TommyMiah.com


Tommy Miah Biography Celebrated as Britain's "Curry King" and respected as one of the principal leaders of the Bangladeshi business community in the United Kingdom, celebrity chef Tommy Miah knows more than most that the recipe for success is, "hard work, more hard work and marketing". Tommy Miah was born in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh in 1959 and, in common with many others from the region, made his way to England as a raw 10 year old in company with his parents. With barely of English at his command, Tommy struggled at school, Aston Manor in Birmingham, where his only ambition was to leave as soon as possible.
Birmingham, in the English Midlands, offered little scope to further his prospects. He did, however, have an interest in cooking which he had picked up from his mother. With no other skills or abilities of note, Tommy found a job in one of Birmingham's many Indian restaurants. Starting at the bottom as a humble kitchen porter washing pots and pans, he developed this interest through watching chefs and listening to them as they prepared dishes. Back in his mother's kitchen, he would practise until he could not only perfect the dishes from the restaurant but, relying upon his senses of flavour and aroma, improve upon them with his natural inventiveness.
Newly married to Rina at the age of 16, the young and ambitious couple embarked upon Tommy's first business venture - a simple takeaway and restaurant in Birmingham's Broad Street. There he learned that catering was not all strawberries and cream. To keep the business afloat, he took an early morning job in a local factory and worked nights in the restaurant. Luckily, it wasn't only the staff who enjoyed Tommy's innovative cuisine. The restaurant soon began to attract an influential clientele, particularly among local footballers including Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis.
Looking for a new focus for his business drive, Tommy moved to Edinburgh where he believed there was a niche in the market and an opportunity to develop a more sophisticated style of Indian restaurant that would be far removed from the traditional British curry houses that only filled up when the pubs closed.
He was not to be mistaken. Edinburgh offered an opportunity to define a more up-market style of Indian restaurant. Promising diners "everything except red flock wallpaper", an irreverent side-swipe at the standard offered in most Indian restaurants in the UK, Tommy broke the mould. But that is Tommy's style - challenge the conventional and defeat the indifferent. An approach that quickly earned him the endorsement of Britain's Seafood Authority with the renowned "Pride in Seafood" award for promoting fresh, local seafood as a prime item on Indian menus.
Branching out, he opened his celebrated Raj Restaurant in the up and coming Shore area of Leith, Edinburgh's traditional seaport. Working with a dedicated design team, Tommy sought to reintroduce the elegance and relaxed lifestyle enjoyed by Indian Raj in times gone by. In a ground-breaking move, he extended the typical menu away from the normal curries offered as standard fare throughout Britain. With his extensive knowledge of spices, he introduced a series of new dishes. Drawing heavily upon the different styles of cooking in the Indian subcontinent, these dishes were characterised by lighter sauces and more subtle flavours but still maintaining a traditional "bite".
Tommy is a great believer that surroundings and décor should complement the enjoyment of food and extended this concept in the uniquely Indian-themed Original Raj Hotel, opened by Lady Shakira Caine, wife of film star Sir Michael Caine. Furnishings for the hotel were specially commissioned from Jaipur, with all the fabrics and crockery being designed and manufactured in Bangladesh. This concept of refined opulence as characterised by the days of the old colonial Raj is now being rolled out through a chain of business and tourist-class hotels.
Experimentation in his own kitchens inspired Tommy to launch The International Indian Chef of the Year Competition, partly to expand his own vision but also as a means of unearthing fresh talent and promoting the diversity of Indian ethnic food. Today the annual competition attracts over 5000 entrants - both amateur and professional - from all corners of the world. The competition climaxes in the annual Curry Ball hosted by Tommy as a fund-raiser for the Sreepur Village Orphanage (Shishu Polli) founded by former British Airways stewardess Pat Kerr OBE.
The International Indian Chef of the Year Competition is part of Tommy Miah's long-term mission to raise the profile and awareness of ethnic food and Bangladeshi cuisine in particular. Every year, the competition is formally launched in the House of Commons, in London, and is attended by Members of Parliament, chefs and other prominent celebrities. It is his goal to open a dining-area in the Parliament building that will focus exclusively on ethnic food.
To promote Bangladeshi cuisine, Tommy has produced a number of recipe books. One of which includes dishes selected by various celebrities such as Sir Richard Branson and singer Tom Jones and has a foreword from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Another book is introduced by Sarah, Duchess of York. These have received wide circulation and praise in their own merit. It has also been a means for Tommy's commitment to helping others through his charity work. Apart from the orphanage (Shishu Polli), other beneficiaries include Cancer Research and the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (Dhaka). A further book of recipes suitable for diabetes sufferers will raise much-needed funds to assist research and treatment at the BIRDEM Diabetic Hospital in Dhaka through the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh.
Restaurants lie at the heart of Tommy Miah's success. It was with considerable pride that he recently returned to Bangladesh to open his signature restaurant The Heritage in Dhaka. Here he has introduced a new concept in fine dining and his singular style of cooking which he calls "bangla-fusion" representing his roots in Bangladesh and food of many different styles that he has experienced in his world travels. Although only one year old, The Heritage has attracted celebrity diners including Michael Palin, cricketers Sunny Gavaskar and Wasim Akram, Pierre Omidyar of Ebay.
Working through The Raj in Edinburgh, Tommy took some time out from his own kitchens to host a number of celebrity dinners to help sponsor rising Indian star batsman Raul Dravid to play for the Scottish Saltires cricket team. Outside-catering comes easy for someone with Tommy Miah's energy. He has cooked dinners for former British Prime Minister John Major, President Iajuddin Ahmed of the Bangladesh Republic and still found time to cook the world's biggest halim to feed 5000 under-privileged Bangladeshi children.
Tommy Miah has extended his love of food in other directions through lending his name and marketing skills to a wide range of products including rice, beer, wines, pickles and his own specially created chutneys. To further his ambition to provide the best quality foodstuffs, Tommy has joined with other Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in Dhaka to form One Consumer Products to source, produce and export an exciting range of food, food preparations and consumer products.
Tommy Miah has come a long way in a hurry. But he still finds time to relax and unwind with his wife Rina, children Aysha, Rajah, Rajoo and grandchildren Anisha and Rehan despite the pressures of the celebrity lifestyle profiled in OK magazine and was the subject of a 45 minute documentary on India's ZeeTV.