Ravinder Bhogal is a food writer, restaurateur, British chef, journalist and stylist. She opened her first restaurant ''Jikoni'' in Marylebone, London in September 2016. Bhogal's work and food spans flavours and culinary traditions from the Far East, India & South Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Britain and she celebrates the idea of immigrant cuisine. Ravinder has written several cookbooks, and writes a regular monthly column for the FT Weekend and Guardian Feast. Bhogal is contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar, and regularly writes for The Observer Magazine, Guardian and Vogue online.

Early life

Born in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, Bhogal grew up in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Career

Books

Bhogal has authored three books. Her debut book ''Cook in Boots'' won the

Gourmand World Cookbook Award A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming particularly good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively. Etymolog ...

for the UK's Best First Cookbook and was awarded the first runners-up prize of the World's Best First Cookbook at the Paris Cookbook Fair in February 2010. The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards feature around 26,000 books from 136 countries. ''Cook in Boots'' was released in 2009 by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

. Jikoni: Proudly Inauthentic Recipes from an Immigrant Kitchen, (Bloomsbury July 2020) won the 2021 IACP Cookbook Award, was shortlisted for the André Simon Award and a Fortnum & Mason Award for Best Cookbook. Her latest, ''Comfort & Joy: Irresistible Pleasures from a Vegetarian Kitchen'' (Bloomsbury) was released on 25 May 2023. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' profiled Bhogal and ''Comfort & Joy''. Columnist

Avery Yale Kamila Avery Yale Kamila is an American journalist/ food writer and community organizer in the state of Maine. Kamila is ranked by polling firm YouGov as one of The Most Popular Columnists in America, Biography Kamila was born in Westminster, Massach ...

included ''Comfort & Joy'' on her list of the best plant-based books of 2023. Condé Naste Traveler writer Arati Menon profiled Bhogal and ''Comfort & Joy''. Fordham University included ''Comfort & Joy'' on its list of recommendations from its English faculty.

Television appearances

Bhogal made her first TV appearance when she won a competition in search of the new

Fanny Cradock Phyllis Nan Sortain Pechey (26 February 1909 – 27 December 1994), better known as Fanny Cradock, was an English restaurant critic, television cook and writer. She frequently appeared on television, at cookery demonstrations and in print with ...

, judged by

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

and Angela Hartnett on series 3 of '' The F Word'' in 2007. Ravinder travelled the world to investigate the journeys of different foods and farming practices in Channel 4's "Food: What's in your Basket" with co-host Jay Rayner and has also hosted ''Ravinder's Kitchen'', a culinary TV series that premiered in October 2013 on

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

Awards and achievements

Bhogal has twice been included in the Evening Standard Progress 1000 list as one of London's leading influencers of progress and diversity in the capital. Ravinder won the Asian Women of Achievement Award in Association with

RBS RBS may refer to: Arts and media * Grupo RBS, Brazilian media group ** RBS TV * Republic Broadcasting System (RBS TV), now GMA Network, owned by GMA Network Inc., Philippines * RBS TV (Latvia), a defunct Latvian television station * ''Red Band ...

in Media in 2013 a

for Best First Cookbook, and the 2021

IACP Cookbook Award The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

for Chefs and Restaurants. Her debut restaurant, Jikoni, was ranked in the top 100 UK Restaurants by the National Restaurant Awards and achieved a place in the

Michelin Guide 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 star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...

in the same year. Jikoni was more recently ranked No19 by Squaremeal in London’s Top 100 Restaurants 2022, and in Time Out’s Top 100 in 2023. In 2021 Jikoni was the first independent restaurant in the UK to be certified Carbon Neutral

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhogal, Ravinder Living people British television chefs British cookbook writers Year of birth missing (living people) British women food writers British people of Indian descent British people of Punjabi descent Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom British people of Indo-Kenyan descent