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Karan Gokani
Restaurateur
United Kingdom
Founder of popular London restaurant group 'Hoppers' bringing all the right flavours together.
- Hometown London
- Occupation Restaurateur
Karan Gokani is Co-Founder and Creative Director of Hoppers Restaurants in London. He grew up in Mumbai and moved to England in 2005 to study law at the University of Cambridge. Even as a practicing solicitor, Karan’s passion for food and hospitality never faded and he spent time in professional kitchens in his spare time. In 2012, he left his legal career to pursue a career in hospitality, traveling across India and Sri Lanka prolifically to immerse himself in the food and culture of the countries.
In 2015, JKS Restaurants and Karan opened Hoppers, a Sri Lankan and south Indian restaurant on Frith Street, Soho. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2017 alongside a number of other prestigious awards and has been hailed as one of the first restaurants to make Sri Lankan food accessible in central London. A second Hoppers followed in Marylebone in 2017 and a third in King’s Cross in 2020.
Over the years Karan has written travel features and recipes on Sri Lanka and southern India for major national and international publications including The Sunday Times & The Telegraph, appeared on TV shows such as Sunday Brunch, Great British Chefs, and at various food festivals across the UK.
Karan's debut book, Hoppers: The Cookbook tells a personal story of the inspiration behind Hoppers and the people and places that shaped it, via recipes and stunning imagery.
