May '25, Kalighat

LFC Kolkata, where stories get a mustard oil tadka and every bite of roshogolla brings people closer together, one Sunday at a time.

Photos by Host Ashish Sharma, and Content Volunteer, Debolina Saha.

HOST

Ashish Sharma

CO-HOST

Ankita Gupta

CONTENT VOLUNTEER

Debolina Saha

WHERE WE MET

A hub for music and food in Kolkata’s Kalighat, Skinny Mo’s Jazz Club brings the brightest creative talent from the city and beyond to the fore. A beautiful Art Deco space, the Club is designed by owner and jazz enthusiast Munir Mohanty.

What Members Said

Hearing peoples’ food stories was such a delight! It will be great to maintain a database of dishes shared across meetups with a line or two describing them.

Kunal

The Locavore Shuffle was FUN. Also, the mix of the gathering was eclectic, which was lovely.

Neha

The first LFC meetup was super fun, with a great spread, and some refreshing new drinks! Connected with some lovely people, old and new.

Sayani

What We Loved

The beautifully plated duck egg sandwiches. And the flowers they came with.

A summery cake with Gondhoraj lime and kalo jeere.

A traditional Bengali lassi, ghol, so refreshing on a hot afternoon.

MEET YOUR HOST

Ashish is a writer and digital marketer from Kolkata. His love for food and the culinary craft led him to hospitality school a few years ago. Being the Digital Media Lead at The Locavore allows him to pursue some of his dearest passions: food, storytelling, and creating meaningful change through building community. He swears by going for long walks—there is barely anything they cannot fix.

What is your most enduring food memory?

I intensely miss the time when I was small enough to be perched on the kitchen counter of my childhood home, watching my grandma churn ghee from all the malai she had collected over the weeks. I’d sit there, curiously, while she turned the malai into buttermilk, white butter, and caramelised milk solids. Simple, beautiful times.

What is the most adventurous food you've tried and loved?

I’m not entirely sure about loving it, but pork blood sausages in Shillong, and fried bugs in Bangkok. No regrets.

If you were a seasonal ingredient, what would you be?

Tadgola, or Ice Apple. Growing up in Bengal, I’ve always known it as Taalsa. I absolutely love how light and refreshing it is—not overly sweet or complex in flavour. And I love that you might have to go an extra mile to get your hands on it. Unlike mangoes or watermelons, it is not always easy to find, and only available for a short window in summer.

What is one unusual food pairing you swear by?

It’s not so unusual, but I’m drawn to anything that brings together sweet and salty notes. In Bengal, fried papad is commonly eaten with a sweet chutney—whether it’s made using raw mangoes, dates, tomatoes—and it’s a course of its own. I really dig that combination. Same with salted french fries and vanilla ice cream. Don’t ask me how, but it just works!

How do you see your Local Food Club flourishing?

I dream of a time when every corner of the country has thriving Local Food Clubs—closely knit communities made vibrant by Locavores from all walks of life. And I’m confident it will happen soon.