Written By Scott Bolles
March 22, 2025
Former Raja chef Ahana Dutt wants to show Sydneysiders there’s more to Indian cooking than butter chicken when Kolkata Social opens in Newtown.
Chef Ahana Dutt was awarded a Good Food Guide hat at Potts Point’s short-lived Raja Indian restaurant following a six-year stint in the kitchen at Surry Hills fine diner and former Restaurant of the Year Firedoor. Now, Dutt will tick the box on her dream of championing Bengali cuisine when Kolkata Social opens in Newtown on Wednesday, March 26.
Underrepresented across Sydney restaurant menus, the food of Dutt’s Kolkata youth isn’t the only first for the chef. “I’m used to working in kitchens where I’m the only woman,” she said.
Dutt has carefully shaped a rare, nearly all-female team at Kolkata Social. The new venue, which is on the southern end of King Street, has only one man in the kitchen. She loves talent spotting and training staff, and handing down Bengali recipes – as her mother did with her – isn’t a chore.
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This article is from SMH Good Food
Photos: Edwina Pickles
