Indian chef Andy Varma to launch new restaurant in Notting Hill

Indian chef Andy Varma is making a comeback to the kitchen this autumn and is launching a new restaurant in west London.

The chef, who previously ran Vama in Chelsea with his brother Arjun, which closed in January 2010, will open the new venture, Chakra, in Notting Hill at the end of October.

The 90-cover restaurant will showcase regional cuisine from across the Indian subcontinent, featuring seven different schools of cooking ranging from Lucknow in the centre of India to Hyderabad in the North West.

The menu will be designed to share, with dishes including sandalwood powder infused, coriander and garlic grilled lamb chops; Hyderabadi aubergine cooked Nawabi style; and smoked Tandoori tiger prawns cured with ginger and chilli oil.

Interiors at Chakra will be developed by Dezzi McCausland, owner of the Kingly Club in Soho, featuring a colour scheme of cream and dark mahogany with Chesterfield banquet seating, vintage cigar style panelling, and leather and oak flooring. Vintage images with modern framework will play on the theme of Chakra - an alignment of food, body, mind and soul.

The restaurant will open at the end of October marking the celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of light.

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By Kerstin Kühn

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