there are passionate people The restaurant owner and Sara Ali. Born to Egyptian parents and raised in Abu Dhabi, Ali earned a master's degree in engineering in Cairo before her then-husband took a job at GlobalFoundries. The couple moved to the Tokyo metropolitan area about eight years ago and worked their own jobs while raising two children. However, big changes were on the horizon.
“I was known to invite strangers (people from day care) into my house just to feed them,” Ali said. “Cooking is my passion. It's how I communicate and how I interact with people.” After sampling Ali's food, friends discovered that there was no authentic Middle Eastern food in the Saratoga area. He encouraged Ali to start a business.
Ali entered the farmers market scene in 2022 with her own brand, Sara's Kitchen. Eventually, she developed a cult following around her shawarma (beef, chicken, or falafel), sambosak (fried pastry stuffed with a savory filling), and hummus (made with Indian spices). Saratoga Spicy) and baklava (not to be confused with Greek baklava). But between Ali's market, catering, her job in engineering, and her children, she felt she was stretched too thin. “She started thinking about quitting her job and she felt it was worth a try,” she says. “I'm trying to break out of the Middle Eastern culture of becoming an engineer or a doctor. I've always catered to my parents' needs and wishes. I've never made a decision in my life. Being an engineer is… I loved it, but it wasn’t my passion.”
Unable to overcome the break with tradition in her marriage, Ali moved on alone and opened a permanent Sara's Kitchen in Wilton Mall last August. Since then, she has been on a rapid trajectory to stardom at her Saratoga restaurant.
At the time of writing, Ali was moving Sara's Kitchen from the mall to Broadway, taking over the space previously occupied by Whole Harvest. (Whole Harvest coincidentally will be taking over her location in the mall.) The restaurant will open with a walk-up counter, similar to Whole Harvest, and will have “comfortable seating.” Ali added. And it may eventually expand to include sit-down and late-night service. Evening service.
“I know 100 percent that I can do it,” Ali says. “My parents will be proud one day. Even if they aren't, I have an obligation to do what I want to do with this life — ultimately.”
