Silvena Rowe

Silvena Rowe (née Lauta, born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian chef, food writer, television personality and restaurateur.[1]

Silvena Rowe
Born
Silvena Lauta

1967 (age 52–53)
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Spouse(s)Malcolm Rowe

Biography

Rowe was born in Plovdiv to a Bulgarian mother and a Turkish father. Rowe's father, who was a newspaper editor of the largest Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarianised his name due to Bulgaria's communist government.[2] He instilled in Rowe a love of cooking and passed down the traditions of the Ottoman cuisine.[3] At the age of 19, she moved to London.[1][4] 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.[3] After her father's 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.

On 7 June 2011, her restaurant Quince opened at The May Fair Hotel in Mayfair, London.[5][6] Her restaurant is influenced by her Turkish heritage- homage to her grandfather Mehmed, who used to cook the dishes for her father.[7] Currently Silvena shares her time between Dubai, Sofia, New York and London.

Silvena Rowe is also a Charlton Athletic Supporter.

Awards

Television appearances

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)

References
  1. The New York Times (2010-07-27). "A London Chef Looks to a Different East". Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  2. The Guardian (2010-05-16). "Silvena Rowe's meze recipes". London. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  3. Harper Collins. "Silvena Rowe". Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  4. BBC. "Silvena Rowe". Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  5. The Commercial Kitchen. "Quince opens at the May Fair for Silvena Rowe". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  6. The Independent. "Quince, The Mayfair Hotel Stratton Street, London W1". Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  7. Visit London. "Quince Restaurant Launches at The May Fair". Retrieved 2011-06-03.
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