About
Jay Morjaria
Culinary Leader / Consultant / Designer
Jay Morjaria is a London-based culinary leader, chef and F&B strategist. Head of Concept at KellyDeli and a consultant since 2011, he combines the creative vision of a chef with the operational rigour and financial discipline of a former retail buyer.
In 2020 he launched his two-year residency JAE at Untitled Bar in Dalston, serving small plates inspired by regional and lost Korean dishes. He received glowing reviews from critics including Jay Rayner of The Observer, who called his cooking "seriously punchy Korean flavours".
At KellyDeli he leads international concept development across Onggi, Kelly's Market, Happy Tokyo and Sushi Daily HotPod. His work spans menu engineering, new product development, P&L oversight, supplier strategy, kitchen design and franchise rollouts. He transformed Kelly's Market from a loss-making company-owned concept into a profitable franchisable business.
Before hospitality, Jay managed retail buying categories exceeding £110m at Tesco. A BA Hons in Furniture Related Product Design from Brunel University underpins his spatial and product design work at Studio JAE. He is also the author of Share, published in 2013, and a regular voice on BBC Radio London.
The journey
2006–11
Retail Buyer at Tesco, managing TV/audio and domestic appliance categories with budgets exceeding £110m — the commercial foundation for his later F&B work.
2011 →
Established his own projects and consultancy, developing restaurant concepts, menus and operations from initial idea through to launch.
2013–15
Owner and lead tutor at Sutra Kitchen, a vegetarian and vegan cookery school off Carnaby Street. Published his cookbook Share in Autumn 2013.
2018
Winning contestant on series one of BBC2/Netflix's Million Pound Menu.
2019–21
Executive Consultant Chef at Vagabond Wines, shaping culinary direction across multiple sites and developing lunch, dinner and breakfast menus.
2020
Launched JAE, a two-year residency at Untitled Bar in Dalston serving small plates inspired by regional and lost Korean dishes — praised by Jay Rayner in The Observer.
2021
Shortlisted as 'Chef to Watch' at the National Restaurant Awards. Head of Food at Mamma Pastrama from May 2021 to August 2022, creating the concept and menu and managing the kitchen team.
2022
Opened Tiger & Rabbit in partnership with Sessions — a bold casual Korean kitchen on Upper Street, Islington.
2024
Launched Shabash, an Indian-inspired concept paying homage to his parents' restaurants of the 1980s and 90s, and Park & Kim, a Korean-American diner pop-up with Calooh Callay.
2024 →
Joined KellyDeli as Head of Concept in July 2024, leading international food franchise concept development, commercial feasibility, kitchen design and operational rollout.
2025 →
Developed Onggi Korean Kitchen, launched at Waitrose Bath in July 2025, followed by its first international site in Paris. Leads hot food and ready-to-eat development across KellyDeli's global portfolio.
Services
How I can help
- Menu development
- End-to-end concept development
- Interim operational support & management
- Brand & concept curation — clusters, hotels, events
- Kitchen & spatial design
- F&B strategy development
- Staff training
- Food styling & recipe testing
- Menu engineering & new product development
- Commercial feasibility, P&L & margin optimisation
- Supplier strategy & ingredient sourcing
- Franchise operations & international rollouts