Atul Kochhar to open restaurant at Wembley Park

Chef-restaurateur Atul Kochhar is opening two restaurants later this year: Masalchi in Wembley Park and Riwaz in Beaconsfield.

Masalchi, which means ‘the spice master’, will be Kochhar’s fifth restaurant and will serve a healthy street food menu. Open seven days a week, dishes will include gurda kapura masala (a spicy curry made with offal in a tomato-rich gravy) and purani dilli ki nihari handi (old Delhi-style lamb stew).

A menu of grills will feature miyaji sheekhwale (a lamb sheekh kebab recipe from a Lucknowi family) alongside plates such as saag aloo pyazi (onion bhaji with spinach and potatoes) and ambasari jhinga (spicy prawns with ajwain). Masalchi’s handi masala kalia dishes will include crab masala and chicken makhan palak (butter chicken with spinach).

The new restaurant will be located on the corner of Olympic Way and Wembley Park Boulevard, between the Olympic Steps, the new entrance to the National Stadium and the Boulevard’s retail and fashion brands. Existing hospitality operators include Bread Ahead, Boxpark and Pasta Remoli. Under developer Quintain, the Olympic Steps has replaced a 1970s pedestrian walkway that was built to span a coach park that no longer exists.

Kochhar said: “The energy and vibrancy of Wembley Park makes it one of the most exciting places in London right now. Opening my new dining concept in this neighbourhood and destination – a place that benefits from thousands of workers, tens of thousands of residents, and millions of visitors and people living nearby – makes a lot of sense and will be a thrilling next chapter. I can’t wait to see how this neighbourhood inspires what we make in our kitchen.”

Matt Slade, retail director at Quintain, said: “That a Michelin-starred chef is opening his newest restaurant in Wembley Park is a fantastic endorsement of what we are creating here: a neighbourhood that is living and breathing with energy every single day of the year.”

The Atul Kochhar Restaurant Group also consists of Kanishka in London's Mayfair, Vaasu in Marlow, Sindhu at the Compleat Angler hotel also in Marlow, Hawkyns at the Crown Inn, Amersham, and Indian Essence in Petts Wood, Kent.

Nash Bond advised Quintain/LDO.