Archive 2024

Cynthia Shanmugalingam

Cynthia Shanmugalingam is a British-Sri Lankan Tamil cook who was born in England, visiting Sri Lanka in her childhood holidays and eating dishes adapted by her immigrant family at home. She is the author of “Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka” (Bloomsbury UK, 2022), which won the Fortnum and Mason’s Best Debut Cookery Book 2023, was named as a best cookbook of the year by the New York Times, LA Times, Chrissy Teigan, and Bon Appetit.

She is the chef-proprietor of the restaurant Rambutan, which opened in 2023 and was hailed as “dazzling” by the Financial Times, British Vogue and London’s Evening Standard.

Her cooking has a special focus on Jaffna where her family comes from, and has been featured in The Guardian, the BBC, The Times and We Present.

james lowe

James Lowe grew up in Brighton, Sussex, and moved to London aged 22. After changing his initial plans of wanting to become a pilot, he began working at The Wapping Project where he quickly found himself in the kitchen, inspired and excited by a regularly changing menu that made the most

He was determined to have his own restaurant by 30. James worked hard at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, Rob Weston’s La Trompette and Fergus Henderson’s St John. He needed to learn as much as he could and was able to work at high-achieving restaurants.

He was finally prepared to work alongside his friend Isaac McHale in a restaurant, The Ten Bells, Spitalfields.

O Tama Carey

O Tama Carey began her cooking career quite by accident after finding herself in a kitchen in London. Since then she has worked her way through kitchens learning to cook food of diverse cultures including French training at Bistro Moncur, a brief Japanese moment at Uchi lounge, Chinese at Billy Kwong and Italian, of sorts, at Berta. This was her first head chef role and where she could truly focus on working with small suppliers and seasonal produce. Berta won a Best New Restaurant award on opening and it was while here that Tama received her Time Out Chef of the Year award in 2014. In amongst her work in restaurants Tama has always dabbled in various side projects, she has: been involved in keeping bees to use their honey; been part of growing, killing and curing pigs for salumi making; taken pleasure in teaching classes; been a writer for a monthly seasonal ingredient column for SBS food online

Jeremy Lee

eremy, originally from Dundee, Scotland came from a family where home cooking of a high order was daily fare. His parents and grandmother taught him the mysteries of finding good produce through good shopping.

He joined the Hart brothers at Quo Vadis in Soho in early 2012, becoming Chef Proprietor of this venerable restaurant. Jeremy had previously manned the stoves of Blueprint Café on the first floor of the Design Museum, which Sir Terence Conran created on the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge. This singular cook has worked with such distinguished restaurateurs as Simon Hopkinson and Alastair Little, who all played a considerable part in the great resurgence of modern British cooking.

His menus reflect the seasons and are full of his favourite things, using produce expertly sourced from his enviable list of suppliers. Jay Rayner described him as a “rare phenomena in the London food world; a chap everyone agrees is a good thing.”

Karan Golkani

Karan grew up in Mumbai and moved to England in 2005 to study law at the University of Cambridge, later working as a Solicitor at a Magic Circle firm in the City of London. Even as a practising lawyer, Karan’s passion for food and hospitality never faded and he spent time at professional kitchens in his spare time and on weekends. In 2012, he left his legal career to move back to India to reconnect with Indian food and pursue a career in hospitality. A year later, after marrying Sunaina Sethi, Karan moved back to London. The Sethi siblings and Karan opened Hoppers, a Sri Lankan and South Indian restaurant on Frith Street, Soho in 2015 and he now oversees back and front of house operations at the Soho, Marylebone and King’s Cross locations.

Having spent a long time trying to find his way into the industry without being confined to the kitchen every day, not only has Karan found a role he’s perfectly suited to, he’s created one of London’s most popular restaurant concepts of the past ten years. Hoppers has helped shine a spotlight on a cuisine that Londoners knew far less about back in 2015, and that’s largely down to Karan’s creativity and passion.

Mark Hix

Mark is frequently lauded as one of Britain’s most eminent restaurateurs with an unrivalled knowledge of ingredients with provenance. He is an award-winning author and food writer with 12 cookbooks to his name, the latest of which, Hooked, regales stories of fishing from his childhood through to the present day. Previously a regular contributor to City AM and GQ, Mark was previously the food writer for The Independent on Saturday for 14 years. He now has a regular column in The Telegraph, Dorset Magazine and Marshwood Vale and a weekly cookery show on Lyme Bay Radio. He was recently appointed Director of Food and Drink at London’s Groucho Club.

Mark opened The Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis in July 2020 as well as launching his HIX Oyster & Fish Truck in Morcombelake, which sold wet fish and seafood from Lyme Bay Reserve fishermen during lock downs. He opened The Fox Inn pub in Corscombe in December 2020 but sadly due to the continuing challenges in the industry the pub closed on 17th July 2022.

Mark received an MBE for his services to hospitality in the New Years’ Honours list 2017. Mark has a weekly recipe column in The Telegraph.

Rishi Naleendra

Rishi Naleendra hailing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, emerged as a prominent figure in global gastronomy. After training at the William Anglis Institute in Melbourne, Australia. He honed his skills in esteemed restaurants like “Taxi Dining Room” and “Tetsuya’s”. Relocating to Singapore in 2014, he earned a Michelin Star for the “Macalister Mansion” in 2016, making history as the first Sri Lankan chef with such recognition.

In 2016, Naleendra opened “Cheek by Jowl”, specializing in contemporary Australian cuisine, achieving a Michelin Star within a year. Collaborating with his wife, he launched “Cloudstreet” in 2019, blending Sri Lankan and Australian flavors, earing two Michelin Stars in 2021. Beyond these, he owns the casual Sri Lankan restaurant “Kotuwa” and rebranded wine bar Fool, formerly Cheek Bistro, which closed in August 2021. Rishi Naleendra’s culinary ventures solidify his standing as a trailblazer in the international culinary landscape.

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn is a chef, restaurateur, cookery school owner and teacher, TV presenter and personality. He co-owns the Tannery Restaurant and Townhouse in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford with his wife, Máire, which opened in 1997. In 2008, they opened the Tannery Cookery School.

Paul has been a regular on Irish and international television with numerous successful shows, including Lords and Ladles and Paul Flynn’s Food Truck Favourites. Paul has also been the cookery writer for the Irish Times on two occasions: from 2000 to 2004 and from 2019 to 2022.

When Paul isn’t in the kitchen or at a music festival, he’s probably hopping on a plane for a new adventure. Who knows, he may even write more about his travels someday.

hari nayak

Hari Nayak is more than a chef, today he is a restaurateur, author as well as a culinary consultant based in New York City. Hari Nayak started his epicurean journey from the Culinary Institute of America and today, he is one of the most sought after Indian chefs for his unique style. After working in India then traveling to the culinary institute, he went on to work in restaurants in the New York metro area.

Though Chef Hari is one of the world’s most famous Indian chefs today, his skills extend far beyond the kitchen. A savvy restaurateur, Hari Nayak is responsible for the operation and success of several restaurants worldwide.

Also a cookbook author of the 7 bestselling books like Modern Indian Cooking and My Indian Kitchen.

Mandy Yin

Mandy Yin is Malaysian-born Chinese of Peranakan Nyonya heritage. She moved from Kuala Lumpur to London as a child and later became a corporate lawyer in the City. She eventually gave this up for a career in food. Her life goal is to showcase Malaysian food whilst being accessible to all. Spicy, powerful flavours are her calling card.

Mandy started off small with a street food stall in 2013 before pursuing her laksa bar as a pop up concept. She has steadily built a loyal following for her unique dishes, drawing on her food memories of growing up in Kuala Lumpur mixed in with her London favourites and travel inspirations.

After a series of sell-out runs for her pop up laksa bar across London, Mandy opened her flagship restaurant in Highbury, Islington in 2018 to critical acclaim for her signature Peranakan Nyonya curry laksa.

Peter Kuruvita

Peter Kuruvita began his love affair with food and passion for cooking in the traditional kitchen of his ancestral home in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Spanning 4 decades as an award-winning chef and restaurateur, Peter has expanded his career to encompass the roles of TV presenter, author, industry speaker, tour guide and food & beverage consultant.

Peter is well known for establishing Sydney’s iconic Flying Fish Restaurant & Bar which he opened in 2004, and successfully led the kitchen team as Executive Chef for 8 years.

In May 2013, Peter moved his family to beautiful Noosa and opened Noosa Beach Houseon vibrant Hastings Street. Featuring the stunning produce and seafood of the Sunshine Coast, the menu is infused with his signature Sri Lankan spice and world flavours. After 8 successful years at the helm of Noosa Beach House, Peter is farewelled his partnership with Sofitel Noosa Pacific Hotel to operate his latest project, Alba By Kuruvita, which opened December 2021 in Noosa Heads. The beautifully designed venue combines a restaurant and cocktail bar, pizzeria and providore. The venue also hosts ALBA Chef’s Kitchen, a creative space that hosts cooking classes, private chefs’ tables, and a kitchen studio.

Programme

We are proud to present our programme, a meticulously curated selection of world-class chefs who are redefining the boundaries of culinary artistry. In this program, you’ll have the opportunity to witness these maestros in action, from dazzling cooking demonstrations to exclusive dining experiences.