Akhtar Nawab

Akhtar Nawab is an American chef and restaurateur. After graduating from culinary school, Nawab moved to New York in 1998 and worked under chef Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern for several years. He was part of the opening staff of Colicchio's restaurant Craft, and in 2002 helped open Craftbar, later serving as executive chef. His first restaurant, Elettaria, closed in 2009 due to the 2008 financial crisis. Since then he has made a shift to working mainly in Mexican cuisine and has opened several restaurants.

Early life Born to Indian parents in Wisconsin, Nawab's mother was a nurse and hailed from Lucknow, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, while his father worked as a cardiovascular surgeon. In addition to his father, his brother, aunt, uncles, and grandfather worked in medical professions. His parents and brother were born in India, but Nawab was born in Wisconsin, where his father was completing a fellowship program prior to moving to Louisville, Kentucky.

Career 1990–1998: Early culinary ventures and training Nawab attended Bradley University in Illinois for one year, after which he returned to Louisville to pursue work in the restaurant business. He worked at a family restaurant for four years. He appeared on Food Network's Iron Chef America the following year. The restaurant was forced to close later in 2009, not two years before its opening, due to struggles it faced amid the 2008 financial crisis and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the latter of which occurred 3 months after the restaurant's opening. Nawab was out of work in the following 7 months and faced difficulties in his personal life, such as the breakdown of his marriage. From 2015 to 2017, he was executive chef at Table, in Washington D.C.

In 2017, Nawab opened Alta Calidad, a full-service restaurant in New York serving Mexican food, and Fero, a restaurant serving Italian cuisine in a Birmingham, Alabama food hall. His first cookbook, Good for You, was published by Chronicle Books in 2020. Alta Calidad (opened in 2017), a full-service restaurant in New York serving Mexican cuisine. Prather's on the Alley (opened in 2018), in Washington, D.C. Otra Vez (opened in 2019), a Mexican restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana.