There are plenty of fish in the sea. But only the best make it to Campari’s kitchen.
The shop in Gariahat, serving chops, cutlets and rolls has been one of Kolkata’s most loved eateries for over four decades with a legacy of its own. In addition to the Gariahat outlet, Campari recently expanded to a cloud kitchen in Jadavpur. My Kolkata caught up with co-owners and siblings Adipto and Ayushi Mitra to talk about their journey so far, and the road ahead.
Campari’s rolls are one of the most-loved items on the menu, and they can be customised — dry parathas for the more health conscious or more onions for that extra crunch, and even an Ayushi-special
A quintessential start-up
Campari was started by the siblings’ grandfather Ashok Kumar Mitra, in 1979. While working as an engineer in Germany, he was fascinated by the Italian spirit Campari, which he would enjoy with his meals. Soon, he realised that engineering wasn’t his calling, and returned to his hometown. “When our grandfather came back to Kolkata, he would visit his friends’ homes, where he would enjoy a lot of chops and cutlets. He wanted to make these items more accessible to everyone, and started this shop,” said Adipto. When the time came to choose a name, he settled on the same spirit that he fell in love with in Germany, arguing that, ‘If I like it so much and name my business after it, everyone else would love it too!’
Campari is located on Rashbehari Avenue, near Gariahat More and Basanti Devi College
The first dish on their menu was the now-famous chicken cutlet, inspired by the schnitzel that her grandfather had tried in Germany, said Ayushi. Talking about the start, Adipto chuckled as he mentioned, “Like a quintessential start-up, Campari was set up in our family’s garage! We would prepare food during the day, sell it in the evening, and at night, we would park our car inside the shop.”
A new era
After Ashok Kumar’s passing in 2000, Ayusi and Adipto’s grandmother Nandita took up the handling of the shop. Ayushi feels that the seeds for her joining the family business two decades later, were sown during this time. “Ever since I was a kid, I would watch my grandmother wearing her sari and getting ready to go to the shop. She was a complete boss lady,” she smiled.
While their fish fry has gained legendary status over the years, the chicken cutlet was the first dish on the Campari menu
Nandita ran Campari till 2015, when Adipto took over. Two years ago, Ayushi joined him too. Both the siblings were united by the love for food, and instantly involved themselves in the business. They have been running Campari since with the same zeal and determination as their grandparents, and with most of the same staff.
“Some of our employees have been with us for over 40 years. It would be really unfair if we one day asked them to move on, just because the people handling this business have passed,” said Adipto, adding that he finds it unfair when people ask them why they joined Campari, “If I have access to a kitchen that makes amazing food 24x7, what’s not to like? Places that make good food make for happy faces.”
Campari favourites
When asked about their favourites from the Campari menu, Adipto chose the tandoori fish roll, crediting his father for introducing him to it. Ayushi, on the other hand, relishes the mutton roll. “All our rolls are customisable. Some people ask for fried onions in their roll, or for dry parathas if they are health conscious. I add a bit of magic to my mutton roll, which I can’t give out. But half of the time I don’t get to eat it, because we sell out,” said Ayushi, laughing, and Adipto was quick to retort, “I used to love the mutton roll too, that’s where she gets it from!”
The Campari fish roll
But what has kept people coming back to the eatery over the last four decades? The siblings confess that there is literally (or metaphorically) no secret sauce. Their menu prioritises in nailing the classics while emphasising on quality. “We don’t think people are drawn to a brand. This city is full of amazing food, and if you’re mediocre, you will be cast out. We have no secret recipe, neither do we do things differently. We are just extremely strict about quality,” said Adipto.
With Poila Baisakh almost here, the store has seen a big wave of foodies
Quality over expansion
In order to maintain quality, Campari has an iron-clad rule around produce: everything comes fresh in the morning, is processed during the day, and is sold in the evening. Customers are never given anything stale.
It is this emphasis on quality that has kept them from expanding. Adipto confessed that he desired to take Campari to new territories ever since he was in college, but couldn’t because of the nature of the business. That fact that he was single-handedly overseeing quality control, managing the cash counter, and taking feedback, didn’t help. “We’ve had franchise offers from around the country, but feared expanding in case our quality went for a toss. Until last month, the only addition we had to our menu in 38 years was a bigger and thicker version of the fish fry, on popular demand. It is very difficult to innovate if you want to finish your stock by the end of the day while maintaining your standards. In the past two years, Ayushi has completely taken over the quality control. Our new Jadavpur cloud kitchen has been in the works for a while, but she made it possible,” he added.
Sustainable expansion is key
The idea for this cloud kitchen stemmed from the complaints they would receive from people in the Garia-Patuli area, about food being delivered cold. Ever since they started the Jadavpur kitchen, the delivery time has gone down by half. It has also provided a space for their veteran staff to train new people, allowing Campari to maintain their standards while giving some rest to those who have worked there for generations.
Their vision is to expand sustainably, rather than aggressively. “I get calls from customers, asking why we chose a cloud kitchen in a small gully as opposed to a sprawling outlet on the main road. But, we don’t want to create demand that we can’t fulfil,” said Adipto.
Ayushi spearheaded the expansion to a cloud kitchen in Jadavpur, taking over the quality control aspect of the business
They chose the cloud kitchen model because it allows them to personally oversee the training and quality control there, which isn’t possible at the Gariahat outlet, “because we’re at the counter. We’re looking at the Jadavpur kitchen as an experiment for now. If it proves to be fruitful, we’ll hopefully open more outlets,” he added, grinning.
A common question the duo receive at the Gariahat location is if the new kitchen has the same food. “Every day, the fresh produce is transferred from our Gariahat kitchen to Jadavpur and prepared there. It’s the same Campari taste!” explained Ayushi.
The prawn cutlet is the newest addition to the menu
This expansion has also percolated into their Gariahat kitchen, which is seeing constant R&D for new items. Most of their culinary experiments don’t make it to their menu, courtesy their strict quality and taste standards. However, one quintessential Kolkata street food item found its way into their kitchen last week, and is already flying off the counter!
“People have requested us to serve the prawn cutlet for years. We have been trying to make it happen for a while, but it was very difficult to procure good quality prawns throughout the year. We finally managed to nail the classic recipe and brought it out of our kitchen. There are more such things in the pipeline,” beamed Ayushi.
Currently, the siblings are focussed on optimising their centralised kitchen in Gariahat to the best of its ability, while applying the finishing touches to Jadavpur. “If we can grow this model, then sky’s the limit,” signed off Adipto.
Campari Kolkata
Address: 155B, Rash Behari Ave, Dover Terrace, Ballygunge
Timings: Monday - Saturday, 4-9pm
Pocket pinch: Rs 200 for two, approx
