The government that promised to reclaim Bengali culture’s lost glory has shown the door to a pioneer of Bengal’s urban culinary heritage.
The Suvendu Adhikari administration has asked Calcutta’s famed catering chain Bijoli Grill, which has been running the Banga Bhavan canteen in Delhi for the past 15 years, to move out by July 5.
Sources said the Calcutta-based Aristocrat Caterers was recently selected to manage the restaurant after the state government floated a new tender.
“The ouster of Bijoli Grill is part of the political poriborton in Bengal. The new caterer will start its operations from July 16,” a Banga Bhavan official said, requesting anonymity.
An Aristocrat official said that between July 6 and 15, the new caterer would supply food to the canteen from its base kitchen in Delhi.
Bijoli Grill, set up in 1947, is celebrated for its “authentic Bengali” snacks such as fish fry, fish rolls and kabiraji cutlets.
It was Mamata Banerjee’s “personal intervention” that led to Bijoli Grill bagging the contract soon after she became chief minister in mid-2011, the Banga Bhavan official said.
“She wanted to convert the old canteen into a Bengali restaurant — on the lines of the Andhra Bhavan canteen — where outsiders too could savour Bengali dishes,” he said.
Earlier, the old canteen on the first floor of the seven-storey building used to be run by the authorities of Banga Bhavan, the Bengal government’s official guesthouse in Hailey Road near Connaught Place in the heart of the capital.
Debu Barik had founded Bijoli Grill in 1947. It started its operations from a small space behind Bijoli cinema in Bhowanipore, going on to transform the Calcuttan’s taste bud and becoming the top choice for upscale weddings and social events.
Aristocrat runs a popular sweets shop in Chittaranjan Park, Delhi. “For the past couple of years they have also been running a catering facility,” the official said.
Aristocrat owner Madan Kumar Bhanja, a native of Midnapore, said he was delighted to bag the contract.
“We will offer the best non-veg Bengali food at the canteen,” he said, adding that he had been running the catering business since 1990.
An employee at the Banga Bhavan canteen said Bijoli Grill’s contract needed to be renewed every year. “The Sword of Damocles was hanging over our heads ever since the new government took over,” he said.
On Thursday, the canteen was open. Many customers had come with their families to savour Bijoli Grill’s signature dishes — Bengali special thali, prawn malai curry, fish orly, chicken cutlets, chicken kabiraji, fish kabiraji, Calcutta biryani, mutton thali, kosha mangsho, egg thali and even an ilish thali along with fried fish.
Might there be a drastic change of fare with the change of caterer?
“Not at all. It’s not like the school midday meal,” the Banga Bhavan official chuckled.
“The menu will remain more or less the same. Bengalis have changed the government but cannot change their dietary habits. Machhe bhate Bangali (A Bengali can’t do without his fish and rice).”
The official’s “midday meal” quip was an allusion to the Suvendu government’s decision to engage Iskcon to provide the cooked meals at Calcutta’s government schools, which means the religious organisation’s vegetarian-only menu will replace the eggs now served once a week.
The move, seen by many as an imposition on an overwhelmingly non-vegetarian population, has fed a wider debate over child nutrition and Bengali culture and identity.
During the Assembly poll campaign, Trinamool had accused the BJP of seeking to force a vegetarian cultural template on Bengal, compelling saffron leaders to showcase fish — even eat fish preparations — at election rallies.
Business at the Banga Bhavan canteen had jumped multiple-fold since Bijoli Grill took over, the canteen employee said.
“We renovated the canteen and increased the seating capacity, but there was always a queue outside,” he said. “The rush was greater at weekends.”
He added: “There are around 50 staff at the canteen. Most of us will be relocated to Calcutta, where we have nearly 15 centres.”
Besides Banga Bhavan, Bijoli Grill runs a restaurant at the open-air market, Dilli Haat, in the capital.
Bhanja, the Aristocrat owner, said Bijoli Grill paid ₹2.25 lakh a year as revenue, including rent, to the Bengal government.
“According to the tender, we will be paying almost double the amount,” he said.