Owners of Carnaby, Shaftesbury are delighted to announce that Asma Khan, self-taught cook and pioneering restaurateur will open an exciting café in Carnaby following the success of her hugely popular and renowned first restaurant, Darjeeling Express in Carnaby’s Kingly Court.
Calcutta Canteen by Darjeeling Express will open mid-November at 74 Broadwick Street, Carnaby until late February. The café will serve food taken inspiration from Asma’s North Indian and Bengali culture; holistic, nourishing and packed full of flavours and textures, which can be enjoyed inside the restaurant or as a takeaway.
On the menu will be Pau buns, a bread roll similar to a brioche bun, stuffed with four kinds of fillings; vegan potato, cashew nut and curry leaves, vegetarian beetroot chop, masala omelette and beef mince. The buns will be served with a drizzle of spicy green chilli & coriander chutney and tomato relish. Derived from Asma’s heritage, Pau is Portuguese for bread and reflects back to the 16th century when the Portuguese settled in Bengal and Goa and began baking bread.
Asma has partnered with self-taught baker Tarunima Sinha of My Little Cake Tin for her cakes. The colourful cakes will celebrate her Indian heritage with masala chai flavoured bundt cake, Indian spiced shortbread cookies and pistachio biscuits.
Visitors to the new café can also expect Asma’s signature Darjeeling Express Masala Chai and nonalcohol apple cider alongside tea from Asma’s ancestral tea garden in India, which is now owned and run by her aunt. The organic tea estate recently won a certificate protecting the habitat of local elephants and providing a safe passage for the herds through the estate.
Asma, upcoming star of Netflix’s award winning show Chef’s Table, will host a community wall in the new café, where women can display seasonal food and condiments next to her new cookbook ‘Asma’s Indian Kitchen’.
Asma Khan, Founder and Chef at Calcutta Canteen by Darjeeling Express:
“I am so excited to expand in Carnaby, from my first permanent restaurant in Carnaby’s Kingly Court to now a café on Broadwick Street. I consider Carnaby home and my new opening is way for me to serve authentic Indian home cooking to Londoners and tourists alike.”
Simon Quayle, Director at Shaftesbury:
“Having given Asma the opportunity for her first restaurant, the very successful Darjeeling Express in Kingly Court, we are delighted to welcome her new concept, which will offer something very authentic, and different from anything else on offer in Soho.”