Salonee Patel

Salonee Patel is a Gujurati chef, born and raised in an Indian-Ugandan household in London.

The cooking she was raised with is rooted in the flavours, memories and traditions of India and Uganda, but shaped by a life of cooking and learning across different cultures. It’s a polyglot tradition that Salonee has embraced with her own career, from the kitchens of Bubala where she worked alongside our mutual friend Helen Graham, to Marseille’s iconic seafood restaurant, Tuba Club, where she learnt the beauty of simplicity and letting exceptional, seasonal produce speak for itself. 

Using Indian flavours as a lens through which to explore produce, techniques and ingredients from wherever she happens to be, Salonee has done pop-ups and residences in Marseille, Milan, Tokyo and New York.

For her week with us at Carousel, Salonee has created a menu of comforting, deeply flavourful showstoppers with plenty of left turns, from ‘Tuna Tartare Papdi Chaat’ and ‘Malabar Oyster Mushroom Skewer, Green Peppercorn Mayo, Green Grape, Fennel’ to ‘Banana Leaf Hariyali Fish, Pineapple Achar’ and ‘Crispy Patra, Jerusalem Artichoke, Kohlrabi, Fresh Tuvar, Undhiyu’.

Salonee’s goal is to challenge the way Indian flavours are perceived; not by moving away from their identity, but by showing just how expressive and adaptable they can be. The result is something beautiful, personal and totally unmissable.