Celebrity chef Cyrus Todiwala has pulled out of his latest restaurant venture.
The award-winning chef launched a new restaurant in Leicester’s Highcross called Tandem last autumn.
The proprietor of in East London, and star of shows such as Saturday Kitchen on the BBC, launched the venue – his first outside the capital – in partnership with Leicester-based Raphael Hospitality.
Now he has revealed to LeicestershireLive that he has left the business, saying he became “disillusioned and disappointed” with the venture.
Bombay-born and trained, Mr Todiwala has three restaurants in London: Café Spice Namasté, which is the longest-running BIB Gourmand restaurant in the Michelin Guide; Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen, at Lincoln Plaza London; and Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen at Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
The Tandem team opened the Leicester restaurant last October, offer a diverse menu that was different to any other Indian restaurant, pulling on influences from Goan and Portuguese cuisine and pairing these with predominantly British produce.
Mr Todiwala said that he had met several hundred people who were all looking forward to seeing what the restaurant would bring to Leicester, and he was sorry to be disappointing them.
He said: “Tandem – as I had envisaged to be a shining star in the Midlands – sadly left me disillusioned and disappointed at the direction it was taking and for me the only sensible way, regardless of the loss, was to exit.
“I am very sorry to let the people of Leicester down and I feel very sad that this decision had to be made so early in the restaurant’s life.”
LeicestershireLive contacted Raphael Hospitality for a comment.
Mr Todiwala, who is a deputy lieutenant of Greater London, was awarded an MBE in 2000 for services to education and training, and an OBE in 2010 for his contribution to the hospitality industry.
In 2012, he cooked for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
He has appeared on television cookery shows, including BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen and UKTV’s Market Kitchen.
In 2013, he co-presented a BBC Two cookery show with Tony Singh, called The Incredible Spice Men: Todiwala And Singh, and in 2018 he appeared on BBC One’s Royal Recipes.
