Alnoor Savani, owner of the Lahore Tikka House on Gerrard Street East has died of heart failure at the age of 48. He spent years building his famous restaurant in stages, completing more construction whenever he had enough funds.
Over the years, we’ve watched his restaurant take shape, ever so slowly, but ever so steadily. Early on, customers filled tables in the outdoor parking lot, dining under improvised canopies. Even then, the place was very popular. Gradually, the place grew into a handsome two-storey landmark with an outdoor patio on top. It was our friend Neda’s absolute favourite place to eat on the Little India Strip… and Neda is a serious foodie.
How sad that Danica and I never got around to having a meal there. We always seemed to be waiting for the construction to be finished… and now that it is, the founder is gone. The best we can do now is go and dine there in tribute to one man’s persistence and entrepreneurship.
This is very sad – and I had no idea he was so young. Do you think his dream killed him?
Although he was obviously a hard working guy, I’d like to think he didn’t die young because of that. Perhaps he just had a sense that he wasn’t going to live to a ripe old age, and hurried to complete as much of his dream as he could before his time ran out.