by Matt Martino ||| Features
Fulham’s Pure Indian Cooking have gained great local praise since opening their does in 2015!
The trendy eatery is headed up by Shilpa Dandekar, one of London’s leading female Head Chefs.
She previously worked with Raymond Blanc and was personally picked by him as Head Chef for Brasserie Blanc.
I sat down with Shilpa to get the lowdown on where it all began and how it all began.
Shilpa told me “My husband Faheem and I came to London in 2005 and we worked in a variety of top end restaurants.”
Discussing her time at Blanc she quipped “I am Indian born and as such wanted to learn about a different cuisine, I learnt about French cuisine at Brassiere Blanc. I had an amazing 5 years working there.”
As we talk about her business, Shilpa openly tells me “My husband and I always had a dream of starting something small which we can manage” She added “I wanted to creat my own menu and hence why you won’t find certain items on our menu at any other Indian restaurants.”
When Pure Indian Cooking opened their does in 2015 Shilpa didn’t know what to expect!
She tells me, “When we first opened- it was a mixed feeling, people just thought we would be another curry house but we wanted people to have a high end experience and enjoy our quality ingredients.”
I asked Shilpa what makes Pure Indian Cooking unique and she told me “With us it’s our quality and freshness.”
She added “It was a struggle for us to educate the people on who we are and what we do.”
And it would seem business is booming as Shilpa added “word of mouth has worked for us and we have built a great reputation in the area.”
Shilpa tells me Pure Indian Cooking are looking to expand in future!
