Sunlit seats and soulful plates define this Kolkata café’s winter menu

As winter casts a cold spell on the city, a bit of warmth and lots of sunshine are all that we look forward to. To brighten up the bleak days and cold evenings, city diners are coming up with an array of inventive menus to tickle the taste buds and stimulate the appetite.

A winter menu designed for slow lunches and cosy evenings in Kolkata

The newly opened Olive Café and Bar has also just launched its winter menu and cocktail bar, which celebrates all the seasonal flavours, albeit with a culinary twist. As we plonked on one of the cushy cane chairs in the lush centre courtyard under the sun, Chef Jyotika Malik served us a comforting bowl of warm Mushroom cappuccino. It was relatively better than many of the variants served in other popular city diners and as we wondered what made this ubiquitous soup stand out, we felt it was the consistency of the broth that wasn’t too creamy or runny.

“The winter menu celebrates balance and simplicity and a return to comforting, soulful food that feels both familiar and refreshing. It’s about sharing, connecting and enjoying honest flavours,” says Jyotika as she insisted us on having the colourfully plated Roasted sweet potato with avocado, feta, and cranberries. The wholesome factor of the dish helped us justify our submission.

As the conversation proceeded with Jyotika at our table over the winter season culinary nuances here and in her city Delhi, the tasting affair progressed unbridled with vibrant Espetadas crowding our table. These skewered grills inspired by coastal Mediterranean cooking were perhaps the show stealer of the day. We opted for Calabrian chilli and sun-dried tomato chicken and it had the right amount of spice and tang.

There was hardly any space for the mains. But in the tug of war between the tummy and the temptation, we surrendered to the latter and settled down for the ever-comforting plate of Baked fish served with a dollop of butter caper sauce.

Olive’s desserts are unputdownable and it was difficult to resist the oh-so-wintry Apple crumble splintered with cinnamon and walnuts and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For those who care two hoots about calories can go for the delicate Fig mille feuille, a modern take on the classic French pastry served with rum and raisin.

Meal for two: INR 2,000++. From 12 noon to midnight. At 40 Shakespeare Sarani.

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