Allegra Kurer, now known professionally as Allegra Benitah, has built a career that is difficult to place in a single category. The daughter of British broadcaster Vanessa Feltz, she studied law at Cambridge, qualified as a solicitor and worked in corporate tax before taking a career break after becoming a mother. She later became known as “Challah Mummy,” bringing imaginative versions of traditional Jewish challah bread to television and family cooking workshops. More recently, Benitah has returned to commercial law. As of 2026, she is an associate in the London office of Latham & Watkins, specialising in transactional tax.
Allegra Kurer Quick Facts
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Birth/maiden name | Allegra Kurer |
| Professional name | Allegra Sybilla Benitah |
| Known for | Tax law and the “Challah Mummy” baking identity |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Law, University of Cambridge |
| Legal qualification | Solicitor in England and Wales |
| Current role | Associate, Latham & Watkins, London |
| Legal specialism | Transactional tax |
| Mother | Vanessa Feltz |
| Husband | Dan Benitah |
| Children | Two |
| Television appearances | This Morning, Good Morning Britain, James Martin’s Saturday Morning |
Haberdashers’ Girls’ School, which she attended, identifies her as “Allegra Benitah née Kurer,” providing a clear link between the name used in older references and the surname under which she now works professionally.
Who Is Allegra Kurer?
Allegra Kurer is a British solicitor who has also worked as a television chef, baking teacher and food personality. She is the elder daughter of journalist and broadcaster Vanessa Feltz and her former husband, Michael Kurer. A 2024 Guardian profile of Feltz identifies her two daughters as Allegra, a lawyer, and Saskia, a children’s therapist.
Her biography stands out because her professional life has followed an unconventional route. Rather than making a permanent move from law into television, she eventually returned to the legal profession, making both tax law and food media important parts of her career.
Education and the Start of Her Legal Career
Benitah studied law at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Her current Latham & Watkins profile records an MA in Law from Cambridge in 2007, followed by the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law’s London Moorgate campus in 2008.
She went on to qualify at Clifford Chance, one of London’s best-known international law firms. The Jewish Chronicle reported in 2018 that she had pursued a career in tax law after Cambridge, while her own biography describes approximately five years of tax work in London and Paris.
The Law Society’s official solicitor database records her as Allegra Sybilla Benitah and gives her admission date as 16 August 2010.
Why Allegra Benitah Took a Break From Law
Her first major career change came after becoming a mother.
Benitah told The Jewish Chronicle that after the birth of her son Zeke in 2014, she found it difficult to reconcile the demands of her legal career with the kind of family life she wanted. She therefore decided to take a career pause. She later had a daughter, Neroli.
The Irish Times later described the intensity of her earlier working life and how becoming a parent changed her priorities. Cooking and baking increasingly became activities she could share with her children rather than simply household tasks.
That change eventually produced the second career for which many television viewers came to know her.
How “Challah Mummy” Began
Benitah developed the identity Challah Mummy around creative versions of challah, the enriched Jewish bread traditionally associated with Shabbat and festivals.
Instead of restricting her baking to classic plaited loaves, she experimented with different shapes, fillings, colours and seasonal ingredients. Her personal site also connected the project with gardening, describing her interest in growing produce in a small urban garden and using it in family recipes.
The project soon moved beyond her own kitchen.
ITV’s This Morning featured Benitah in September 2018, introducing her as Challah Mummy and showing her making sweet, savoury and colourful challah breads. ITV said she had originally begun baking as an activity with her young son.
Her television work later included appearances on Good Morning Britain and James Martin’s Saturday Morning. Food site I Love Cooking also recorded appearances on Irish programmes including Ireland AM and RTÉ’s Today.
James Martin’s official cooking website continues to feature her tear-and-share pesto sunflower challah recipe, connecting her name directly with the programme and her distinctive style of bread making.
Allegra Kurer’s Return to Tax Law
One of the most important details in an up-to-date Allegra Kurer biography is that calling her simply a former lawyer is no longer accurate.
The 2025 Pro Bono Recognition List recorded Allegra Benitah as a solicitor at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. Latham & Watkins states that she joined the firm’s London office in 2025 after working in the tax department of another major international firm.
At Latham, she advises on complex international transactional tax matters, particularly those involving corporate transactions, financing and multi-jurisdictional tax planning. Her professional profile also records previous secondments to Airbus in Toulouse, Barclays Bank and the Paris office of an international law firm.
Recent Latham transaction announcements confirm her active involvement in the firm’s tax practice. In 2026, for example, she was named among lawyers advising on RQ Bio’s US$115 million Series A financing and on Danone’s acquisition of Made Group.
Her legal work also includes a pro bono component. Latham says she has represented victims of the Windrush scandal in claims made through the Windrush Compensation Scheme. She appears on the 2026 Pro Bono Recognition List as a Latham & Watkins solicitor; the list recognises lawyers who completed at least 25 hours of qualifying pro bono work during the preceding year.
Allegra Kurer Career Timeline
| Year/Period | Career milestone |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Completed an MA in Law at Cambridge |
| 2008 | Completed the Legal Practice Course in London |
| 2010 | Admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales |
| 2014 | Took a career pause after the birth of her son |
| 2018 | Gained wider recognition as Challah Mummy and appeared on This Morning |
| 2018–2020 | Expanded into television, recipes and baking workshops |
| 2025 | Listed at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and subsequently joined Latham & Watkins |
| 2026 | Practising transactional tax at Latham & Watkins in London |
Allegra Kurer’s Family
Allegra is married to Dan Benitah. The Jewish Chronicle reported that the couple met at a Purim gathering in Rome in 2012. Their son Zeke was born in 2014, and they later welcomed their daughter Neroli.
Her mother, Vanessa Feltz, has remained part of some of Allegra’s media appearances and food coverage. An Irish Times feature, for example, followed Feltz, Benitah and their family during time spent in Ballycotton, County Cork, while discussing the Challah Mummy project.
Allegra nevertheless has a substantial professional record independent of her mother’s broadcasting career: a Cambridge legal education, qualification as a solicitor, experience at major international firms and an active transactional tax practice.
FAQs About Allegra Kurer
Who is Allegra Kurer?
Allegra Kurer, now known as Allegra Benitah, is a British tax solicitor who also became known as the television food personality “Challah Mummy.” She is the daughter of broadcaster Vanessa Feltz.
Why is Allegra Kurer called Allegra Benitah?
Benitah is her married surname. Her former school specifically lists her as “Allegra Benitah née Kurer.” She is married to Dan Benitah.
Is Allegra Kurer still a lawyer?
Yes. As of 2026, the Law Society and Latham & Watkins list Allegra Sybilla Benitah as a practising solicitor and associate in the firm’s London office. She specialises in transactional tax.
What is Challah Mummy?
Challah Mummy is the baking identity Benitah developed while on a career break from law. Her work focused on creative challah bread, family cooking, gardening, workshops and television demonstrations.
Is Allegra Kurer Vanessa Feltz’s daughter?
Yes. Allegra is one of Vanessa Feltz’s two daughters with her former husband Michael Kurer. Her sister is Saskia.
Where did Allegra Kurer study?
She studied law at the University of Cambridge and later completed the Legal Practice Course in London before qualifying as a solicitor.
Conclusion
Allegra Kurer’s career cannot be described simply as a move from law to baking. As Allegra Benitah, she first established herself as a Cambridge-educated tax solicitor, stepped away from City law after becoming a mother, and then built a distinctive food-media identity through Challah Mummy. She eventually returned to commercial legal practice and now works on international transactional tax matters in London. Her professional history therefore spans corporate law, television, baking and food education—with her current career once again firmly centred on tax law.
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