My profession pays the bills, my supper club feeds my passion, say the ones behind Kolkata's intimate clubs
Times of India | 7 February 2026
Meet the Kolkata professionals with day jobs who are happy to cook up a storm at their eclectic and intimate supper clubs
Cheesy goodness
Who’s he: Rahul Mall is a portrait photographer, educator & founder of Pizza Dojo, which he hosts at various locations
His story: Rahul says his speakeasy was never meant to replace his day job: “It started as a parallel obsession. Frustrated by the lack of thoughtful pizza, I began cooking for friends.” At its core, this supper club is about contemporary pizza — rooted in classic techniques, but not bound by tradition. “Influences range from Japanese restraint to Italian simplicity. It’s all about good ingredients, treated with care,” shares Rahul. He says Calcuttans are curious and discerning: “People here are value-conscious. They’re willing to pay when they understand what they’re paying for. What doesn’t work is pretense.”
Mindful & meditative
Who’s she: Madhumita Mohanta, F&B consultant and pranic healer, who started The Prana Table, hosting it a various locations
Her story: “After over 25 years in professional kitchens, I wanted a space where I could combine intuition & technique,” she said. Madhumita got introduced to pranic healing and it changed how she understood food: “It wasn’t just nutrition or flavour, but energy and intention. My supper club emerged as an extension of that belief.” The food she serves is progressive and ingredient-led. Dishes are designed to complement guided meditation & pranic healing sessions. She believes Kolkata diners are emotionally intelligent: “They respond to how food makes them feel, Kolkata always rewards sincerity.”
The world on a plate
Who’s she: Debanjana Roy is a visual media professional and the host at Table 13 at her Gariahat home
Her story: “Discovering supper clubs felt instinctive. My dad ran a popular Chinese restaurant. My mom’s cooking meant our home was always full of people,” Roy explained. To her, the experience wasn’t just about food, but about community. Her food is influenced by her travels & familial roots. Talking about the food, she says, “I’ve been a solo traveller for over a decade, and I bring those flavours back to my table.” Debanjana adds she loves being a part of the change in the city’s F&B scene – though with some challenges: “Many don’t follow through after hearing the cost, but I have repeat patrons. There’s still a need to understand that this is curated.”
The spice route plates
Who’s she: Vatsala Khandelwal is humanitarian lawyer & founder of Secret Spice at Hindustan Park
Her story: Vatsala says, “The idea grew out of my work with migrant communities. Food became a way to explore migration as lived history.” She traces the Eurasian spice route through food that made history emotionally accessible. Her menus draw from cuisines across the Eurasian spice route: “My priority is coherence. I aim to create good flavours and ensure each course eases into the next.” Talking about Kolkata’s response, she said: “There’s a growing openness to new culinary experiences. Someone always knows someone else, making Kolkata close-knit.”
BTS at a supper club kitchen
Across all four supper clubs, economics are deliberately modest. Most operate with six to eight seats, pre-booked to avoid waste. Costs typically include premium ingredients, prep, tableware, service support, and ambience. None of the hosts describe this as a high-margin model. For many, pricing is calibrated to break even or allow sustainable continuation rather than profit maximisation. What they “take home” is less about income and more about creative autonomy, community, and control — without the pressure to scale or dilute the experience.
‘Cosy set-ups lose their charm when they become large-scale’
For Kolkata’s supper club hosts, growth is an often contested idea. For many, the table exists first as an emotional and creative commitment. As Madhumita puts it, “The value lies in sustainable profitability, allowing me to continue hosting without compromising intimacy or quality.” Growth, for her, is about “depth, not volume.”
Rahul is clear that Pizza Dojo’s size is intentional. “The scale is not due to a constraint; it is the point from which care, conversations and consistency come from,” he says. “The goal isn’t to become bigger. It’s to remain intentional.” Vatsala says: “Scaling up purely for economic reasons risks losing the intimacy that gives this its charm,” she says. For Debanjana, growth is still unfolding in real time. “I’m still building the audience,” she says, viewing the supper club less as a finished business model and more as a community in progress.