Jehangir Mehta

2020-07-10T13:02:57Z

108.36.208.53:

{{BLP sources|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox chef
| name = Jehangir Mehta
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|7|9}}
| birth_place = [[Mumbai]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| dead =
| spouse =
| style =
| education = [[Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition]]
| ratings =
| restaurants = Graffiti<br>Mehtaphor
| prevrests =
| television = [[Iron Chef America]]
| awards =
}}
'''Jehangir Mehta''' (born July 9, 1971 in [[Mumbai]], [[India]]) is the executive chef and owner of [[New York City]] restaurants Graffiti, Me and You and Graffiti Earth. He is also the author of the 2008 [[HarperCollins]] cookbook "Mantra: The Rules of Indulgence," offers a cooking class at his restaurant for children 4-14 called "Candy Camp" designed to build interest in more diverse foods, hosts exclusive in-home dinner parties and runs an event planning company.

In August 2009, Jehangir appeared on "[[Iron Chef America]]" on [[Food Network]], and was the runner-up on the second season of "[[The Next Iron Chef]]" later in 2009.

==Personal life==
Jehangir Mehta was born on July 9, 1971 to Petras and Kolly Mehta in [[Mumbai]], [[India]] where he was raised. He is [[Parsi]].<ref>http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shrimp-fritters</ref> After moving to the [[United States]], he met and married his wife, Hinata Jambuserwala. They currently live in [[New York City]] where they are raising twins.

==Professional life==
Jehangir holds a bachelor of arts in [[sociology]] from the [[University of Mumbai]], which he pursued while also attending the [[Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition]] in [[Mumbai]], [[India]]. Jehangir then moved to the [[United States]] to attend [[The Culinary Institute of America]] in [[Hyde Park, New York|Hyde Park]], [[New York (state)|New York]] and graduated from there in 1995.

After graduating from culinary school in 1996, Jehangir began his career at [[L'Absinthe]] in [[New York City]]. From there, he moved on to Typhoon Brewery where he worked as the pastry chef to James Chew, formerly of Vong fame.

Jehangir's next move was to [[Jean Georges]]. In 1998, Jean Georges Vongerichten selected him to open his new restaurant, Mercer Kitchen, quickly to become one of the hottest destinations in [[New York City]].

In 1999 he moved on to work with [[Rocco DiSpirito]] at [[Union Pacific]], and in 2001 joined Didier Virot, who had left [[Jean Georges]] to open the highly acclaimed although short-lived restaurant Virot. Jehangir's next move was to Compass, where he became known for unorthodox but creative and intellectually driven desserts.

In 2002, Jehangir teamed up with Didier Virot as the pastry chef at Aix, located on the [[Upper West Side]] of [[Manhattan]], where he received acclaimed reviews for his pastry creations, while also consulting with Patricia Lo at Sapa and Michael Symon at Parea.

In 2007 Jehangir opened his first restaurant, Graffiti, where he is currently the executive chef and owner.

In 2008, he authored his first cookbook, "Mantra: The Rules of Indulgence" which was published by [[HarperCollins]].

In 2010 Jehangir opened his second restaurant, Mehtaphor, in TriBeCa within the Duane Street Hotel. This restaurant closed in 2015.

In 2013, Jehangir partnered with the non-profit patient advocacy organization [[Beyond Celiac]] (then known as the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness) as a chef ambassador to help launch their Gluten-Free Chef's Table Tour. The aim of the program was to educate chefs about the gluten-free diet and the needs of customers with celiac disease.<ref>https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/great-kitchens-10-city-gluten-free-chefs-table-tour-launches-in-new-york-227790021.html</ref>

In 2016, Graffiti Earth opened in the same spot as Mehtaphor. A complete renovation and rebranding, Graffiti Earth has the same signature eclectic cuisine as the original Graffiti with a more vegetable-forward menu and a focus on sustainability throughout. At Graffiti Earth Chef Mehta consciously works with underutilized vegetables, produce and seafood.

==Television and media coverage==

===Food Network===

* In August 2009, Jehangir appeared on [[Iron Chef America]], where he lost to Iron Chef [[Masaharu Morimoto]] in Battle Coconut by only 2 points.
* Beginning on October 4, 2009, Jehangir was a contestant on the new season of the reality show [[The Next Iron Chef]]. Jehangir finished second, losing in the final episode, telecast on November 22, to [[Jose Garces]].
* In Fall/Winter 2012, Mehta competed in the 5th season of "The next iron Chef." He was eliminated in the 6th episode.

===Other television appearances===
* In January 2009 Jehangir and Graffiti were featured on the [[Martha Stewart]] Show
* In September 2009, Graffiti's beet ice cream was featured on [[The Dr. Oz Show]] as a food for preventing kidney stones.
* Jehangir, and his restaurant Graffiti, have been featured on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], [[Fox News]], [[NBC]], [[Martha Stewart]], and [[NY1]] LXTV.
* In December 2011, Jehangir featured on the show [[MasterChef India (season 2)]]

===Media coverage===
Jehangir has been featured in numerous publications in the [[United States]], including ''[[Gourmet (magazine)|Gourmet]]'', ''[[Bon Appétit]]'', ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'', ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]'', ''[[Gotham (magazine)|Gotham]]'', ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'', ''[[New York Post]]''. He has also been written up on various blogs including [[DailyCandy]], Strong Buzz, Restaurant News, Grubb Street

==Books==
In 2008, Jehangir published his first cookbook:
* ''Mantra: The Rules of Indulgence'' ([[HarperCollins]], May 20, 2008) - {{ISBN|978-0-06-089985-1}}

==Web show==
Mehta debuted his do-it-yourself cooking web show, J Walk, in November 2009.<ref>{{ cite web |title=The Buzz "J Walks" With Next Iron Chef Finalist |url=http://www.zagat.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?SCID=40&BLGID=25031&SNP=NNYC |work=Zagat.com |date=November 16, 2009 }}</ref>

==Awards==
* Timeout: Best Pastry Chef run restaurant in 2008

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.jehangirmehta.com/}}
* [http://www.graffitinyc.com/ Graffiti Food and Wine Bar]
* [http://www.foodnetwork.com/nextironchef/ Next Iron Chef]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Jehangir}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni]]
[[Category:Food Network chefs]]
[[Category:Indian chefs]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Indian food writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Participants in American reality television series]]
[[Category:Writers from Mumbai]]

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[[zh:巴比·福雷]]

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Jehangir Mehta