Owner, Chef, Writer Sivadas Sreedharan

Sivadas - Das Sreedharan was born in Kerala, southern India, a place that inspired his love of colourful, bold flavours. Married to Alison. Career : As a young man, he moved to London to study accountancy, but food was always Das’s destiny. After managing a vegetarian restaurant for a while, he opened the first Rasa in 1994. In just a year, Rasa had become the most famous vegetarian restaurant in London. It won many awards and twice clinched the title of Time Out Best Vegetarian Restaurant. Since then, seven new Rasa restaurants have been added to the chain, and there are plans for more. They all offer wonderful vegetarian dishes, but specialize too in their own unique representation of authentic south Indian meat and seafood cooking. Das now owns a beautiful riverside farm in Kerala which he has converted into Rasa Gurukul, a centre for culinary excellence, hospitality and culture In London, Das helps organise the now annual Kerala Food Festival each September. The first event in Hanover Square in brought more than 10,000 people together, and it now takes place at the Kings Cross Holiday Inn. He has appeared on television’s The Naked Chef and on numerous other programmes, radio shows and in magazines. He has also written four cookery books.