Hey, I’m Bita,
I’m excited to welcome you to the portal of my life and work.
I’m a Persian Chef born and raised in Mashhad, Iran and living in the UK since 1999. Cooking has always been my passion - and a skill I developed from a very young age, watching and copying my Grandma, Mother and Aunties. I had a special fascination with the magic amalgamation of fire, water, earth and its creation of food. My favourite childhood game being to make a tiny fire and create recipes in my little pots and pans in the garden, and as I grew up, it became finding excuses to experiment in the kitchen while my parents thought I was studying, my formal education being paramount to my traditional Persian parents.
After graduating from uni, I became a secondary school teacher for 20 years, in the meantime, getting married, divorced and having my beautiful daughter. While my teaching career was deeply fulfilling, I knew that I was being called to another path. I started writing the only GCSE Persian textbook, to create a better resource for future students.
Come 2014, I finished the book, and I knew I had reached a crossroads in my career and life. My buried passions were resurfacing, and watching my daughter so invested in discovering hers, and wanting to be good role model, I decided to take the leap.
It wasn’t an easy decision but as I gently let go of fear, I found myself doing two Professional cooking and baking courses, and then opening the doors of my small North London flat to ‘strangers’ in hosting my very first Persian Supper Club events.
My mission became create and share food that paid homage to the beautiful tastes and philosophies of my culture, yet was also explorative, new and healthy.
It didn’t take long to receive the reassurance that I was doing what I was meant to do … I was awarded “Student of the Year” on my course, and I found my Supper Club featured in the Evening Standard as one of London’s Best Supper Clubs. So I carried on very encouraged and determined. Since then I have hosted hundreds of ‘Authentic Persian Supper Club’ events, private catered around the world, featured in many amazing projects, and even had my own weekly TV cooking show, Bita’s Kitchen, broadcasted by Iran International. I now work on an array of projects through my food, often with the help of my Creative and Gerneral Assistant (and daughter) Dina Chehrazi. I’m eternally grateful for every single bit of encouragement and support I’ve had along the way.