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Kavi Thakrar
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Kavi Thakrar is co-founder and creative director of Dishoom in London, a role that has given him both authorship and stewardship over one of the city’s most recognisable dining rooms. Long before Dishoom opened in 2010, he had already built experience that would inform its tone and ambitions, including work at IFC in Washington DC and at Tilda Rice. It is a path that feels less like a straight line than a slow gathering of references, ideas and instincts, all of which seem to have found their expression in the restaurant’s distinctive world. He has summed up its ethos simply: “Everything we do at Dishoom is from Bombay with love.”
The Path
Those early experiences sit behind the confidence of what came next, even if Dishoom itself would become the defining chapter. Since 2010, he has been co-founder and creative director of Dishoom, shaping not only how the restaurant operates, but how it feels — its imagination, its atmosphere, the story it tells before a single plate arrives at the table.
The Work Today
Since 2010, he has held the dual role of co-founder and creative director. That means Kavi is involved in both the big picture and the finer details: the concept, the presentation, the sense of welcome that surrounds the dining experience. He has described food as a force that draws people together, noting, “We always gathered around over food.” It is a deceptively simple idea, but one that sits at the heart of the work he has built: a restaurant as a place of gathering, memory and conversation, where the act of eating is the act of belonging.
In Their Words “We love sharing the history of the city, the people of the city, the stories of the city and we like to welcome people into our world.” “The more we use our voices as ourselves, the richer it is for us and for the country, too.”
Acclaim
Kavi’s defining milestone is the 2010 co-founding of Dishoom. From that point on, he has remained in the creative director role there, making the restaurant the central fact of his career. In that sense, his acclaim is not tied to a single moment, but to continuity: the steady shaping of a place whose identity has grown from his vision and stayed anchored there ever since.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Kavi
What is Kavi Thakrar's current role?
As of 2026, Kavi Thakrar is Co-founder and Creative Director.
