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, 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 and Indian Essence in Petts Wood, Kent. 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, India, and began his cooking career at

The Oberoi Group The Oberoi Group is an award-winning luxury hotel group with its head office in New Delhi, India. Founded in 1934, the company owns and operates 32 luxury hotels and two river cruise ships in 7 countries, primarily under its Oberoi Hotels & R ...

of hotels in India (1989–1994). He gained his diploma in Hotel Management from The Institute of Hotel Management

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. In June 1993 Kochhar graduated to the five star deluxe Oberoi Hotel in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

. Here he worked as a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the ...

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 Michelin star.

Restaurants

Kochhar was fired from London's Benares restaurant in 2018 after sending a series of anti-Islamic tweets to actress

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

. 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 Maddox Street is a street in the Mayfair area of London, extending from Regent Street to St George's, Hanover Square. History Maddox Street was completed in 1720. It was named after Sir Benjamin Maddox who owned the Millfield estate on which ...

Media

Kochhar has been featured on BBC2's television series Million Pound Menu. He previously presented a series called Curry on with Atul Kochhar on the

B4U network B4U is a television network focused on Bollywood based entertainment. The network operates the six channels B4U Music, B4U Movies, B4U Kadak, B4U Bhojpuri, B4U Aflam and B4U Plus which are at present available on more than 8 different satellit ...

and a series on

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

called Kochhar's Spice Kitchen. Kochhar appeared in Masterchef Goes Large, season two and BBC2's

Great British Menu ''Great British Menu'' is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet. Format Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, whe ...

in a bid to create a menu in honour of the Queen's 80th Birthday. He also appeared in

Market Kitchen ''Market Kitchen'' is a British cookery television programme, made by Optomen, that premiered on the Good Food channel in 2007. Presented by Rachel Allen, Amanda Lamb, Matt Tebbutt, Tom Parker Bowles and Matthew Fort, the programme concentr ...

and

Saturday Kitchen ''Saturday Kitchen Live'' is a British cookery programme, that is broadcast live on BBC One every Saturday between 10.00am and 11.30am produced by Cactus TV. History 2002–2003 After a pilot hosted by Ainsley Harriott on 14 April 2001, the ...

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

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