Cyrus Todiwala facts for kids
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| Born | 16 October 1956 Mumbai, India |
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| Cooking style | Parsi cuisine |
| Spouse | Pervin Todiwala |
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Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
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Television show(s)
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Cyrus Rustom Todiwala is a famous Indian chef and restaurant owner. He was born on October 16, 1956. He is well-known for his restaurant Café Spice Namasté and for appearing on TV cooking shows.
Cyrus trained as a chef in India at the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces. He became the head chef for many restaurants within these hotels. In 1991, he moved to the United Kingdom with his family. After facing some challenges, he opened Café Spice Namasté in 1995. This restaurant made him very famous.
Later, he created his own line of sauces and pickles called Mr Todiwala's. He also opened another restaurant, Mr Todiwala's Kitchen, located at the Hilton Hotel near Heathrow Airport. Cyrus has received special awards, including an MBE in 2000 and an OBE in 2009. He has also been given an honorary doctorate and made an honorary professor. In 2012, he even cooked for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. You might have seen him on many TV and radio shows, like Saturday Kitchen.
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Cyrus Todiwala's Life Story
Cyrus Todiwala grew up in Mumbai, India, in a Parsi family. His family lived in a house that was split into ten apartments. His father worked for the Automobile Association in India.
Cyrus went to Barnes School and then studied Hotel Administration and Food Technology. His first job was helping out in a restaurant. He trained to be a chef with Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces in India. He became the head chef for eleven of their restaurants, managing 160 staff members.
In 1991, he moved to the United Kingdom with his family. He was asked to run a restaurant in London called Namasté. Even though his cooking was praised, the restaurant owners faced financial problems. To avoid losing his job and visa, Cyrus and his wife, Pervin, decided to take over the restaurant themselves.
It was hard to get loans from banks, so his family helped him out with small amounts of money. He even sold a car they won in a competition to help pay for a new home. Around this time, Michael Gottlieb, who owned other restaurants in London, wanted to invest in a new Indian restaurant. He was looking for a chef and was introduced to Cyrus. This led to Café Spice Namasté opening in 1995.
Working with the Community
Cyrus has worked with the National Health Service (NHS) to create special menus for hospitals. He also helped set up an Asian and Oriental cooking school in London. This school had a restaurant where students could get real-world training. Even though the school later closed due to funding changes, Cyrus showed his dedication to teaching others.
In 2006, he opened a new place called Café’t’, which was a mix of a coffee shop and a restaurant. In 2010, he launched his own line of cooking sauces, adding to his existing range of pickles and chutneys. His restaurant Mr Todiwala's Kitchen opened in 2011 at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. He often appears at food festivals, like the Taste Festivals in London and Dubai.
Cooking for Royalty
For Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Cyrus cooked for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. He made a special version of a dish called Country Captain. He used rare breed mutton from North Ronaldsay in the Orkney Islands. This special dish is now on the menu at Café Spice Namasté.
In 2014, Cyrus opened his first restaurant in India, called The River Restaurant. It is located in Goa, on the banks of the Baga river. In 2017, he became the first chef ambassador for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST). This role allows him to combine his love for food with his interest in protecting rare animal breeds.
Awards and Recognition
Cyrus Todiwala has received many awards for his work.
- In 2000, he was given an MBE for his services to the restaurant and catering industry.
- In 2010, he received an OBE.
- In 2012, he won a special award from the Craft Guild of Chefs for his amazing contributions to the industry. He now helps judge the The Catey Awards, which are very important in the hospitality world.
Cyrus strongly believes in training his staff. His restaurant, Café Spice Namasté, even earned an Investors in People award for its excellent training programs. This focus on training also won him an Education and Training Catey award in 2005. In the same year, he received a special award at the Springboard Awards for Excellence.
In 2009, London Metropolitan University gave him an honorary doctorate. He was also made an honorary professor at Thames Valley University and a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London. In 2010, the Evening Standard newspaper named him one of London's most influential people in the food world. He was listed alongside other famous chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver. Since 2011, he has been included in Who's Who, a book that lists important people.
TV and Radio Appearances
Cyrus Todiwala is a familiar face on many cooking television shows. You might have seen him on:
- BBC One's Saturday Kitchen
- UKTV Food's Market Kitchen
- ITV's Daybreak
- Channel 4's Drop Down Menu
He has also been on various BBC Radio stations, including Radio 4, Radio 5 Live, and the BBC World Service.
In 2013, Cyrus teamed up with chef Tony Singh to host their own cooking show on BBC Two, called The Incredible Spice Men: Todiwala And Singh. He has also appeared on "Britain's Natural World: Unnatural History of London" to talk about his love for British birds. In 2018, he was on BBC One's Royal Recipes to recreate the special pudding he served at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee event.
Cyrus Todiwala's Personal Life
Cyrus is married to Pervin. They met at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai. They have two sons. It was Pervin's idea for the family to move to the UK in 1991.
Cyrus tries to use sustainable ingredients in his restaurants, supporting farming practices that are good for the environment. He believes that spices have medicinal effects. He used to call his father in India to look up information about spices in an old book written in Gujarati. After his father passed away, Cyrus got the book, but he finds the language difficult to read now. While his favorite food is Parsi food, he enjoys eating many different things. However, aubergines (eggplants) sometimes give him indigestion!
