Atul Kochhar to launch first Birmingham restaurant

Michelin chef Atul Kochhar is to launch the first UK site under his NRI (Not Really Indian) restaurant brand in Birmingham later this year.

It will be the first NRI to open overseas following its launch in Mumbai in 2016.

The chef has secured a 5,000 sq ft site in Birmingham’s Mailbox development to launch a 180-cover restaurant this September.

NRI Mumbai serves Indian cuisine that has been developed by immigrants across the world, in countries such as the UK, Malaysia and South Africa.

Dishes include a Sri Lankan curry; ‘Indie Brit’ fish and chips with spiced fish; and Malay-Indian curried noodles.

Kochhar is the latest big name to join Mailbox after Tom Aikens launched Tom’s Kitchen Birmingham in the development last year.

The chef turned restaurateur also runs Michelin-starred Benares in London, as well as the Sindhu, Indian Essence and Hawkyns restaurants in the UK.

Kochhar became the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star during his tenure as head chef at Tamarind in Mayfair in 2001.

Shelley Sandzer acted on behalf of the Brockton Capital and Milligan joint venture to secure the Mailbox site.