Chefs Goku and Dylan Pereira bring home recipes to this Italian restaurant in Kolkata

Italian restaurant Veneto, situated at South City Mall, completes four years in the city, and is marking the milestone with Nonna’s Table: Culinary Stories from the Italian Kitchen, a limited-edition pop-up which is ongoing till Sunday, March 1. Led by Chef Goku and Chef Dylan Pereira, the experience will be available à la carte for both lunch and dinner.

Veneto in Kolkata serves Italian gradma reecipes for their fourth anniversary

For Veneto, this anniversary is about staying true to what it has always believed in, regional Italian food served with warmth and honesty. Nonna’s Table fits naturally into that vision. It brings the focus back to simple, home-style cooking inspired by the kitchens where recipes are passed down quietly and meals are meant to be shared.

The menu reflects Italy’s varied culinary landscape. There are flavours inspired by Sicily’s citrus, the wheat traditions of Puglia, the produce-led simplicity of Tuscany and the comforting depth of Emilia-Romagna. Expect hand-rolled pastas, slow-simmered sauces and dishes built on technique and restraint.

Chef Goku, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, blends classical technique with a strong interest in food research and storytelling, allowing him to approach traditional dishes with both precision and perspective, while Chef Dylan Pereira, of Indian and Italian roots, cooks dishes which reflect that sensitivity, whether it draws from the alpine influences of the north or the sun-soaked flavours of the south.

Here's what we tried at the pop-up

We started with Cured crudo, boasting of cured tuna, lemon dressing, grapefruit, capers, celery and Calabrian chilli, and brilliant would be an understatement for this. The sweetness of the grapefruit and kick of the chillis cut through the tanginess of the fish, dressing and capeers, beautifully, and none of the tastes felt overpowering.

For the mains we tied the hearty and simple Tortellini DiParma, featuring homemade tortellini stuffed with ricotta, sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese, dunked into a slow-cooked, rich tomato gravy; and the Seafood Risotto. The extremely flavourful risotto had arborio rice cooked in bisque and boasted of grilled lobster, crispy fried squid and pickled shrimps. This risotto is definitely the best we have tried till date.

We chose to have a simple Neapolitan pizza, Mary had a little lamb, and as the name suggests, it had braised lamb on a tomato saucee, topped with oodles of mozzarella cheese. We called for Strawberry Zabaglione for dessert, a layered, creamy Italian custard with strawberry chunks and champagne caramel, and it was the perfect end to our meal!

Meal for two: INR 2500+ (including alcohol)

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