Umesh Patel is the founder of Lalita’s, which is a street food venture offering delicious vegan south Indian street food at music festivals in the United Kingdom.

Umesh has a Technical and Investment banking background, and has a great passion and knowledge of Gujarati food. 

Umesh started his culinary journey as a volunteer kitchen assistant for Madras Café at Womad, a charity café raising money for marginalized people in India. He also volunteered in the kitchen at the Sivananda yoga centre in London. It was at Madras Café over copious amounts of Chai that the seeds were planted for Lalita’s.

Umesh was taught by his mother and thus has a rich knowledge about South Indian and Gujarati food. Together with his Keralan business partner, they have built up a reputation as suppliers of quality south Indian and Gujarati food at a fair value.

Lalita’s is now very popular at a number of key festivals such as Greenbelt, Buddhafield, Green Gathering, Sunrise Celebration, Love Supreme, World Yoga festival, Oxford storytelling festival and the National Trust South West festival.

Umesh wants to share with everyone the food that he eats at home, and therefore is very excited to be part of Living Whole Online. This is hearty, wholesome, and satisfying food made from the soul with a lot of love and passion. He believes everyone should be able to cook delicious food at home and wants to offer his knowledge and experience in Indian cooking.