flavors of Italian-American cuisine.
Chef Carla Pellegrino will bring over 20 years of her culinary experience in New York, Las Vegas and Miami to the restaurant's kitchen. Pellegrino is known for blending heritage, technique and personality into her dishes. Here she intends to blend Old-World technique with New-World swagger. That means dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmesan and steak pizzaiola using the highest-quality ingredients and techniques.

Pellegrino trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York before making her U.S. debut at the critically acclaimed Baldoria in NYC. She's helmed Rao's Las Vegas and has gone on to launch multiple restaurants, including Bratalian, Bacio, Touché and Meatball Spot, all of which offer differing levels of her signature cuisine.
Urban Italia will be a 5,500-square-foot restaurant that can seat 250 guests inside or on the patio. The space was designed by Fusion AE, a local design firm, and aims for a bright, airy feel with natural wood, an indoor-outdoor bar, and a spacious patio.

Yangdup Lama, one of India's best mixologists, is behind the bar program. If you've ever had the drinks at Sanjh, you know that's something to get excited about. Lama is the mixologist for all of Tivona Group's concepts, so he'll be overseeing the creations upstairs at Saffron House as well.

Saffron House first opened in 2002 and thrived for nearly two decades before closing in 2019. It will be resurrected in this new space with a refreshed look and new energy. The bright, open and airy space, also designed by Fusion AE will seat 60 guests and serve modern Indian flavors alongside cherished classics from the original Saffron House.

Both restaurants will debut in Victory Park at 3030 Nowitzki Way and will be open for lunch and dinner.