Silvena Rowe
Silvena Rowe (born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a British chef, food writer, television personality and restaurateur.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Rowe was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria to a Bulgarian mother and a Turkish father.[2] Rowe's father, who was a newspaper editor of the largest Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarianised his name due to Bulgaria's communist government.[3] He instilled in Rowe a love of cooking and passed down the traditions of the Ottoman cuisine.[4] At the age of 19, she moved to London.[5][1] Silvena cooked in the kitchen of the Notting Hill bookshop Books for Cooks, which led her to cook for Princess Michael of Kent, Ruby Wax and Tina Turner.[1] She also met Malcolm Gluck and the two began to write a regular food column for The Guardian newspaper.[1] In 2007, she was the food consultant on David Cronenberg’s 2007 film Eastern Promises.[1] She has become a regular guest on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen and ITV's This Morning. In 2007, her book Feasts won the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award.[4] After her fathers death she wanted to rediscover her heritage so she travelled through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan tracing her Ottoman roots; this resulted in her cookbook Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume.[2]
On 7th June 2011, her restaurant Quince opened at The May Fair Hotel in Mayfair, London.[6][7] Her restaurant is influenced by her Turkish heritage- homage to her grandfather Mehmed, who used to cook the dishes for her father.[8]
Silvene Rowe is also a Charlton Athletic Supporter.
[edit] Awards
- 2007: Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award-London
- 2011: Gourmand Award - Paris
[edit] Television appearances
- BBC One's Saturday Kitchen, a regular guest
- ITV This Morning
- Let's Dance for Comic Relief
- Screen expert/judge on BBC Young Chef of the Year (2009)
- Come Dine With Me
- Great Food Live
- Soapstar Superchef
[edit] Books
- Supergrub: Dinner-party Bliss on a Budget, HarperCollins, (ISBN 9780007176120, 2004)
- Feasts: Food for Sharing from Central and Eastern Europe, Mitchell Beazley, (ISBN 9781845331566, 2006)
- The Eastern and Central European Kitchen: Contemporary & Classic Recipes, Interlink, (ISBN 1566566789, 2008)
- Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume: Cuisine of the Eastern Mediterranean, Hutchinson, (ISBN 9780091930967, 2010)
- Orient Express, Hutchinson, (ISBN 9780091930950, 2011)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e The New York Times (2010-07-27). "A London Chef Looks to a Different East". http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/dining/28rowe.html. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ^ a b Daily Mail. "Abrakebabra: Hold the chilli sauce! There's a new donor in town (yes, it's posh...)". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1383953/Silvena-Rowes-new-restaurant-Quince-new-donor-town.html. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
- ^ The Guardian (2010-05-16). "Silvena Rowe's meze recipes". London. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/may/16/mezze-recipes-silvena-rowe. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
- ^ a b Harper Collins. "Silvena Rowe". http://www.harpercollins.com/author/index.aspx?authorID=38005. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
- ^ BBC. "Silvena Rowe". http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chefs/silvena_rowe. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
- ^ The Commercial Kitchen. "Quince opens at the May Fair for Silvena Rowe". http://www.thecommercialkitchen.co.uk/2011/05/quince-opens-at-the-may-fair-for-silvena-rowe-in-june/. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
- ^ The Independent. "Quince, The Mayfair Hotel Stratton Street, London W1". http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/reviews/quince-the-mayfair-hotel-stratton-street-london-w1-2297794.html. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
- ^ Visit London. "Quince Restaurant Launches at The May Fair". http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/eat/london-restaurant-news/2011/05/quince-restaurant-launches-at-the-may-fair. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
