9th May 2019
TV chef Atul Kochhar is to open a second central London restaurant, Mathura, in Westminster this autumn.
Named after a capital city of King Kanishka, an emperor of the Kushan dynasty in the second century, the 200-cover restaurant and bar will be housed in the former Westminster Fire Station in Greycoat Place. The 5,000 square foot site combines a converted grade II-listed building and a new-build, mixed-use residential project from development managers Alchemi Group.
Mathura is a joint-venture with Tina English, MD of Kanishka Holdings, with whom Kochhar opened Kanishka in Mayfair earlier this year.
Mathura’s menu will stay true to Kochhar’s signature Indian flair with “unique and unexpected elements” that will set it apart from his previous restaurants. Kochhar won a Michelin star at Tamarind in Mayfair in 2001, leaving to launch Benares in 2002, which was awarded its own Michelin star four years later and which he held until his departure last year.
He also operates a restaurant in Madrid, is an author and regularly appears on television, including as an investor in BBC Show My Million Pound Menu.