Twice Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar is opening his latest restaurant in Wembley Park, the globally renowned entertainment district and 365-day neighbourhood. The pioneering chef from Jamshedpur, North India who has redefined how people experience Indian cuisine in the UK, will open Masalchi – which means ‘The spice master’ – later this year.
The fifth restaurant in the Atul Kochhar Restaurant group, Masalchi celebrates the exotic abundance of India’s spices with a healthy street food menu in a relaxed and sociable setting.
An 85-acre neighbourhood adjacent to the National Stadium, Wembley Park has an exciting and growing shopping and dining offer, made up of independents alongside the likes of Amazon Fresh and the big-name brands of the capital’s leading fashion and lifestyle outlet centre, London Designer Outlet. Kochhar is the latest entrepreneur redefining his sector to open a space at Wembley Park, joining the indulgent and Instagram-famous Bread Ahead bakery by Matt Jones, Roger Wade’s pop-up mall concept BOXPARK, and London’s best homemade pasta brand from Simone Remoli’s Pasta Remoli.
Masalchi will open seven days a week from noon – 10pm with a Pan-Indian menu of the wonderful dishes that Atul discovered at street markets during his gastronomical travels of India. Menu highlights include specials such as Gurda Kapura Masala (a spicy curry made with offal and freshly roasted garam masala in a tomato-rich gravy) and Purani Dilli Ki Nihari Handi (old Delhi style lamb stew). A menu of grills including Miyaji Sheekhwale (a lamb sheekh kebab recipe from a Lucknowi family). Half plates featuring Saag Aloo Pyazi (onion bhaji with spinach and potatoes with raw tamarind chutney) and Ambasari Jhinga (spicy and crisp prawns with ajwain, lemon, chilli and onion).
Masalchi’s Handi Masala Kalia dishes include the likes of Crab Masala (soft shell crab in south Indian spiced sauce) and Chicken Makhan Palak (classic butter chicken with spinach).
The new restaurant takes pride of place on the corner of Olympic Way and Wembley Park Boulevard, standing between the Olympic Steps, the elegant new entrance to the National Stadium, and the Boulevard’s world-famous retail and fashion brands. Alongside luxury desserts restaurant Haute Dolci which opened in June, Masalchi represents a further elevation of dining options at Wembley Park, as symbolic of the destination’s transformation under Quintain as that of the Olympic Steps, which replaced a 1970s’ pedestrian walkway that was built to span a coach park that no longer exists.
Atul Kochhar said: “The energy and vibrancy of Wembley Park makes it one of the most exciting places in London right now. Opening my new dining concept in this neighbourhood and destination – a place that benefits from thousands of workers, tens of thousands of residents, and millions of visitors and people living nearby – makes a lot of sense and will be a thrilling next chapter. I can’t wait to see how this neighbourhood inspires what we make in our kitchen.”
The multi-billion transformation of Wembley Park is one of the largest and most all-embracing urban transformations currently underway in Europe. Award-winning developer Quintain is creating a 15-minute neighbourhood in which residents and visitors can find everything they could want or need within a short walk from their front or tube door. The vision for retail and leisure at Wembley Park is about attracting a unique line-up of independents and major brands that cover everything from everyday essentials to mouth-watering desserts and designer fashion. Wembley Park brings this all together with the opportunity for visitors to witness and take part in era-defining moments in entertainment and sport, whether viewing it on a screen from the local Fuller’s pub The White Horse, discovering the next acting phenomenon at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, in The SSE Arena, Wembley or in the world’s most famous venue, Wembley Stadium.
Matt Slade, Retail Director at Quintain, said: “As if anyone needed another excuse to visit Wembley Park, one of the world’s most famous destinations for sport, culture and entertainment, Atul’s new restaurant will be yet another. That a Michelin-starred chef is opening his newest restaurant in Wembley Park is a fantastic endorsement of what we are creating here: a neighbourhood that is living and breathing with energy every single day of the year. Masalchi joins the ranks of other exciting food concepts as well as a collection of casual dining brands in London Designer Outlet. This new restaurant will be as much loved by the people who call this their home as the Londoners and those from farther afield who will visit for any one of the dozens of experiences – or a collection thereof – that can be found in Wembley Park.”
Projected to attract over 20 million visitors a year, Wembley Park is expected to benefit from £328m annual retail spend, putting it ahead of London districts such as Camden, Victoria and Ealing Broadway. It will also be home to 20,000 full-time residents across all ages, from families with children to students, single occupancy and flatshares, and more.
