Raaz has a new head chef. Kuldeep Mattegunta takes over the kitchen at 113 Lower Richmond Road with an all-new menu built around regional Indian cooking: Bihari slow braises, Deccan kormas, Kashmiri Wazwan, Konkan coastal dishes. The appointment marks a clear change in direction for one of Putney’s most-watched restaurants.
Raaz has had a difficult few months. Its founding chef Imran Mansuri, whose ambition to win a Michelin star had been central to the restaurant’s identity since it opened last September, departed in November, taking much of the early buzz with him.
Then Ruth’s opened a few doors down at number 94 to considerable acclaim, quickly establishing itself as one of the most talked-about new restaurants in south-west London.
Mattegunta is a considered response to that changed landscape. His CV spans some of the most demanding kitchens in London: Gordon Ramsay’s Maze, Nobu Metropolitan on Park Lane, Corrigan’s Mayfair, Arbutus in Soho, and Quilon, before becoming executive sous-chef at Benares.
He spent two years as head chef at Kricket, then co-founded and ran Republic in Chiswick, his own restaurant, which opened in 2021. That independent experience is, if anything, a stronger signal for Raaz’s next chapter than a solely employer kitchen background.
The menu he has brought with him reads differently from Mansuri’s modern fusion approach. Dishes include the Champaran Goat Curry, a Bihari slow braise in roasted garlic and warming whole spices; Kashmiri Wazwan Lamb Ribs with a chilli maple glaze; and Ghati Prawn with Konkan spices and kachampuli vinaigrette. The regional specificity is deliberate. This is not generic “bold Indian flavours”: it is cooking anchored in named culinary traditions.
One small footnote in Raaz’s compressed history: the first chef lined up for the restaurant before it opened was Parminder Singh, who now runs Cho Asia directly opposite on Lower Richmond Road.
Raaz is open this weekend for Mother’s Day lunch and dinner. Bookings at raazlondon.com or by phone on 020 4568 7467.
