WATERLOO HOTEL, 8 Waterloo Street: Breakfast,Tiffin, Dinner and Supper Rooms Excellent Cuisine Wines and spirits of the best quality only Famous Ladies String Band OF 15 Performers ADELPHI HOTEL, 25 & 26 Waterloo Street: PRIVATE TIFFIN AND SUPPER ROOMS TABLE D’HOTE from 1 to 3 pm, Charge, One Rupee per head HOT AND COLD SUPPERS At all hours A SPECIALITE. WEEKLY SUPPER EVERY SATURDAY EVENING, From 8 pm to 1 am None but first class Wines and Liquors supplied….THE BILLIARDS SALOONS….THE AMERICAN BOWLING ALLEY (The only one in Calcutta)W. COOK, Proprietor.” This hotel was the sole caterers to the Royal Calcutta Turf Club since 1885. MELBOURNE HOTEL, 39 Bentinck Street, “….Cool, Comfortable….Excellent Cuisine, Wines, Spirits….Table D’Hote , at 7:30 pm, Terms Moderate. E.H.Rogers, Proprietor, Late of the Great Eastern Hotel. N.B. Wire Direct to the Melbourne Hotel.” THE BRISTOL HOTEL, 1 Chowringhee.”Superior Billiard Saloon….BREAKFAST, TIFFIN, DINNING AND SUPPER ROOMS, Excellent Cuisine, Wine and Spirits of the best quality only. Mrs P. MAGRE, Proprietress.” (The name of this hostel still lives in the form of the ‘Chotta Bristol’ in the lane behind Chowringhee. It has to be the oldest still-operating bar in Kolkata.) HOTEL DE PARIS, 27 Dhurumtollah Street. “The table is unsurpassed….Private Dinners and Suppers….Cuisine Francaise.” SPENCE’S HOTEL, No. 3, Wellesley Place, AND ROYAL HOTEL, No. 16 Chowringhee. “BILLIARD AND DINING SALOONS….Specialities, Fresh English Grapes, Filberts and Brazil Nuts….FRESH OYSTERS. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. J. ANDREWS.” GRAND HOTEl, Chowringhee. Propriteress , Mrs Monk. Private Dinners and Suppers can be arranged.” (Mrs Annie Monk sold the hotel to Arratoon Stephen. The hotel was later acquired by M.S.Oberoi and is now The Oberoi Grand. Mrs Monk set up her Imperial Hotel at 87 Park Street, in the first decade of the 20^th century.) VICTORIA HOUSE, BASCOLO’S BELLEVUE HOTEL AND VILLA, facing Wellington Square, and THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL on Chowringhee were the other hotels of note of that time. These hotels, along with the leaders in the field, Peliti and The Great Eastern, were the Tastemakers of Calcutta as the 19^th century turned into the 20^th century. The culinary situation continued as above till the second half of the second decade. It was then that a new shining star arose in the culinary skies of the city which was so bright that it kept on shining for half-a-century. The new star was Angelo Firpo.

Federico Peliti not only gifted Calcutta with its first iconic restaurant but also gave the city the gift of his star pupil, Angelo Firpo. He had come from his native Genoa in Italy to Calcutta via London, bringing with him the strong flavors of Italy. His working with Peliti further honed his talents. He opened the Firpo Restaurant on Chowringhee in 1917.  The rest, as they say, is history!

Firpo’s soon zoomed to be the top place to eat and be seen in the city and occupied this top spot for the next fifty years or so. Some honored the place by calling it the Maxim’s of the Orient. The clientele included royalty, viceroys, heads of state, maharajas – and all others from or visiting Calcutta, who enjoyed good food in the best of atmospheres. The smart and suave Firpo was not only a gracious and generous host, he was himself a pillar of the highest echelons of Calcutta society. Firpo’s became synonymous with the best of tastes in Calcutta. Benchmarks of culinary excellence were set which were challenged by the Skyroom, which came up four decades after the Firpo’s.

What did Firpo’s serve? Some clues may be found in a lunch menu of 1945. There were Steak and Kidney Pudding or Hamburg Steak and Onions, each for Rs 1 and 8 annas. The ‘3 course with coffee’ Luncheon – priced at Rs 2 and 12 annas – had options which included: Scotch Broth, Consomme Frappe, Fillets De Pomfret Frites Sauce Tartare, Prawn Mayonnaise, Roast Lamb, New Potatoes and Green Peas, Sausages and Mashed Potatoes, Cold Meats, Roast Fowl and Ham, Roast Lamb, Roast Pork, Roast Saddle of Mutton, Roast Duck, Roast Beef, Chicken and Ham Pie, Gateau Mille feuilles, Fruits, Coffee, and more. What more could one wish for?

One of the best meals I have had in the city in the last fifty years was a Sunday Lunch at Firpo’s, when it was on its last legs. The four course meal with a superb soup, some excellent Fried Fish, great Grilled Chicken and a yummy Dessert – including a bottle of chilled beer – set me back by the princely sum of Rs 20! Fringe benefits included four bands and three cabaret spots.

Firpo became a British citizen and was honored with an O.B.E. by King George VI. Between 1917 and 1860, A.Firpo Ltd. employed more than 500 people, and catered to thousands of appreciative eaters, including Pt. Nehru, the Aga Khan and Nikita Khrushchev.

While Firpo’s was reigning supreme on Chowringhee and the city’s taste buds, two Swiss gentlemen, Mr. Flury and Mr. Trinca, set up a tearoom in Park Street – Flury’s and Trinca’s. They later split. It is rumored that the split was caused by Mr Flury running away with Mrs Trinca. This may or may not be true, but it is absolutely true that when the separate establishments of Flury’s and Trinca’s came up later, they became hugely popular and till date have their share of loyalists. Flury’s achieved iconic status as a confectionery and Trinca’s became popular for good food/good music.

Going back for another peek in the past, perhaps in the 1890s, a Scotsman started Allen’s Kitchen, which was later run by the Saha family and is run by them till today. To this eatery goes the credit of a legendary Prawn Cutlet. Another old institution is Mitra Café – pronounced ‘Mitrakef’? – established in the early 1900s(?). They could easily be one of the first to offer the famous unique-to-Kolkata ‘Kabiraji Cutlet’ They are also famous for their Brain Chops. This place is supposed to have been favored by many greats, including Swami Vivekanand and actor Uttam Kumar. At one time, Chacha in College Street was famous for their Fowl Cutlets. It is said that the chicken was slaughtered only after the cutlets were ordered. True, or, false?

Keeping up with the higher level eating places moistly offering western-style food were the lesser priced eateries like Karco and Regent in the New Market area. Regent too was famous for its Prawn Cutlets. Some years ago, I found that the Regent was there, but the Prawn Cutlet was gone.

In the above league were the ‘cabins’ like Dilkusha Cabin and Basanta Cabin in College Street, and Anadi Cabin, Esplanade. These places offered good meals at reasonable prices and were/are(?) famous for their Kabiraji and other Cutlets, Moglai Paratha and other dishes.

We shall take up the thread of Kolkata’s Tastemakers from the arrival of the Nanking, the first noteworthy Chinese restaurant in the city, in the next instalment.

WATERLOO HOTEL, 8 Waterloo Street: Breakfast,Tiffin, Dinner and Supper Rooms Excellent Cuisine Wines and spirits of the best quality only Famous Ladies String Band OF 15 Performers ADELPHI HOTEL, 25 & 26 Waterloo Street: PRIVATE TIFFIN AND SUPPER ROOMS TABLE D’HOTE from 1 to 3