20th March 2018
Indian hospitality brand Chokhi Dhani is toopening its first international venue, in London, next month.
Opening in Battersea, South London, Chokhi Dhani, which has operated hotels, restaurants and resorts in India since 1990, will showcase dishes from Rajasthan as well as feature dishes from across the subcontinent.
Diners can expect an upstairs restaurant with ‘regal ambience’, as well as a more relaxed street food offering on the ground floor.
Dishes on the menu will include Potato Tikki, Twin Peas, Tandoori Foie Gras, Bamboo Seafood Pilau and Rajasthani Traditional Thali.
Overseeing the menu is Vishnu Natarajan who has spent nearly two decades travelling the world. As executive head chef for the acclaimed Carom in Soho, he saw the restaurant win a prestigious Harden’s award. Vishnu also teamed up with Michelin starred chef Atul Kochhar for an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos and was a leading training chef for Taj Group Hotels.
Working alongside Vishnu is Bhagwan Singh, an expert on Rajasthani cuisine. Bhagwan was most recently at the award winning Cinnamon Culture, but his two decades-long career has also seen him work at acclaimed venues Woodlands and Mint Leaf.
The Chokhi Dhani team will also include senior sous chef Mohammed Naseem Qureshi, latterly of Bombay Bustle in Mayfair and Lotus, and pastry chef Rakesh Sharma (Chutney Mary, Mint Leaf).
The restaurant is the brainchild of young chef, hotelier and entrepreneur Kriti Vaswani who is following in the footsteps of her father, Gul Vaswani, who launched the first Chokhi Dhani venue in Jaipur, Rajasthan in 1990.
Heading up the opening team is Dan Jelensek who has previously held positions at Maître D’ at Kaspar’s Seafood Bar & Grill at The Savoy; general manager at Benares by Atul Kochhar; F&B operations manager at W London and assistant general manager at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.