India
Sneh Metani was 23 years old when she left India for America in 1971.
"I wanted to see America. I was fascinated by it," she recalls. She slept and showered at the bus station the first few days after arrival in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Thereafter she held a variety of jobs, from beautician to airline sales representative, before she found her calling in 1983. That's when a friend offered her the chance to open an Indian restaurant at a Penta hotel in Manhattan.
Despite her complete lack of experience, Mehtani jumped at the opportunity, contacting friends in Delhi who owned a restaurant.
"I talked to them and said, 'If I do it, would you help?' They said, 'Yes, we will.' "
At that time, Indian food wasn't as popular in the U.S. as it is today. However, Mehtani's husband, a former engineer, was working in the insurance field and helped steer business to Moghul.
"The Indian doctors were coming from India at that time, and my husband used to sit at the airport and do their insurance," she says. "He met a lot of people, and between his people and my people, we started the business."
Mehtani
Restaurant Group Mehtani Restaurant Group boast an empire of nine New Jersey eating and drinking establishments, plus the catering and consulting business, Your Weddings. Catering takes her to venues as far-flung as Arizona, Michigan, Florida and Puerto Rico.
It's a family affair. Son Shaun runs three of the restaurants, and husband Satish handles finances and construction on new restaurants. Mehtani herself has a flair for designing interiors.
"I feel satisfied that I achieved what I wanted," she says. She also gives generously to charitable causes. "We did well, and we like to pay back to America," she says.