What’s The Fatty Bao?

It’s an Asian gastrobar by the Olive Group, which has under its umbrella other food brands like Monkey Bar, Olive Bar & Kitchen, SodaBottleOpenerWala, Toast & Tonic, Ek Bar and more.

When and where is it opening?

Fort Knox on Camac Street, same building as Monkey Bar.

What’s the space like?

“The restaurant will be around 70 covers… airy, open and well-lit,” said Manu Chandra, chef partner, The Fatty Bao.

Why pick TFB from Olive’s bouquet for Calcutta?

“Proof of concept has been established now and we’ve done aggressive expansion within Mumbai and Bangalore... it’s time to bring it to Calcutta. Plus, Fatty is very food-driven and so is Calcutta,” said Manu, who along with business partner Chetan Rampal are spearheading the expansion of the brand. Like Monkey Bar, the local partners for The Fatty Bao in Calcutta will be entrepreneur Avantika Saraogi.

Why the name The Fatty Bao? “It started with our mascot. When I saw the iconography of the brand by the creative agency, I said, ‘I love this little girl, this little doll… she’s such a fatty! And bao is our USP anyway,” said Manu.

How many TBFs in India?

The Fatty Bao, Calcutta, will be the seventh outpost of the brand after Bangalore (Indiranagar), Delhi (RK Puram) and Mumbai (Bandra, Lower Parel, Powai and Andheri).

Is there anything new about the Calcutta outlet?

“Like the Andheri outlet, it will have an Izakaya (a type of Japanese bar) and noodle shop-inspired space. We’ve always had sushi and sashimi on the menu and we were the first to bring ramen into vogue,” said Manu. The menu “spans Asia substantially and embraces different elements of Asian food”.

Text: Karo Christine Kumar