Atul Kochhar’s officially one of UK’s top chefs. His ‘Benaras’ is out to rival some of Britain’s best Indian restaurants.
He’s officially one of UK’s top chefs. Atul Kochhar shot into the limelight when he participated in BBC’s television series ‘Great British Menu’, where UK’s chefs competed to cook for the Queen on her 80th birthday that was on June 17. What’s more, by the age of 31, he became the first Indian chef to be awarded the Michelin Star.
Cooking, for Kochhar, runs in the family. “My family is made of good cooks — my father, mother, sisters, aunts and uncles — they are all great cooks. My father ran a catering business in Jamshedpur and I learnt my food in his kitchens,” he says.
Currently running an Indian restaurant, Benaras, he was earlier appointed head chef of the popular London restaurant Tamarind. Kochhar admits that the ‘Great British Menu’ has helped his business. “Though we’ve been doing well, the show and the limelight sure has helped!” he says. Born in Jamshedpur and having trained at the Oberoi School of Management, Kochhar travels to the country at least twice a year to see his parents at Ghaziabad. “I love to eat out when I am there and I think street food of India is the best in the world.”
Back ‘home’ in London, Benaras has been host to the Bachchans, Arjun Singh, Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Val Kilmer, Prince Charles and his sons, chef Gordon Ramsay, chef Manjeet Singh Gill, Kenny Rogers, Boney Kapoor and Sridevi. Unfortunately his favourite pair from Bollywood — Dharmendra and Hema Malini — haven’t eaten there yet. “I’d love to cook for them. I feel guilty because once they showed up at the restaurant and we couldn’t accommodate them as we were fully booked,” he says.
Kochhar is now looking to doing a television show in UK and India but till then, he says, “My next cookbook will be on seafood.”When he’s not cooking, he’s chilling with family. “I get very little family time so I keep weekends free for my wife Deepti and kids, three-year-old Amisha and two-month-old Arjun.”
r_preeti@dnaindia.net
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