Mowgli founder Nisha Katona’s life off-screen with famous husband, Wirral home and Liverpool role
The former barrister also has a role at a Liverpool university
Nisha Katona founded restaurant chain Mowgli(Image: Instagram/Nisha Katona)
Nisha Katona is a well-known name in the food industry after founding the Indian food restaurant chain, Mowgli, in 2014. Mowgli opened its first restaurant over a decade ago on Bold Street, and the business has seen nothing but success. Away from her busy life maintaining Mowgli’s high standards, Nisha, a former barrister, lives near the Wirral with her family. But what do we know about her life?
Originally from Ormskirk, Lancashire, Nisha studied law at Liverpool John Moores University, which is where she met her future husband, Zoltan Katona. After graduating, Nisha worked as a child protection barrister for 20 years. In 2008, she was appointed trustee of the National Museums Liverpool by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
In 2014, the mum-of-two decided it was time to take her love of cooking to the next level. She took the chance and left her full-time job to open her own restaurant on Bold Street. Foodies soon fell in love with Mowgli’s unique charm and irresistible flavours, and it has now blossomed into the UK’s first national Indian restaurant chain with more than 20 locations.
Nisha Katona is Chancellor at Liverpool John Moores University(Image: Instagram/Nisha Katona)
The business established the Mowgli Trust charity back in 2017 to help local communities and groups and has since raised more than £1.8m to support children’s hospices, hospices, cancer and hospital charities.
Nisha Katona was awarded an MBE for her services to the food industry in 2019. Mowgli now has venues in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Nottingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leicester, Leeds, Cheshire, Cheltenham, London, Glasgow, Preston, Bristol, Edinburgh and Brighton.
Nisha also makes regular appearances on our TV screens, hosting cooking segments on This Morning and judging on Great British Menu, as well as being a guest chef on MasterChef. She also cooked alongside McFly star Harry Judd on Cooking with the Stars.
The 53-year-old hosts her own Saturday morning cooking show, Nisha Katona’s Home Kitchen. The programme sees Nisha invite viewers into her family home near the Wirral to showcase some of her favourite recipes.
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When the news was announced she would be welcoming viewers into her home on ITV earlier this year, she said: “What a preposterous blessing to have ITV so kindly trust me with my dream cooking show. My most delicious, simplest recipes are set in the natural chaos of my Wirral farmstead with my four-legged and two-legged family, where I celebrate everything local and life in the backyard.
“Building five restaurants last year for @mowglistreetfood while also juggling a busy home and family meant I had to choose to bid fond farewell to my life on Great British Menu and I shall miss the crew and the screaming with laughter. How wonderful to be able to step out in faith and know that as one door shuts, another will open – this time onto lush green pastures.”
Nisha showcases her stunning farmhouse property, where she lives with her husband Zoltan Katona and their two daughters, Tia and India. Zoltan Katona is part of the guitar duo “The Katona Twins” alongside his identical brother, Peter. They started playing music aged ten and now perform at major musical festivals around the world.
Nisha Katona and Zoltan Katona have been married for 25 years(Image: Instagram/Nisha Katona)
Zoltan and Nisha live a peaceful life, along with their farm animals, which include three dogs, four horses, four goats, ducks, chickens, guinea fowl and alpacas. Nisha regularly gives an insight into their beautiful home to her followers on Instagram.
The house boasts an elegant kitchen with white worktops and gold decor. Nisha also has a stunning greenhouse, filled with a range of different plants and gold fairy lights. Nisha says: “This greenhouse is the work of my youngest daughter, who inherited my mother’s love for growing things and my mother-in-law’s love for baking things.”
Nisha recently shared a heartwarming moment with her youngest daughter, who followed in her mum’s footsteps and graduated from Liverpool John Moores with a degree in law. However, Nisha Katona has served as the university’s Chancellor since January 2022, becoming its first alumni chancellor.
She acts as an ambassador, advocate, and role model for LJMU students and staff and oversees graduation ceremonies. Therefore, Nisha was teary-eyed when she had the job of presenting her own daughter with her degree this summer.
