Sunetra Senior

First and foremost, you arelaunching a pop-up restaurant -

Calcutta Street - at Zensai Bar inCamden. Tell us more please?

A. Yes. It will be on the 7th March,and it is an awesome place. It’s aboutAsian fusion food, so it’s a perfect matchfor me. I’m bringing Calcutta street food tothe West. The venue is spacious and therewill be live music, and cocktails flowing.The Bengali dishes on the menu include:lamb curry, my speciality luchis – no one inLondon seems to be doing that – theKolkata egg roll which will have lots of chillisauce, greasy but wonderful with coriander,chick peas etc, and finally Pav Bhaji which Iknow is from Mumbai but is also popular inCalcutta! To book please see Event:http://www.kweekweek.com/events/12786

So the Zensai extravaganza isyour first big step into the profes-

sional world of cooking?A: Yes! It’s the culmination of all my

experience and research. I’ve been blog-ging since university and that has been mymain outlet this far. After completing myMA from Manchester Business School, Ihave been working in marketing where Ihave done food reviews for YELP, TheSunday Times and Zomato. A huge part ofmy job was helping restaurants marketthemselves. Alongside that I’ve beenexploring the food markets and gatheringinfo. There is an in-house chef here at AsiaHouse, the wonderful Paul Bloomfield, whoI observe frequently in my lunch hours. Hehas inspired me and given me some valu-able advice, like with the Menu for CalcuttaStreet. He’s a real mentor! I’ve alsoappeared on food shows for Channel 4 aswell as travelling the world and seeingwhat it can offer.

Could you draw from your expert-ise and tell us what makes a good

restaurant?A: It’s a combination of good environ-

ment and quality ofthe service,togetherwith the cui-sine. A greatexample of thisis Dishoom. Ifeel theyembody what I

stand for: breakingthe stereotype for

Indian restaurants.Usually, there’s a corny

Bollywood song playing in thebackground and we are not in the18thcentury! Oh, and the elephantsornaments and sari-clad women

serving you food etc.No places show thereal India: the modernplace with women likeyou and me! It’s eitherMichelin stars which isreally posh, or justreally tacky. As well asthe food being authentic,the environment of contempo-rary Kolkata or Mumbai should bereal too. English people alsoassociate Indian food with curryand it’s not the only thing weeat! I love Flesh and Buns inCovent Garden which isfusion food: Chinese bunswith meat and cucumberfillings etc. On the higherend price-wise there isNotting Hill Kitchen, butagain they have excellentpreparations and service.

You are very styl-ish; I wonder, is hav-ing a creative eye a

big part of cooking?A: (She laughs) Thank you,

and yes definitely. I went to aVietnamese pop-up recently and theyjust told me the basic ingredientswhich I then tailor-made for myself –using Chinese noodles etc. As long as youhave a curiosity about taste, it is EASY tocook. Actually, that’s part of the idea I havefor for an app: a hand-held one whichhelps innovate dishes as you shop. Gowith what you have and create from there.I never follow the recipe, adding my owntouch. But maybe that’s just me beingambitious too, haha, because I want togain the credit for what I’m doing!

Your blog tells us you came overfrom Calcutta with ‘suitcases and

spices’. Tell us about your love forcooking?

A: Well, I grew up in Calcutta, andmoved out to Mumbai when I was sixteen.Growing up, my mum was a fantastic cookand not everyone is good at it. I know itsounds typical to say your mother is thebest, but she really is great! At sixteen/sev-enteen, food isn’t the first thing on yourmind and you do take it for granted so itwasn’t until I did move out that I appreciat-ed the difference! Making quality dishes isreally difficult. I’ve watched my mothercooking from a young age and that was

really useful when I trav-

elled toEngland to

pursue mydegree. Reality

struck as things werereally expensive as a student.

I was cooking for myself. Fromthere, my friends began to askme for help with little dinner par-ties and gatherings. In fact themother of the fella I was datingat the time encouraged me tostart a video blog – of courseshe didn’t say that in so manywords because she didn’t knowwhat that meant; it was more like“you should set up so people can

watch you cook.” (I laugh). Peoplewere saying “this is good Indian food”.

So I bought a little web-cam, up-graded toa better camera and off I went.

So, from the past to the present:Where do you see yourself in the

near future?A: Pop-ups over the next six months,

and then my own restaurant. I will also domore TV work as I have a passion for pre-senting. I don’t like the idea of secretrecipes. Every time I have the knowledge, Iwant people to know.

Finally, what is your advice forother young entrepreneurs?

A: Do your research properly but thenit’s time to be fearless. Don’t be scared.

With a character as sizzling her beer stir-fry with Oyster Sauce,Shrimoyee or ‘Shrim, Shrimpy, Shrimmy’, according to her trendy foodblog ‘Eat with Me’, is the next young entrepreneur to watch. Quite lit-erally with the host of ‘how to’ videos and quirky review pictures thatcan be found on her colourful website. Not only is she an emergingchef and restaurateur, but a writer, entertainer, businesswoman andgeneral inspiration to the twenty-something post recession genera-tion. We were lucky enough – or unfortunate if you factor in thehunger pangs - to catch her during a lunch break. Speaking fromher current position as marketing manager, an effervescentShrimoyee told us of the journey she has taken to be as accom-plished as she is at the tender (loin steak) age of twenty-five:

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 7th March 2015 15

Welcoming as she is, Shrim left us with a mouth-water-ing recipe for one of her most-in-demand dishes: “there has

not been one time when someone has disliked it!” –Shri

mmy’s

Signature

secret

Pav Bhaji:Pav: Get some tiger buns or regular

buns, break them into halves and heatthem in the pan with some butter. Youwant the inside to turn sort of red andslightly crunchy.

Bhaji: Chop veggies – Onions, pep-pers, tomatoes, chillies

Boil and Mash Potatoes Add butter ina pan (2 tbs) and saute the veggies start-

ing with onions Add the mashed potatoand then add some garam masala, saltand lemon juice. Mash the whole thing uptogether and then add a dollop of butter,chopped raw onions and some freshcoriander leaves.

Serve with the buttered buns.For more info see:

@shrimoyeec http://eatwithmeshrimoyee.comW

"A Fresh Mojito with any dinner isrefreshing and light

while giving a buzz ;)"

"As long as you have a curiosityabout taste, it is EASY to cook."