A long time ago, a friend gave us a book called “Hutch”. It was – to use that imaginative word – unputdownable. Hutchinson was a Grenada-born singer and pianist who performed in many parts of the world during the thirties and the forties (and, incidentally, had many interesting lovers). He was also in Calcutta for a while, and performed for the city’s glitterati at the Grand.
The book draws a picture of Calcutta that you can’t connect with the city today. But some of Hutch’s legacy stayed on –– long after he had left –– in Park Street. There was a time when Park Street was the hub of music and food. There were iconic restaurants and nightclubs, and some of the best known singers of the time performed there.
If you are of a certain age, you’ll always be nostalgic about those lost days. If you are too young to have seen Park Street then, you won’t know what the fuss is all about. But a new restaurant in Calcutta seeks to revive that atmosphere. Called Chapter 2, it is situated in the Mani Square Mall on EM Bypass and raises a toast to a bygone era.
Now that the world is a village, and travelling to another city is as easy as ordering pizzas, I thought I would continue with my practice of writing about an interesting eatery in some other city every now and then. Last week, I wrote about Ghare Baire, where you get the most delicious home-cooked Bengali food. This week, I am going to talk about another aspect of Calcutta –– the food that evolved with or was introduced by settlers and visitors over the years, and became Calcutta’s own –– not Bengali food, but Calcuttan.
Like prawn cocktails, which the American soldiers brought to India. Skyroom in Park City alas no more –– served the most wonderful prawn cocktails –– crunchy prawns in mayo spiked with ketchup. Chapter 2 does a mean prawn cocktail (Rs. 285). You also get devilled crabs ––crabmeat with cheese (Rs. 385). I ate both, and found them delicious. I also had some prawns on roast (Rs. 350) and a mouth-watering chowder soup, full of seafood and its flavours (Rs. 320).
For the main dish, I had –– yes, you guessed it –– a plate of pork chops (Rs. 395). It was superb. The chops were thick, moist and fatty, and had the flavours of garlic and pepper. I tried out a spoonful of its signature dish, the Irish lamb stew– small pieces of lamb in a thick sauce with potatoes, carrots and leeks, served with rice (Rs. 460). It was nice, but perhaps a bit too thick. The desserts, however, were disappointing. I found the tiramisu (Rs. 225) too bitter.
I was invited to Chapter 2 by its owners, the Chaudhury brothers. One plays the drums, and the other, the keyboard –– so you can expect it to be humming with music. And when it is Park Street redux, music has to be an essential part of the restaurant. Chapter 2, which has very cheerful music posters all around, has live music. I liked the smoky voice of the singer, who crooned some old nostalgic songs.
The day I was there turned out to be the official launch of the place. So it was buzzing with flashing lights and stars. I sat contentedly in my corner, eating my pork chops. It did seem like another time.
