MasterChef: The Professionals winner Nikita Pathakji takes over the stoves at The Princess of Shoreditch

Pathakji replaces Thomas Lemercier at the Noble Inns Group-owned gastropub. Lemercier left the role earlier this year to lead the kitchen at east London fine dining restaurant La Bibliothèque.

Working with The Princess kitchen team, Pathakji has developed a new menu that combines classical cooking techniques with global flavours.

Sample dishes include gazpacho with pickled cherry, smoked anchovy and goat’s cheese; spanakopita with whipped feta, fennel and dill oil; roasted quail with peach and Sichuan puree, sesame, and scotch egg; and stuffed calamari with coconut sambal, courgette and Thai green curry.

Pathakji’s early career saw her cook at Claude Bosi’s two Michelin-starred Bibendum as a chef de partie, before rising to junior sous chef under the tutelage of Mark Kempson at the one Michelin-starred Kitchen W8.

In 2022 she became the first female chef in a decade to win BBC cooking competition MasterChef: The Professionals​.

Noble Inns Group also owns Islington gastropubs Smokehouse and The Pig and Butcher.