No kosha, no aloo: Kolkata’s Rannaghor by Sienna breaks all the rules

No kosha, no aloo: Kolkata’s Ranna Ghor by Sienna breaks all the rules

Did you know West Bengal grows more than 1,500 varieties of rice? Yet, when you go to the market you only see five kinds of basmati and gobindo bhog.

“I remember growing up with chamarmani, shiddho chhal, the GI-tagged tulaipanji and so many other varieties. In the next 10 years, it’ll all be gone,” says Chef Avinandan Kundu of Cafe Sienna and Rannaghor. He adds, “As restaurants we need to be responsible about what we cook and what we put out. At Rannaghor (Bengali for kitchen) by Sienna we are keeping alive old stories and ingredients from Bengal.” Since August 2025, the top floor of Cafe Sienna has transformed into an intimate eight-seater dining space, open three days a week, with Avinandan and Chef Koyel Nandy running the show with a team of six.

The menu here is a contrast from what the cafe below serves. While the menu in Sienna is urban-centric, in Rannaghor, recipes are inspired by childhood memories. “I remember my mom and grandmom in the kitchen, giving me a bite of mach bhaja straight from the korai”, says Avinandan.

The chefs started by exploring the Bankura and Birbhum districts. In Bankura, the chefs tried ant chutney made by the Santhals (indigenous ethic groups in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha.) “We got the ants frozen, it’ll be on the Rannaghor menu once we figure out what the vegetarian counterpart is,” smiles Avinandan, adding that in Bankura they don’t use garam masala. “The flavour comes from just onion, garlic, and chilli. We have been to two other districts where they don’t use panchphoron.”

The menu changes seasonally | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Sunderbans, and North Bengal, is next on their list. “People only know of momos. There is so much dairy fermentation that happens there. There is influence from Tibet and China. Dooars, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri are also on the list. If we stop exploring and learning, all this (he points to the kitchen) will stop to exist,” he states.