Chef Jay Morjaria is offered £500,000 on BBC’s ‘Million Pound Menu’ Show

Chef Jay Morjaria beat hundreds of other hopefuls to bring his ‘plant-forward’ East Asian concept, ‘Dynasty’ to BBC’s latest food show ‘Million Pound Menu’ on 14th June 2018. He then went on to receive an investment offer of £500,000 from Lydia Forte of the 5 Star Rocco Forte Hotel group, with hotels in London, Edinburgh and across Europe. Chef Jay’s food was well received on the show with Million Pound Menu show host Fred Sirieix declaring “this is amazing, every little mouthful”.

Million Pound Menu which some have called a combination of Master Chef Professionals and Dragon’s Den showcases 12 different food concepts from across the UK by giving each a three-day trial run of a 40-seater pop-up restaurant in the heart of Manchester. The aim is – to try to win over the paying public and the all-important investors.

Chef Jay, the first Asian contestant on the show, had to run ‘Dynasty’ as a full-service restaurant, manage a team he had never worked with before, be prepared to have his food scrutinised and face a nail biting interview with potential investors to prove his financial plan and figures stacked up. Jay said “Growing up surrounded by cooking and my parents’ Indian vegetarian restaurants, food has always played a big part in my life but now I get to take it one step further and make my dream a reality. I have been overwhelmed by the positive comments and support I have had since my appearance on the show and look forward to sharing my food with you all.”

Seven years ago, Jay gave up his job as a retail buyer to pursue his passion, opening Sutra Kitchen, a vegetarian cookery school in London. He then decided to explore East Asian cuisine, working in restaurants in Korea, even making his own homemade kimchi, before opening Dynasty as an occasional, sell-out supper-club, serving vegetable focused friendly dishes with a few meat sides.