Silvena Rowe (born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a British chef, food writer, television personality and restaurateur.[1]
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Rowe was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria to a Bulgarian mother and a Turkish father.[2] Rowe's father, who was a newspaper editor of the largest Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarianised his name due to Bulgaria's communist government.[3] He instilled in Rowe a love of cooking and passed down the traditions of the Ottoman cuisine.[4] At the age of 19, she moved to London.[5][1] Silvena cooked in the kitchen of the Notting Hill bookshop Books for Cooks, which led her to cook for Princess Michael of Kent, Ruby Wax and Tina Turner.[1] She also met Malcolm Gluck and the two began to write a regular food column for The Guardian newspaper.[1] In 2007, she was the food consultant on David Cronenberg’s 2007 film Eastern Promises.[1] She has become a regular guest on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen and ITV's This Morning. In 2007, her book Feasts won the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award.[4] After her fathers death she wanted to rediscover her heritage so she travelled through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan tracing her Ottoman roots; this resulted in her cookbook Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume.[2]
On 7th June 2011, her restaurant Quince opened at The May Fair Hotel in Mayfair, London.[6][7] Her restaurant is influenced by her Turkish heritage- homage to her grandfather Mehmed, who used to cook the dishes for her father.[8]
Silvene Rowe is also a Charlton Athletic Supporter.