Great British Menu’s latest Champion of Champions is set to open a brand new restaurant next month.
Nikita Pathakji will launch her first solo restaurant, Maai, on Abbeville Road in Clapham on May 20.
The chef has previously cooked at Bibendum by Claude Bosi, Core by Clare Smyth and Kitchen W8, as well as her own supper clubs. Nikita also previously worked as head chef at The Princess of Shoreditch.
Food at Maai will be based around seasonal produce and feature dishes seen on Nikita’s appearances on MasterChef: The Professionals (which she won in 2022), including her octopus ‘takoyaki’ doughnut, as well as on Great British Menu, such as her Malaysian fish head curry. There will be a tasting menu available, as well as a set menu and a weekly Sunday roast.
Maai means ‘mum’ and the restaurant will be a family affair, with Nikita’s mother Rima and sister Isha also involved in the project, which will launch on the site of what was Brook restaurant, according to a post on Instagram.
Speaking about the restaurant, Nikita has said: ‘My food is made for sharing around a dining table. My cooking uses the classical techniques I’ve learned from working in Michelin starred kitchens, but the flavours reflect the food we love to eat; bold, expressive, and shaped by the cultures and cuisines from the diasporas of London.’
Find Maai at 33-35 Abbeville Road, Clapham, SW4 9LA.
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