Chef and restaurateur Ravinder Bhogal takes up residency at Soneva Jani, showcasing her culinary talents, inspired by her mixed heritage and the UK’s diverse immigrant culture.

The event, which runs throughout the festival of Diwali, will honour the essence of celebration, community and the triumph of light over darkness while introducing guests to unexpected flavour combinations.

Guests in the Maldives will experience a multi-course dining journey that embodies Bhogal’s ethos of proudly inauthentic cooking. There will be feature dishes inspired by her ancestral home of Punjab and recipes that were carefully preserved by her family throughout the generations.

Another culinary journey is inspired by Bhopal’s youth in Kenya and early coastal getaways to Mombasa and Malindi, where seafood is seasoned with a jolt of spices, fused with the sea air. Elsewhere, she provides thoughtful plant-based meals which aim to nurture, nourish and lift moods.

Born in Kenya to Indian parents and based in the UK, Bhogal’s first restaurant, Jikoni earned a spot at number 56 on the National Restaurant Awards list within just seven months of opening.

In the world of food media, she writes a monthly food column for the Financial Times Weekend Magazine and Guardian Feast, and is a contributing editor for Harper’s Bazaar. Bhogal is also the author of three critically acclaimed cookbooks, including Cook in Boots, Jikoni: Proudly Inauthentic Recipes from an Immigrant Kitchen and Comfort & Joy.

Chef Maldives Punjab Soneva Soneva Jani