La Soirée arrives in Kolkata with the confidence of a place that already knows it will be photographed. Designed by interior decorator Gauri Khan, the maroon interiors glow moodily under chandeliers, French wallpaper depicting the French riviera climbs the walls, and somewhere between the period lamps and filigree detailing, the restaurant attempts global cosmopolitanism without severing itself from the city’s appetite for familiarity.
La Soirée is comfortably spread out across two floors
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Special Arrangement
Located on Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Road in Bhowanipore, the 4,000 sq feet 100-seater lounge and restaurant is a space where one can move from sushi to hookah and Persian grills to dim sum and wood-fired pizza as a retro Bollywood soundtrack dissolves into lounge music around you. The menu has been curated by chef and culinary consultant Sumanta Chakraborty, a former sous chef with The Park, Kolkata. The bill of fare reads like a sprawling airport of contemporary Asian and global comfort food, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean, Indian, Mexican, American, Sri Lankan and Arabic. It is ambitious to the point of excess, but most times, that excess works in its favour. The only casualty is decisiveness. By the time we have worked our way through the thick menu booklet, we find ourselves wanting everything and unable to choose anything.
