It started with a late-night phone call from my close friend and fellow food writer, Riya. I could hear the energy in her voice immediately. A local venue had approached her about teaming up with us to host a dedicated regional food festival.
Last winter, Riya and I hosted a boutique culinary pop-up that completely sold out. Since then, readers and local diners have constantly asked when we would do it again. We held off because we wanted to wait for the right venue—a place with a solid, professional kitchen infrastructure that would let us focus entirely on the execution of the food rather than the chaos of logistics.
The Attic Room was exactly what we were looking for.
Event Details: The Regional Heritage Food Festival at The Attic Room runs from July 15th through July 31st.
Crafting the Menu
When designing this menu, our main rule was simple: do not duplicate what the restaurant already does well. We wanted to introduce exclusive dishes, specifically highlighting documented family recipes and culinary secrets we’ve gathered over a decade of food writing.
Because the festival runs for a full two weeks, it gives diners and our community plenty of time to book a table and experience it.
The Attic Room itself is a beautifully designed space that leans into old-world charm. It’s owned and operated by an incredibly sharp entrepreneur, Tanvi Sen. The kitchen team there is exceptionally skilled, patient, and highly receptive to us hovering over their shoulders to get the spice balances exactly right.
Location
You can find The Attic Room at 14/1 Keyatala Road, Kolkata, right in the heart of the southern avenue district. If you are driving from the main junction, take the lane right before the avenue bridge. It’s highly accessible and sits right on the avenue famous for the annual winter street art festival.
The Menu Headliners
These are the standout dishes that mean the most to us and have already stolen the show during opening week.
Eastern Border Herbed Shukto (Bora Shukto)
This is a dish from my own family archives. While standard variations of this stew rely heavily on bitter gourd, my paternal grandmother’s version flips the script. She hailed from the Rajshahi district, and her recipe uses crisp, fried water-spinach fritters to introduce that signature bitter note, combined with a completely different spice-tempering technique. It is an absolute standout, and every guest who has tried it has raved about the balance.
The Crisis-Invented Syrupy Dumpling Curry (Mishri Dalna)
This dish catches everyone off guard. Riya grew up in a massive, bustling joint family house in North Kolkata. With dozens of people to feed on short notice, the matriarchs of the house had to be resourceful. One afternoon, facing an unexpected crowd and lacking the time to labor over fresh cottage cheese dumplings from scratch, Riya’s aunt used store-bought, unsweetened syrup dumplings instead. The result became an instant family legend—rich, savory, and perfectly textured without the hours of manual prep.