Background
Rowe was born in Plovdiv to a Bulgarian mother and a Turkish father.
Rowe was born in Plovdiv to a Bulgarian mother and a Turkish father.
Rowe"s father, who was a newspaper editor of the largest Bulgarian newspaper, Bulgarianised his name due to Bulgaria"s communist government. He instilled in Rowe a love of cooking and passed down the traditions of the Ottoman cuisine. At the age of 19, she moved to London.
Silvena cooked in the kitchen of the Notting Hill bookshop for Cooks, which led her to cook for Princess Michael of Kent, Ruby Wax and Tina Turner.
She also met Malcolm Gluck and the two began to write a regular food column for The Guardian newspaper. In 2007, she was the food consultant on David Cronenberg’s 2007 film Eastern Promises.
She has become a regular guest on the British Broadcasting Corporation"s Saturday Kitchen and Independent Television"s This Morning. After her father"s death she wanted to rediscover her heritage so she travelled through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan tracing her Ottoman roots.
This resulted in her cookbook Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume.
On 7 June 2011, her restaurant Quince opened at The May Fair Hotel in Mayfair, London. Currently Silvena shares her time between Dubai, Sofia, New York and London. Silvena Rowe is also a Charlton Athletic Supporter.
Food Network"Chopped" guest judge Episode 258 05/13/2014 British Broadcasting Corporation One"s Saturday Kitchen, a regular guest British Broadcasting Corporation Two"s Country Show Cook Office S01 E16-20 (2013) Independent Television This Morning Let"s Dance for Comic Relief Screen expert/judge on British Broadcasting Corporation Young Chef of the Year (2009) Come Dine With Maine Great Food Live Soapstar Superchef Time Machine Chefs.
