For about three months, many a food-loving Kolkatan has walked along the tree-covered lane of Hindustan Park and cast a longing glance at 49/1 Hindustan Park, waiting in anticipation for when the doors of Sienna Store and Cafe would open again.
For almost a decade now, from humble beginnings as a little cafe to their first international pop-ups in Bangkok and Singapore in April, Sienna has been serving up stories of Bengal’s food and India’s rich bounty, and championing Bengal’s artistry. Over the last few weeks, the multi-award-winning Kolkata food destination has been crafting a new chapter behind the tarp and scaffolding — Sienna 2.0 — in the 90-year-old house. With a new studio, three curated menus across three floors, and a whole new space concept, Sienna is celebrating nine years with the same heart and joy, and a brand new look.
As the store and cafe celebrate their ninth anniversary and get ready to reopen their doors soon, My Kolkata spoke to the wonderful Sienna family about things to look forward to at Sienna 2.0.
Here’s what they had to say…
A marriage of food and art: Shuli
Co-founder and creative director Shuli started Sienna with her mother Shanta Ghosh
Sienna 2.0 will give us the opportunity to realise our gifted team’s full potential as chefs. From running a bustling cafe to a Bengal to Table-focused restaurant menu, and finally a chef's table-style special tasting menu, they will be able to play around in various categories now and I can’t wait for all of you to have a taste!
With this newly renovated space we have opened up the ground floor to let the store breathe a little and flow into the cafe area. Over the last couple of years with Rewant’s (our business head) consorted effort to set up alliances with different organisations all over India, our ceramic workshop is keeping busy. We are delving deeper into the craft of handmade pottery in our workshop (the epicentre of the organisation) in Daronda, near Santiniketan, and also exploring ways in which we can do large-scale projects without compromising on the material and quality.
The Sienna workshop in Daronda, near Santiniketan, is where the gorgeous ceramics and fabrics are crafted by Bengal’s artisans
We will continue to work closely with artisans in Bengal, and to find a symbiotic relationship between the food and crafts of the region. This beautiful marriage between these two aspects has given us the chance to grow in ways we couldn’t have imagined when Ma (Shanta Ghosh) and I started Sienna nine years ago in this quaint neighbourhood.
— Shuli, Co-founder and Creative Director
Sienna — an oasis in south Kolkata: Rewant
Business Head, Rewant, has seen Sienna become a special place for its patrons
As a Sienna loyalist since 2015, I’m most looking forward to Sienna opening up and welcoming guests again. Sienna has managed to become an oasis of sorts in south Kolkata for so many people, from all walks of life. People come here for dates, special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, and that makes it really special. The warmth and inclusive culture at Sienna makes it an impressionable space. We want to take this a step forward through our food and hospitality. As we are close to re-opening, I can’t wait to retell the story of Bengal, and I’m super proud of our entire team for putting in their best effort to put Calcutta on the map.
— Rewant, Business Head
Exploring local produce and curated pottery: Chef Koyel
Head Chef Koyel sees Sienna becoming a space where everyone can exercise the craft and push their boundaries
Sienna 2.0 — the most exciting part for me is offering different experiences on each floor of our space, through food and craft. I am looking forward to it because we can showcase our food craft, which uses different approaches towards food, and we are spending more time exploring ingredients like katla fish belly (the beloved katla peti), ghiye lonka, payesh pata, chalta, and so on. I have always felt that food has no boundaries, so taking inspiration from different parts of the region and trying to incorporate that in our menus with the local seasonal produce is always exciting. Also, we are keeping a few of our all-time favourites on the ground-floor cafe space, trying to stick to our roots and how Sienna started nine years back with Shanta Aunty’s simple homemade recipes.
The new menus will hero more hyperlocal Bengali ingredients like (right) and continue supporting seller like (left) Kajol of Gariahat bazaar
‘Sienna’ means the colour of burnt clay and we are trying to represent this red soil of Bengal through our ceramics and food. From our chef’s table to the dining room — each floor has a different menu and different sets of curated, designed crockery. At Daronda, Shuli and I spent days with our master potter, Bappa da discussing menus and designing each handmade piece of crockery.
Here, we are constantly rebuilding everything, and that includes a good working environment, where everyone can practise and exercise the craft and push their boundaries. We will continue to explore the region more with new approaches and supporting our beloved Gita mashi and Kajol mashi from our favourite Gariahat bajar.
— Koyel, Co-Head Chef
Three floors, three dining experiences: Chef Avinandan
Head Chef Avinandan is looking forward to taking forward the story of Sienna and Bengal
Really excited to finally see the story of Sienna come through our menus progressing across the three different floors. We’re going back to how Sienna began on the ground floor with a cafe-style menu, with the first floor being us pushing our Bengal focussed project further with a menu which reflects our shared experiences in highlighting the local markets these last few years. Finally, the second floor will be a 10-seater tasting menu in our kitchen, through which we’ll explore the future of where we want to take the story of both Sienna and the region.
— Avinandan, Co-Head Chef
New equipment and new flavour profiles: Chef Dipto
Sous Chef Dipto is most excited about the food of Sienna 2.0
As we come to an end of Sienna’s prolonged renovation, the evolution of the space is the first thing to take notice. What used to be a small cafe has now been transformed into something unimaginable. The most exciting part about Sienna 2.0 for me personally is the food we are going to put forward. It is exciting to see humble, local ingredients that are generally overlooked, being brought to the main frame. From our katla belly bacon to the mangsho pastrami, it is interesting to see how influences from all over have helped us realise these dishes. So I feel the excitement mostly lies in presenting our food to the world.
Among the new offerings is a smoker that the team put together
I am also excited about working on the new menu where we get to use our new equipment such as the smoker, which was built by our team in-house. Exploring and experimenting with new flavour profiles inspired by different regions is always a challenging feat, but I feel we’re slowly working towards that through our new menu. It’s been a while since we have had guests and patrons come over, so I am really looking forward to the reopening.
— Dipto, Sous Chef
Experimenting and a new dimension to menu: Chef Kirti
Sous Chef Kirti can feel the palpable excitement as the reopening approaches Margub Ali for Sienna
The anticipation for Sienna's reopening post-renovation is palpable, and it’s sparking child-like excitement within us. For me, the highlight of working at Sienna has always been the liberty and freedom to express my creativity.
What I’m most thrilled about is our new line kitchen, equipped with cutting-edge equipment like lava stone grills and Rational Combi ovens. This will enable us to explore new dimensions in dish development, experimenting with innovative techniques and ingredients.
The line kitchen with new equipment is one of the things Chef Kirti is excited about
Furthermore, we have an exciting lineup of pop-ups and collaborations, including The Johri team’s visit to Sienna at the end of this month. These events provide invaluable exposure and experience, fostering growth as chefs and offering insights into industry standards and best practices beyond our operation.
— Kirti, Sous Chef
Personalised and bespoke hospitality: Srishti
For Front of House staff Srishti, Sienna 2.0 is a true realisation of the team’s creative vision
For as massive as the undertaking this renovation has been, Sienna 2.0 is just as true a realisation of our team’s creative vision as it could have been. As an operations and logistics geek, this time away has allowed us to look into every detail of our food and service and look for ways to better ourselves while finding solutions to prior obstacles. The process itself has been such a joy, from brainstorming for new packaging possibilities to training our team to the T, the reopening is a culmination of our months-long effort to give our guests a bespoke experience.
The Dining Room will explore a Bengal-forward menu
I am personally very excited about the Dining Room which will be an exploration of Bengal and its bounty and techniques. This new and expanded space will also be able to accommodate nearly twice the number of seats than before, helping us reduce our waitlist and allowing us to spend more time on each table. I am equally excited about the brand new second floor where we will conduct our tasting menus, with a part of our kitchen team shifting there and the layout being rather open, one can immerse themselves in the theatre and genius of food. Our mission at Sienna has always been to provide hospitality so personal and true, that you feel it in your bones when we call you a part of the Sienna fam; the restaurant is gearing up to reach new heights and we hope to take you along with us on this ride.
— Srishti, Front of House Team
Reviving lost techniques in handicrafts: Aritraa
Sienna Storie's Assistant Product Manager Aritraa is excited to celebrate the lost techniques and fabric styles of Bengal with the new studio
I look forward to all the new designs we are putting together for the new store space, which we shall be referring to as the Sienna Studio. Celebrating the lost techniques and styles of fabric that Bengal offers, our studio shall host fabrics sourced from small artisans who’ve been associated with these crafts for generations. I cannot express how exciting and challenging this has been, so I'm very curious as to how our audience responds to it.
—Aritraa, Assistant Production Manager, Sienna Store
For Marketing and Communications Manager Melanie, the most interesting part of Sienna is the stories it has to offer to the world
Ever since I joined the Sienna family, the one thing that has always interested me are the stories that Sienna has to offer to the world. It’s not just about our food or products or even the space; it’s the people and the stories they have to tell that makes Sienna what it is. Through its transformation from a family-run neighbourhood cafe selling homemade soups and sandwiches, to an acclaimed restaurant and artisanal studio proudly presenting Bengal to the rest of the world: Sienna has been through several ups and downs. What excites me the most about the reopening is getting to create new and interesting narratives about our food, our craft, our people, and above all, our journey.
— Melanie, Marketing & Communications Manager
