Hari Nayak

Hari Nayak was born in Udupi, India.[1] He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America,[2] and after moving to the US, spent the first twenty years of his career as a chef working for restaurants in New York City.[1]

In addition to his work as a chef, he is known as an advocate of South Indian cuisine.[3][4] His first restaurant was the first patisserie to open in the US, located in Princeton, New Jersey, Halo Fete.[5] Following this, he became an executive chef with a North American food service company,[2] and has worked for several food companies, including Sodexo.[6]

Restaurants that Nayak has worked as an executive founder for have included Alchemy in Bangalore;[2] the Tandur Indian Kitchen chain of restaurants in Tennessee and South Carolina;[7][8] the restaurants Masti and Bombay Bungalow in Dubai; Charcoza in Riyadh;[6] and he has been the Culinary Director for Café Spice in New York City.[9] He is also the owner of Soul Curry, which he opened in 2019.[6]

In 2018 Nayak co-developed The Trial Box, a self-catering product for festival meals like Diwali.[10] Before 2017, he published five Indian cookbooks for the western market,[6] including Modern Indian Cooking,[11] My Indian Kitchen, and Café Spice Cookbook.[6] He then released his sixth book, Spice Trail - 100 modern global recipes to excite and inspire home cooks!,[12] which was his first to focus on a readership in India rather than the west.[13] Each of his books has been a bestseller.[14]

He also runs a website that features his work and recipes,[15] and has appeared on Food Network shows like Beat Bobby Flay[9] as a judge.[6]