Atul Kochhar, the former Head Chef of the Oberoi in New Delhi and who runs the Michelin-star Tamarind in London, is to take over the former Woods restaurant on The Pantiles.
Woods had been a popular family-owned restaurant for nearly 20 years.
The new restaurant, named Riwaz, is set to open in the iconic promenade on November 21 this year.
Mr Kochhar already has similar branches in Beaconsfield, Hampshire and Windsor.
As revealed in the Times in March last year, Mr Kochhar has been scouting a number of locations across the South East for his twist on Indian cookery and made approaches to The Pantiles’ owner, Target Follow.
At the weekend, the Indian chef, who makes regular appearances on TV’s Saturday Kitchen, confirmed during the Pub in the Park festival at that he has taken over the site.
Mr Kocchar, confirmed the plans to fellow TV chef and Pub in the Park host James Martin via a post on Instagram.
He said: “What a fab party. #riwazrestaurants opening soon in Nov 21 at Pantiles in #tunbridgewells.”
