https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Raji_JallepalliRaji Jallepalli - Revision history2026-08-18T16:33:29ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raji_Jallepalli&diff=124096&oldid=prev>Rohitpunnam: Personal details regarding family as I am her nephew.2020-10-02T05:44:41Z<p>Personal details regarding family as I am her nephew.</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}<br />
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| birth_name = Rajeswari Rampalli<br />
| birth_date = May 1949<br />
| birth_place = [[Hyderabad]], India<br />
| death_date = January 27, 2002 (age 52)<br />
| death_place = [[Memphis, Tennessee]], US<br />
| nationality = <br />
| other_names = <br />
| occupation = Chef, restaurant owner<br />
| years_active = 1989–2002<br />
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| notable_works = <br />
}}<br />
'''Rajeswari "Raji" Jallepalli''' (May 1949 – January 27, 2002) was an Indian-born [[chef]] and [[restaurateur]] based in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. She is credited by ''[[The New York Times]]'' with "originating the fusion of classic French and Indian cuisines".<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/31/nyregion/raji-jallepalli-reiss-chef-52-merged-french-and-indian-cuisines.html|title=Raji Jallepalli-Reiss, Chef, 52; Merged French and Indian Cuisines|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Eric|last=Pace|date=January 31, 2002|accessdate=November 11, 2019}}</ref><br />
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==Early life==<br />
Rajeswari Rampalli was born in May 1949 in [[Hyderabad]].<ref name=gravy>{{cite web|url=https://www.southernfoodways.org/a-comet-called-raji/|title= A Comet Called Raji |work=Gravy|publisher=[[Southern Foodways Alliance]]|first=Mayukh|last=Sen|date=November 5, 2019|accessdate=November 11, 2019}}</ref> Because of her father's work as a high-ranking diplomat for the state of [[Andhra Pradesh]], her family traveled often to Europe. She married Panduranga Jallepalli, a physician, and moved with him to the United States in 1969.<ref name=gravy/> Raji had trained as a microbiologist<ref name=trib>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-05-24-0005240354-story.html|title= `RAJI CUISINE' COMBINES FRENCH AND INDIAN STRENGTHS |first=William|last=Rice|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=May 24, 2000|accessdate=November 11, 2019}}</ref> and transitioned to working in laboratory work as a medical technologist in the U.S. They initially lived in New York and New Jersey, and moved to [[Memphis, Tennessee]], in the early 1970s. In Memphis, she was a stay-at-home mother for her two sons with occasional work assisting in her husband's medical practice.<ref name=gravy/><br />
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==Career as a chef==<br />
Jallepalli opened her first restaurant, The East India Company, in Memphis in 1989.<ref name=star>{{cite web|url=https://www.starchefs.com/Raji/biography.html|title=Raji Jallepalli|website=StarChefs.com|accessdate=November 11, 2019}}</ref> Although the initial menu reflected a [[Indian cuisine|curry house]], she later transformed the menu as a fusion of French and Indian cuisine; she renamed it Restaurant Raji in 1992. The new menu was well received and Jallepalli was invited to cook at the [[James Beard Foundation|James Beard House]] six times in the 1990s. She was nominated for two [[James Beard Foundation Award]]s, in the Best Chef: Southeast category, in 1996 and 1997.<ref name=gravy/> She was honored by the [[White House]] in millennial celebrations in 2000 as part of a program called "Imagine the Future".<ref name=star/><br />
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Jallepalli's cookbook, ''Raji Cuisine: Indian Flavors, French Passion'', was published by [[HarperCollins]] in 2000 and featured Indian-French fusion recipes designed by Jallepalli.<ref name=trib/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ediblememphis.com/stories/2018/8/6/raji-jallepalli|title=Remembering Raji|first1=Justin|last1=Fox Burks|first2=Amy|last2=Lawrence|date=August 6, 2018|work=Edible Memphis|accessdate=November 11, 2019}}</ref> The same year, she was chosen by Avtar Walia to be the executive chef of Tamarind, a fine-dining Indian restaurant in [[Tribeca]], New York City.<ref name=gravy/> Tamarind opened in January 2001 and was called "a clear-cut victory for the cause of Indian food" in an early review by ''[[The New York Times]]'' food critic [[William Grimes (journalist)|William Grimes]].<ref name=nyt/><br />
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==Personal life==<br />
Jallepalli's first marriage to Panduranga Jallepalli, with whom she had two sons Prasad and Satish, ended in divorce; she later remarried to Louis Reiss in 1999. She died in Memphis on January 27, 2002, aged 52, from [[gastric cancer]].<ref name=gravy/><ref name=nyt/>Her family included parents Radha and Ramakrishna along with three younger sisters Padma, Sita and Vaijayanthi.<br />
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==References==<br />
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[[Category:1949 births]]<br />
[[Category:2002 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian chefs]]<br />
[[Category:Indian restaurateurs]]<br />
[[Category:American chefs]]<br />
[[Category:American restaurateurs]]<br />
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Hyderabad, India]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Memphis, Tennessee]]<br />
[[Category:Deaths from stomach cancer]]<br />
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Tennessee]]</div>>Rohitpunnam