Nikita Pathakji, junior sous chef at Kitchen W8, has been crowned MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 winner

The Staff Canteen

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Nikita Pathakji, junior sous chef at Kitchen W8, has been crowned MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 winner.

As the 16th professional chef to earn the esteemed MasterChef: The Professionals title, Nikita takes her place in MasterChef history alongside other outstanding champions: Derek Johnstone; Steve Groves; Claire Lara; Ash Mair, joint winners Keri Moss and Anton Piotrowski; Steven Edwards; Jamie Scott; Mark Stinchcombe; Gary Maclean; Craig Johnston; Laurence Henry; Stu Deeley, Alex Webb and last year’s winner, Dan Lee.

Nikita, 25, entered the prestigious competition alongside 31 other professional chefs, all aiming to achieve culinary perfection, cooking her way to the top after six weeks of increasingly demanding challenges. Nikita impressed Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing, acclaimed chef Anna Haugh and seasoned MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace with innovative, memorable dishes inspired from her travels, mainly around Asia.

Critics and leading chefs also raved about Nikita and her food, with William Sitwell describing her as “a force to be reckoned with” and Michelin-starred Jun Tanaka said of her octopus starter at Chef’s Table: “You absolutely nailed it. It really took me back to when I was a child in Japan.”

Reacting to her win, Nikita told The Staff Canteen: "It's the best thing that's ever happened to me and I couldn’t tell anyone for so long. At the same time, once it was over, I didn't want to tell anyone because I wanted them to experience it."

Talking about the her highs being on the programme, Nikita told The Staff Canteen: "I mean winning is the obvious one, but I think the other one would be the Chef's Table cooking for that room of people. It was just something else. I mean, it was the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever done but getting great feedback, I will just never forget what Jun Tanaka said to me, like it took him back to being a child in Japan, to be able to create a memory for someone is what I love to do with food."

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Commenting on Nikita's win, MasterChef judge Marcus Wareing said: “She’s a chef that has grown right in front of our eyes. Her food has been sublime and she’s always come up with an amazing twist.”

Anna Haugh said: “Nikita is on the road to creating a very unique cuisine. And that is why she’s our champion. As soon as Nikita walked into the kitchen I could see she had class.”

Gregg Wallace added: “Nikita is using food that she fell in love with from her own travels around Asia. That chef is completely and utterly in love with the food she’s producing. She opened up the larder of the world and brought us stunning dish after stunning dish.”

In an intense Final Week, Nikita was cooking against exceptional fellow finalists in increasingly tough culinary tasks and had to bring the very best creativity, technique and skill to the table, to outperform them. The challenges this week included the chance of a lifetime to cook for 20 culinary heavyweights at one of the most prestigious and unique cooking events in the country.

Chef’s Table was held this year at the five-star Lanesborough Hotel in London, and the guests, who hold 19 Michelin stars between them, included Matt Abé (3* Restaurant Gordon Ramsay), Nieves Barragan Mohacho (Sabor 1*), Lisa Goodwin-Allen (1* Northcote), Jason Atherton (The Social Company 3*) and the much-loved MasterChef judge and renowned chef patron of Mere, Monica Galetti.

Derby-born Nikita grew up in a family for whom food was always a focus. She now lives in Clapham, London, with her mum, step-dad, sister and Dexter the dog. Nikita says: “I always cooked with my dad and my mum throws elaborate dinner parties with several courses. She also introduced me to the London food scene, taking me to Michelin-starred restaurants. But I’d never considered it as a career because my family is so academic.”

After her A-levels, instead of going to university to study Chemistry, Nikita decided to follow her passion and embark on cooking career. She trained with Westminster Kingsway College and at the end of her apprenticeship, travelled for nine months around Asia. This journey further awakened her appreciation for local flavours and styles of the region.

She says: “Because I travelled, it opened up a whole different world of cuisine. It was amazing.”

Although Nikita is classically trained and has worked in Michelin-starred kitchens across London ever since, her own food is heavily influenced by her experiences in Asia.

Talking about her time in the competition, Nikita said: “It's always been something I've thought about and my family really wanted me to do it and now I'm in a job at Kitchen W8, where the chef is super supportive and I really thrived in that kitchen and had got almost comfortable, but I think that can be dangerous. So, it was time to push myself again and that for me was MasterChef."

“I didn’t let myself dream of getting to this point when I entered. I’ve given everything to this. Sleepless nights is an understatement!”

Working as a Chef de Partie at the time of filming (now Junior Sous Chef) at Michelin-starred restaurant Kitchen W8 in London, Nikita is looking ahead: “Next, I’d love to do pop-ups and festivals to cook for as many people as physically possible. It would be brilliant to work alongside the other MasterChef finalists to do bespoke menus and events. My long-term goal is to be a chef-owner of a successful restaurant where I get to cook my own food every day. I’d want to foster a great working environment, much like my current workplace. Championing women in the industry, as well as creating a good work life balance, is so important to me.”

• MasterChef: The Professionals is available to watch on iPlayer

• Applications for MasterChef: The Professionals 2023 are now open: masterchef.com/professionals.

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