Akhtar Nawab - Wayward Fare

WHO: Akhtar Nawab is chef-owner of the Mexican restaurant Alta Calidad and Mediterranean eatery Wayward Fare. ABOUT: A passion for cooking, born in his small linoleum-tiled Kentucky kitchen to Indian immigrants, led him to an esteemed career at some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the country: La Folie, Bizou, Gramercy Tavern, Craftbar, and Craft. The latter received three stars from The New York Times and won The James Beard Foundation’s “Best New Restaurant” award during Nawab’s tenure. He received StarChef’s Rising Star Chef award while serving as executive chef of East Village gastropub The E.U., before striking out on his own as chef-partner in Elettaria in 2008. Shortly thereafter, he began a stint of consulting work with Mexican restaurants, notably at the hotspot La Esquina, where he found he had a kinship with its tradition-heavy cooking style. In 2017, Nawab opened his innovative Mexican restaurant Alta Calidad in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, which earned a Michelin Bib