It was the height of indulgence to have a birthday at Skyroom. It implied incredible benevolence on the part of your parents. There was a choice of chocolate or pineapple cakes, prawn and chicken patties, crusty cheese ones that melted into gloriously salty softness with threads trailing from your mouth to the crust at every bite, and no, it wasn’t Mozzarella. There were the fluffy triangles of chicken sandwiches which were far better than any mother could turn out. No child knew the prices - those were things for mothers to bother about.

Every so often there was a rumour that Skyroom would reopen since that space on Park Street remained unoccupied for so long, peeling posters, sign and all. The Malhotras we knew had shifted to the Middle East. What many did not know was that one of the brothers had consulted with Blue Fox and moved to Bangalore there to open a Blue Fox and toy with the idea of reviving Skyroom.

Into this scenario came Manja Datta and her new restaurant. I had been hearing about Olde House Eatery since it opened in late February this year. I remembered wondering how a restaurant could manage to open with lockdown hovering like a threat over the city, but more than that I heard the rumours that this was the new Skyroom. There had been rumours like that popping up periodically over the years – backed by places with white-gloved waiters materialising out of the panelling and placing copper-covered dishes on the table, deftly twiddling the knobs so that a logo flashed at you for a moment. None of those places had anything to do with Skyroom though they served continental with a capital C.

In the case of the Olde House the rumour persisted so I was curious- it was opposite Nazrul Mancha which was close to my office so I went I search of it but failed to find any signs. Later I realized that I had gone in the wrong direction. Lockdown intervened and I wondered how the Olde House was managing – there was a home delivery message forwarded and I looked through the list and the menus, the famous prawn cocktail, lobster thermidor. Ahh, the prawn cocktails in a glass as deep as a brandy snifter with the bite of tabasco and big curling prawns.

Ultimately when lockdown lifted again, I finally caught up with Manju Datta and the Olde House. It was on the other side of Nazrul Mancha next to the Punjab National Bank. The rooms inside were tastefully done up with Kolkata icons on the walls and modern renditions of stained glass windows. She apologized for the paper napkins as I sat down and looked around the table saying that sanitization had killed off the linen where customers were concerned.

I broke in to ask about the Skyroom connection and discovered in her case there actually was one. A friend had connected Manju to Vikram Malhotra in Bangalore who was delighted at the idea of revivingSkyroom. The only thing was he stipulated that it should have a new identity. Since Manju specialized in giving old houses a makeover, it was decided that the new avatar of Skyroom should be called the Olde House and it would specialize in a confluence of world-class cuisine and a magical, quaint ambience. The chefs were trained in Bangalore under Vikram’s expert guidance and Manju opened the 33 cover restaurant as a ‘gift to Kolkata’ hoping to make a splash by the time the Bengali New Year came round.

The Olde House is open again after lockdown – its freezers are packed with the finest ingredients and the freshest seafood is brought in everyday. “We don’t believe in shortcuts,” Manju said. “Unless you use the best, you can’t deliver the results you want.” The restaurant already has a fan following of customers. Hopefully it will continue the way it had begun, giving Kolkatans a taste of Chicken Tetrazini, Prawn Cocktail and Baked Alaska, the way Skyroom used to – though yes, Manju confesses the humid monsoon weather is possibly not the best time to whip up cream and ice cream for Baked Alaska.

Photo credits: www.getbengal.com

It was the height of indulgence to have a birthday at Skyroom. It implied incredible benevolence on the part of your parents. There was a choice of chocolate or pineapple cakes, prawn and chicken patties, crusty cheese ones that melted into gloriously salty softness with threads trailing from your mouth to the crust at every bite, and no, it wasn�