HOTEL SPLENDIDE

The waxing and waning of a city’s fortune is reflected in its restaurants. Well,almost. In the 1960s when Kolkata was thefinancial hub of India,Park Street,they say,was a fairyland. Women in Hollywoodish gowns descended to the swinging restaurants of the street,men in cashmere suits swaggered in the background. In the middle of all these was Trincas,Park Street’s original live music lair,where the likes of Usha Uthup started their careers. A few years later,a Naxal infested Kolkata saw curfew hours being imposed,and restaurants shutting doors. But not Trincas. Bad times never really managed to bring down this 50-years-old establishment. “We never bowed down. We never stopped live music performances. Not even during those extremely difficult days in the 80s after the state slapped a 30 per cent entertainment tax on live performance,” says owner Deepak Puri at the eve of the restaurant’s 50th anniversary.

Yet,the collective memory of this iconic establishment is that of dank corner eatery which serves the best crispy konjee lamb in town. “I don’t know why the fact that we still play live music has slipped from the public memory,” wonders Sashi Puri,co-owner of the restaurant. Actually it has not,we still associate live music with Trincas,but it’s a nostalgic association. Most youngsters today have grown up on stories of the fabulous Christmas floor shows that were hosted at the restaurant,the bands that played there,but they have never really experienced it first hand. “The 1980s were the dark ages for us. The glamour of Kolkata’s nightlife was all but gone and we had to make do with whatever we had,” remembers Sashi.

Many young adults who have spent their childhood in the city may remember Trincas as the place where they were exposed to live performances for the first time (“We were always a very child-friendly place,” quips Sashi). They may also remember the velvety curtains which shrouded the place,or the richly upholstered furniture that threatened to dwarf you. The dim lights,the musty air-conditioned air,the maroon table covers emboldened with golden trimmings. But the Trincas of today is different. It is brighter,for one. It has lighter,asymmetrical furniture. And has a very tea-roomsy feel to it. Maybe it’s trying to go back to its tea room roots (before it was converted to a restaurant by OP Puri and E Joshua in 1959,Trincas was a tea room). “We want a more contemporary look,” says Deepak. The menu however,will remain the same. “Our chicken tandoori and Chilli Chicken has won us patrons like Amitabh Bachchan (who has been a Trincas-faithful since his Kolkata days in the 1960s). Why then should we do away with them?” asks Deepak. Why indeed.