Kolkata Social: a Newtown Bengali restaurant by Plate it Forward - Restaurants

Mar 24, 2025

With a top chef leading the kitchen, this social enterprise is changing lives, one meal at a time.

Sydney-based social enterprise hospitality group Plate It Forward is adding a new restaurant to its roster, with the group opening Kolkata Social, a Bengali-focused restaurant, in Newtown on Wednesday, March 26.

With chef Ahana Dutt (ex Firedoor, Raja) at the helm, the new venture on Newtown’s King Street will bring an authentic taste of Kolkata to Sydney, with a menu that showcases traditional family recipes.

Plate it Forward is a truly unique and enduring success story in Australia’s ever-changing restaurant industry. Founded by Shaun Christie-David in 2020, the group aims to empower new Australians – particularly women – by creating meaningful employment and career opportunities, while also providing meals for those experiencing food insecurity – both here and overseas. And by using the universal language of food, each Plate it Forward restaurant helps to foster understanding, inclusivity and connection.

The group already operates three other restaurants – Kabul Social in Wynyard, Kyiv Social in Chippendale and Colombo Social in Enmore. More than 80 percent of the group’s workforce is female, with many women working both their first kitchen job and their first job in Australia.

Kolkata Social continues the group’s good work. Dutt has already been working with Plate it Forward as an advisor for the past six months, and in that time, she has completed 888 hours of hands-on training and mentorship, delivered to 19 refugee and asylum-seeker women who participated in Plate it Forward’s training and mentorship programs. Eight of these women have now advanced into leadership roles within the company.

“It is inspiring and humbling, working with the people of Plate it Forward,” Dutt says. “It’s quite a special feeling when you look around a restaurant during service and realise that you’re not the minority. Being exposed to cultures that I would not have experienced otherwise also enables me to join the thread of commonality when it comes to flavours in food. And that is priceless.”

Kolkata Social chef Ahana Dutt and Plate it Forward CEO Shaun Christie-David — Ahana Dutt and Shaun Christie-David

Dutt was born and raised in Kolkata, India, and her aim is to pique diners’ interest in Indian food by expanding their palates beyond the more commonly found Westernised Indian dishes. Recipes featured on the menu have been derived directly from Dutt’s own family.

“I wanted the menu to represent me,” Dutt says. “It’s a way for me to introduce people to Bengali food through recipes that I’ve grown up with. I want to show people that Bengali food is Indian food, as well as that Indian food is more than butter chicken and naan.

“The food at Kolkata Social is a way for me to not only hold on to, but celebrate my heritage in a different country.”

Menu highlights will include paturi (spiced ricotta wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked on a tawa, or flat pan, until slightly caramelised); radhaballabhi (a fried flatbread with a moreish spiced lentil filling); and a smoked barramundi fried in mustard oil in a rich, smoky sauce of yoghurt, cardamom and green chillies. For dessert, guests will be treated to vanilla pound cake served with saffron yoghurt cream and seasonal fruit – a special recipe from Dutt’s mother that evokes fond memories for the chef.

The drinks list will be equally unique, featuring cocktails such as a Mini Mustard Martini (Kolkata Social’s take on a Gibson), Southside 700029 (a riff on the classic Southside cocktail) and Spiked Lassi, a spiked yoghurt slushie with saffron. The venue will also offer an exclusive bespoke brew, Kolkata Lager, brewed by longtime friends of Plate it Forward, Mountain Culture.

Credit: Supplied

Just like all Plate it Forward venues, dining at Kolkata Social will also extend beyond the food and drinks, with diners offered the chance to contribute to a good cause while enjoying their meal. When purchasing the set menu, Plate it Forward will donate two meals to those in need – one in Sydney and one in India, with the venue aligning with Calcutta Rescue, an Indian registered charity that works to assist the poor in and around Kolkata.

Dutt also designed the look and feel of the venue, with a major inspiration of the interior design coming from the Indian city. Colours that are predominantly seen in Kolkata architecture have been selected, and artworks adorning the walls will include works painted by Dutt’s uncle, Somnath Basu Thakur.

Mural at Kolkata Social: Bengali restaurant in Newtown by Plate it Forward

Credit: Supplied

In the centre of every one of their venues, Plate it Forward displays a large mural that is designed to impart the wisdom, community and the love bestowed upon us by strong grandmothers, mothers and women. At Kolkata Social, a mural of Dutt’s mother Sharmila Basu Thaur, painted by artist Marlon Dalton, is the latest representation, joining Amma in Colombo Social, Bibi in Kabul Social and Babusya in Kyiv Social.

“We want people to leave happy, but also with a better idea of what Bengali/Indian food is,” Dutt says. “It’s educational without being preachy. We want it to be a restaurant people come to all the time, not just when they want Indian food. We want this restaurant to be a part of the narrative in respect to great hospitality and dining in Sydney.”

Kolkata Social will open its doors from Wednesday, March 26.

Kolkata Social
528-528A King Street, Newtown, NSW
plateitforward.org.au/kolkata-social

Open Wednesday-Friday: 5:30pm-10pm; Saturday 12pm-3pm / 5:30pm-10:30pm; and Sunday 12pm-4pm