For the love of Indian food: Priyanka Chopra has a new restaurant in NYC

Indian actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas has her fingers in many pies these days. Along with running her new haircare line, Anomaly, and promoting her memoir Unfinished, she’s also entered the food industry.

The actor has signed on to be the creative collaborator for a new restaurant, SONA, in New York City. SONA is set to serve modern Indian food in a stylish setting.

“I’m thrilled to present to you SONA,” Chopra wrote on her Instagram account. “A new restaurant in NYC that I poured my love for Indian food into. SONA is the very embodiment of timeless India and the flavours I grew up with.”

“The kitchen is helmed by the incredible Chef Harinayak, a masterful talent, who has created the most delicious and innovative menu, taking you on a food journey through my amazing country,” she wrote.

What exactly does a creative collaborator do though? According to Vogue, Chopra played an integral role in deciding the look and feel of the restaurant alongside interior designer and stylist, Melissa Bowers.

“Priyanka didn’t want [the design] to be on-the-nose Indian,” said entrepreneur Manesh Goyal, co-owner of the new restaurant. “She knew how to make it uniquely Indian in certain ways, and Melissa was interpreting and hearing all of it.”

Interestingly, the restaurant’s name, SONA, was suggested by Chopra’s husband Nick jones. “We were grappling with a list of names, none of which were speaking to us,” Goyal told Vogue. “And then from the corner of the table, from a small kind of voice, Nick Jonas said, ‘What about Sona?’ And we all kind of look at Nick, and Priyanka looks at Nick, and says, ‘First, amazing, how do you even know that word?’ And he remembers it from their wedding, because he remembers gold and Sona being said, because obviously he was thrown into the culture in a big way.”

The restaurant will be ready to open its doors to the public on Friday, March 26. It will be interesting to see how Chopra's new venture pans out, especially during a global pandemic.