M adhavi Reddy remem- bers peeking out from behind burlap gunny sacks of rice as she played hide-and-seek with her siblings. They giggled and ran among hundreds of bags, packed tightly with grains of rice grown on her family’s farm in Telangana, in southeastern India. Her family and the surrounding farmers raised the staple starch along with corn and peanuts. Each morning, she gazed out at the “lavish” rows of verdant crops as she walked by the buffalo and chickens to grab a mango from one of the many fruit trees. In college, she studied agriculture, busi- ness and marketing in Hyderabad, the big city southwest of the farm. Ideas percolated in her mind about what the future could hold — coming up with the hottest new snack for a big company or transitioning her family’s land to organic farming. “I always wanted to be in the field,” Reddy says. “I grew up looking at the crops, the nature.” Life had other plans. Later on, she married a physician whose job brought the couple to the United States. They started a family, and she settled into corporate IT work for the next two decades. But Reddy never lost sight of her passion for food. While still balancing her day job, Reddy opened the fast-casual restaurant and bakery Pastries N Chaat in Phoenix. She grew it into more than a dozen locations nationwide, and later opened an Indian grocery store, Raithu Bazaar, which has two Valley locations. She’d found success in food, but some- thing still gnawed at Reddy, a petite woman with long, ebony hair and soft eyes that seem to notice everything. “People used to say, ‘Hey, you don’t have a bar. Hey, you don’t have this,’” she says. “I wanted to bring this elevated cuisine on par with (the) American restaurant industry.” Looking at lists of the top restaurants in town, she didn’t see any Indian restaurants and recalls thinking, “Why can’t we have one?” Reddy set out to build her own. In 2022, she launched the elegant Indian restaurant Feringhee with chef Sujar Sarkar in a former outpost of Pastries N Chaat near Chandler Fashion Center. She transformed the rustic, homey restaurant into a dinner destination with peacock-blue paint and saffron-gold banquettes. “I really wanted to put Phoenix on the map for fine dining,” she says. Sarkar and the original head chef, Karan Mittal, crafted a menu that blended familiar Indian dishes with modern, some- times molecular, techniques and unex- pected ingredients like edamame and avocado. While some dishes were served in tradi- tional karahis and earthenware pots, others came ensconced in the billowing fog of dry ice or presented in halved coconut shells. Those jaw-dropping dishes were delivered to diners with white-glove service and paired with wine or colorful cocktails in the opulent jewel-toned dining room. Madhavi Reddy takes the cake for bringing elevated Indian food to the Valley. (Jason Luna) Setting the Table How one woman ushered Indian fine dining into Phoenix. By Sara Crocker 14 Aug 20th - Aug 26th, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS |
