Nisha Katona

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Nisha Katona
MBE
Nisha Katona sourcing supplies for Mowgli Street Food recipes.jpg
Nisha Katona
Born (1971-10-23) 23 October 1971 (age 49)
Ormskirk, England, UK
Spouse(s)Zoltan Katona
Children2
Culinary career
Cooking styleIndian
Current restaurant(s)

Nisha Katona, MBE (born 23 October 1971) is a British chef. She is the founder of Mowgli Street Food restaurants and the Mowgli Trust charity, a food writer, television presenter, she was a child protection barrister for 20 years.

Career[]

Katona worked full-time as a child protection barrister for 20 years on the Northern Circuit.[1] In 2008 the Department of Culture, Media and Sport appointed her trustee of National Museums Liverpool and in 2009 she was appointed by the Cabinet Office, Ambassador for Diversity in Public Appointments.[2] She then switched to teaching about Indian cuisine.[3] She founded Mowgli Street Food restaurants in the UK, and also founded and chairs the Mowgli Trust, which donates over £300,000 to local and world charities every year.[4][5][6]

Katona is the author of three cookbooks: Pimp My Rice, The Spice Tree, and The Mowgli Street Food: Authentic Indian Street Food. Her fourth book, The 30-Minute Mowgli will be released on November 9, 2021. She founded Mowgli Street Food restaurants in the UK.[7] She regularly appears on television and radio including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Food Network, and Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet.

On January 1, 2022 Katona was appointed the sixth Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University. She is the first alumni of the University to become Chancellor and replaces Sir Brian Leveson who will become Emeritus Chancellor.[8]

Early life[]

Katona grew up in Ormskirk. She studied at Scarisbrick Hall School and, after a law degree from Liverpool John Moores University, qualified in 1996 as a barrister at the Inns of Court School of Law, and is a member of Lincoln's Inn.[9]

She worked full-time as a Barrister[10] in Liverpool's Chavasse Court Chambers. In 2008 the Department of Culture, Media and Sport appointed Nisha as a trustee of National Museums Liverpool where she sat on full board, along with Audit and Marketing. In 2009 the Cabinet Office appointed her Ambassador for Diversity in Public Appointments.

Television[]

Nisha films regularly for the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and The Food Network. Appearances have been on Lorraine, Sunday Brunch,[7] Secret Chef, My Kitchen Rules, My Spice Kitchen and her own Indian food travelogue for the BBC Recipes that made me.

She regularly appears as guest chef on This Morning - ITV,[11] guest panelist on The Kitchen Cabinet - BBC Radio 4, and on BBC and Sky News as a guest expert on matters relating to business and hospitality.

On 14 February 2021, a 10-part culinary travel series called A Taste of Italy premiered on Channel 4 and More 4, and presented by Katona.[12]

On 16 March 2021, she was a guest judge on the Interior Design Masters semi-final in which the designers made over a pair of restaurants in Hebden Bridge.[13]

On 6 September 2021, it was announced that Katona will be one of the members of the new judging panel of Great British Menu joinin former GBM champion Tom Kerridge, and comedian and food podcaster Ed Gamble.[14]

Books[]

Restaurants[]

Mowgli Street Food restaurants
Location Opened
Mowgli, Bold Street, Liverpool 2014
Mowgli, Corn Exchange, Manchester 2015
Mowgli, Water Street, Liverpool 2016
Mowgli, Grand Central, Birmingham 2017
Mowgli, Westgate, Oxford 2018
Mowgli, Stoney Street, Nottingham 2018
Mowgli, University Green, Manchester 2019
Mowgli, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield 2019
Mowgli, Church Street, Cardiff 2019
Mowgli, St Martins, Leicester 2019
Mowgli, Boar Lane, Leeds 2020
Mowgli, Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port 2021
Mowgli, The Brewery Quarter, Cheltenham (Opening 2021)
Mowgli, Corn Street, Bristol (Opening 2021)
Mowgli, St Vincent Street, Glasgow (Opening 2022)
Mowgli, Hanover Street, Edinburgh (Opening 2022)

Awards and honours[]

  • Best Companies Awards 2021 - The UK’s Top 100 Best Large Companies to work for - Rank #28.[15]
  • Casual Dining Awards 2020 - The Trailblazer of the Year Award.[16]
  • Honorary Doctor of Business Administration - Edge Hill University (2019).[17]
  • Honorary Fellow - Liverpool John Moores University (2019).[18]
  • MBE - (New Year Honours 2019) Honoured for services to the food industry.[19]
  • The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders, 2019.[20]
  • The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 2019 - Best Emerging Brand Award.[21]
  • The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 2019 - Best Management Team Award.[22]
  • The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 2019 - Rank #45.[23]
  • The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 2018 - Rank #17.[24]
  • Retailers’ Retailer Winner 2018 - Emerging Concept.[25]
  • Wireless Social's Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, 2018.[26]
  • Business of the Year, City of Liverpool Business Awards - 2018.
  • Best Medium Sized Business, North West Business Masters Awards - 2018.
  • Maserati Top 100, People's choice [27]

References[]

  1. ^ "The people who changed careers and never looked back". BBC. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Nisha Katona and Sir Robert Crawford CBE reappointed as Trustees of National Museums Liverpool". HM Government. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Nisha Katona: a great judge of flavour". Telegraph_Media_Group. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Leading restaurant cooks up a massive donation to The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity". The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Celebrating our Partnership with Mowgli Street Food". Maggies. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  6. ^ "THE MOWGLI TRUST - Charity 1173842". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "Nisha Katona". Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  8. ^ "Our next Chancellor". Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  9. ^ Evans, Peter. "How I Made It: Nisha Katona, founder of Mowgli". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  10. ^ "How I Made It: Nisha Katona, founder of Mowgli". News UK. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  11. ^ "https://twitter.com/nishakatona/status/1372572403772096518". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-05-04. External link in |title= (help)
  12. ^ "Channel 4 serves up A Taste of Italy". channel4.com. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Official Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Tom Kerridge, Nisha Katona and Ed Gamble announced as new judging panel on BBC Two's Great British Menu". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Best Companies | Mowgli Street Food". www.b.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  16. ^ Jones, Emma-Louise (2020-02-20). "UK's best pubs & restaurants revealed at the Casual Dining Awards 2020". Casual Dining Show. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  17. ^ "Restaurant owner and top judge to be awarded honorary doctorates". News. 2019-12-03. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  18. ^ "Nisha Katona MBE". www.ljmu.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  19. ^ "New Year Honours 2019: Mowgli founder Nisha Katona honoured". Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  20. ^ "2019". LDC. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  21. ^ TWK (2020-09-17). "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  22. ^ TWK (2019-05-17). "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  23. ^ TWK. "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  24. ^ "Fast Track 100 league table - 2018". Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  25. ^ "2018 Winners". Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  26. ^ Ross, Julian (7 September 2018). "Wireless Social's Woman Entrepreneur of the Year". wireless social. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  27. ^ Lynch, Andrew (29 April 2018). "Maserati Top 100: People's choice". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 28 September 2018.

External links[]

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