Suvir Saran, who was the first chef in the U.S. to get a Michelin star for an Indian restaurant, has inked a deal for a huge new restaurant space in the base of the new NeMa building on 10th Street, across from Twitter HQ. Saran, who's openly gay and a practicing vegetarian, appeared on the same season of Top Chef Masters two years ago with local chef Traci Des Jardins, and today he tells the Chron that he's been "dreaming of San Francisco" from his farm in upstate New York, which he shares with his partner Charlie.

It sounds like Saran will be taking up residence, at least part time, here in S.F., in the NeMa building itself. And it was local chef and author Joyce Goldstein who convinced him to choose S.F. for his next restaurant, instead of L.A., saying, "Kiddo, you're not doing it in L.A. If you want people to eat delicious food, come to San Francisco."

Saran left his restaurant Devi in Manhattan in 2012 and has been working on this deal for some time. He says the unnamed restaurant will be farm-to-table Californian, but through an Indian lens. Or, as he puts it, "the food of the planet, through my Indian eyes." Saran cooked meat on Top Chef Masters, and there will most certainly be meat on the menu at the new spot.

And the place will be huge: 9,000 square feet with a big bar and about 120 seats, hopefully opening by spring or summer 2014.

Saran is joining some good company in the neighborhood, with the AQ guys already signed on top open a big new brasserie, Bon Marché, in the Twitter building, maybe by late next year, and Coi chef Daniel Patterson opening Alta CA on the other side of Market, perhaps by later this year or early next.

[Chron]
[Inside Scoop SF]