Atul Kochhar, who was the first ever Indian chef to win a coveted Michelin Star, is planning to launch a restaurant in Birmingham, MCA understands.
The chef, who currently operates seven restaurants across Europe, India and Dubai, is understood to be advanced talks to open a restaurant in the city’s Mailbox scheme.
It is thought that Kochhar plans to debut his NRI (‘Not Really Indian’) concept in the UK if he is successful in securing the site.
He currently operates a NRI restaurant in the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, India.
When discussing his inspiration for the concept, Kochhar said: “NRI is about Indian food that has travelled outside of the country. As people didn’t have access to the same ingredients they once used in India, dishes had to be adapted and adopt a new environment.”
Kochhar was the first Indian chef to receive a Michelin star, accomplished during his tenure as head chef at Tamarind in London in 2001, he then went on to open the highly acclaimed Benares Restaurant & Bar in Mayfair, for which he was awarded second Michelin star in 2007.
He also operates Sindhu, the fine-dining restaurant at the Macdonald Compleat Angler Hotel in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
