Atul Kochhar (born 31 August 1969) is an Indian-born, British-based chef and television personality. Kochhar was one of the first two Indian chefs to receive a

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

, awarded in London in 2001 whilst at Tamarind. He opened his own restaurant Benares, which won him a second Michelin star in 2007. Since then he has opened several other restaurants: Sindhu and Hawkyns in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and Indian Essence in

Petts Wood, Kent Petts is a surname and may be: * John Petts (artist) (1914–1991), Welsh artist * John Petts (footballer), English football player and manager * Judith Petts, British academic * Kusha Petts (1921–2003), British artist * Paul Petts (born 1950s), ...

. Kochhar makes regular appearances on television shows, and has written a number of cookbooks: ''Simple Indian'', ''Fish, Indian Style'', ''Curries of the World'', and ''30 Minute Curries''.

Early life

Kochhar was born in

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

, India, and began his cooking career at The Oberoi Group of hotels in India (1989–1994). He gained his diploma in Hotel Management from The Institute of Hotel Management Chennai. In June 1993 Kochhar graduated to the five star deluxe Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi. Here he worked as a sous chef in one of the five restaurants in the hotel supervising a staff of 18 and immediately raising the standards in the kitchen. In January 1994 Kochhar moved to the restaurant of chef Bernard Kunig. Kochhar continued his cooking career and in January 2001 at the age of 31, Kochhar was the first Indian chef to be awarded a

Restaurants

Kochhar was fired from London's Benares restaurant in 2018 after sending a series of anti-Islamic tweets to actress Priyanka Chopra. Kochhar's contract with JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Dubai was also terminated following these tweets. Kochhar opened the restaurant Kanishka in March 2019 on London's Maddox Street.

Media

Kochhar has been featured on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's television series

Million Pound Menu ''My Million Pound Menu'' is a BBC reality tv television series which ran from 2018-2019, where budding restauranteurs would present food concepts to a panel of investors in hopes of winning investment. It was presented by Fred Sirieix, a profess ...

. He previously presented a series called Curry on with Atul Kochhar on the B4U network and a series on Malaysia called Kochhar's Spice Kitchen. Kochhar appeared in

Masterchef Goes Large ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 20 ...

, season two and BBC2's Great British Menu in a bid to create a menu in honour of the Queen's 80th Birthday. He also appeared in Market Kitchen and Saturday Kitchen series 1–3.

Publications

* ''Fish, Indian Style'' (2008), Absolute, * ''Atul's Curries of the World'' (2013), Absolute, * ''Benares: Michelin Starred Cooking'' (2015), Absolute, * ''Simple Indian'' (2016), Quadrille, * ''30 Minute Curries'' (2017),

Absolute Press Absolute Press (renamed Bloomsbury Absolute in 2018) is a specialist food and drink publisher, founded by British publisher Jon Croft in 1979. Recipe collections from chefs In 1980 Absolute Press launched a series of cookery books featuring rec ...

, * ''Curry Everyday'' (2022),

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kochhar, Atul British people of Indian descent Academics of the University of West London Living people People from Jamshedpur Chefs of Indian cuisine British restaurateurs British chefs British television chefs 1969 births Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants