It’s gonna be a good weekend spilling into next week, as three top chefs touch down in Kolkata. We fill you in…
Thomas Zacharias
Chef Thomas Zacharias, known for championing regional food and local produce across India through his platform The Locavore, is all geared up for an afternoon of ‘adda and ranna’ at Sienna Cafe & Store on September 8.
Chef Auroni Mookerjee, who heads the kitchen at the pretty Hindustan Park cafe, is prepping for a ‘Chhoto Maach Potluck’ with Zac and home chefs of Kolkata. “We wanted to do something different with Chef Zac, so not only are we planning to go bazaar-shopping to explore the variety of chhoto maach you get in Bengal, but we’re also going to do a potluck with home chefs, so that it’s about community-bonding and awareness,” said Auroni.
Zacharias, who was head chef at one of Mumbai’s most popular restaurants The Bombay Canteen, moved on earlier this year to start The Locavore to help people make informed choices about food. On his Instagram account, the stories of his road trips through India, discovering and exploring local cuisine and produce, are extremely popular.
Want to join in? Post about your favourite chhoto maach at the bazaar and how you like to prepare it (don’t forget to tag @thelocavore.in and @sienna_store).
Asma Khan
Celebrity chef Asma Khan is in town this weekend (September 2-4) for her brother’s birthday and an event at Taj Bengal. She posted a photograph of her suite at the Alipore star hotel and shared a memory about her home in Bright Street. “The fragrance from the rajnigandha display in the lobby reminded me of the home I once had in this city — Bright Street — Ammu would buy the flowers from New Market and the whole room would smell so beautiful,” she wrote.
A few days ago, Dan Levy of Schitt’s Creek fame visited chef Asma’s pop-up restaurant at The Pembroke in London over “chilli cheese toastie and serious conversations about life and films”. Darjeeling Express is doing a pop-up at this gastropub before opening the doors of the new location this winter.
Pooja Dhingra
Pooja Dhingra will pop into Kolkata (September 3-4) for a Le 15 Patisserie pop-up at a city cafe in Deshapriya Park. The bubbly chef, who is credited with bringing macarons [not macaroons] to Mumbai and “is happiest around hot chocolate” will also meet and greet fans. ‘Pooj’ as she is called by friends won a special award — Culinary Culture’s Pastry Chef 2022 – in March. And just in case you miss the pop-up, you can keep things sweet by ordering from the Le 15 website that delivers pan-India, including Kolkata.