Anoushka Dasgupta Little Andaman Barcelona
Melting Pot
Anoushka Dasgupta discusses the evolution of Little Andaman, a coastal Indian tapas restaurant in Barcelona, which opened during the 2020 pande
Key takeaways
- Little Andaman opened in October 2020, navigating the high competition of the Barcelona dining scene during the pandemic.
- The restaurant achieved significant fame after scoring an impressive 8.4 to 8.6 on the Catalan reality TV show Joc de Cartes.
Main topics
- Restaurant entrepreneurship in Barcelona
- Coastal Indian culinary techniques
Notable quotes
We wanted to step out of that and think about all that the southern Indian cuisine has to offer.
Conclusion
A compelling look at how cultural identity and personal passion can be
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) Love this podcast? Support this show through the Acast supporter feature. It's up to you how much you give, and there's no regular commitment. Just click the link in the show description to support now. Speaker 2 (0:17) We wanted to step out of that and think about all that the southern Indian cuisine has to offer and what we can explore and how can we make it appetizing and how can we make it shareable also. We also have like over here there's a very typical dish in Spain which is croquetas. Yeah croquettes. Cutlets also in English and in India in Calcutta there is a very very popular dish which are the which is also cutlet. Basically, it's beetroot chops. We call them chops. And they're more roundish type of shape. Over here, they make it cylindrical. So, we make beetroot and carrot chops. Usually, they have peanuts inside the cutlet itself. But we serve them on the side. So, people who have allergies can choose not to have that sauce. Speaker 3 (1:13) Hello everyone at Melting Pot. You know, it's like something that to me is very special because two years ago I interviewed Anushka Dasgupta. Hi everyone. On Melting Pot, but it was over Zoom and today I am actually... at the restaurant called Little Andaman, which is the restaurant that is founded by her parents, but Anushka is the one who runs it. and to actually be in this space and to... it's not that I haven't eaten here before... She has eaten here many many many... Speaker 2 (2:01) but yeah it's special right because we took we had this interview two years ago online and it's so special to have this interview in person today after everything that's happened these years and yes it's a pleasure to be on The Melting Pot once again. Super. Speaker 3 (2:18) Okay, so let's kickstart. I have like a brief, but I'm just going to keep my phone away. Speaker 2 (2:25) Both of us speak a lot, Speaker 3 (2:26) so I think Speaker 2 (2:27) it'll flow. Speaker 3 (2:29) Yeah, absolutely. And that's the whole objective. But I want to start by, you know, so just go back two years ago. And I remember when I had the conversation with you, you... actually Little Andaman and you're the face of Little Andaman won a very prestigious Catalonia award and just to refresh my memory can you just very quickly talk a little bit about it? Speaker 2 (2:59) Yes, so we actually opened Little Andaman in 2020 and we wanted to open it actually in March 2020 so pandemic year and it wasn't possible so we opened it in October 2020. And it's very difficult to get visibility for a restaurant in Barcelona because there's a lot of supply, there's a lot of variety over here. You can get any cuisine in Barcelona currently. So getting on the map in Barcelona and having that visibility as an Indian restaurant was difficult. And once Katalan TV program reached out to us, which is a very prestigious Katalan program, as you said, it's called Jog Dhaan. cartas in English that means game of cards literally it means that and there's also this TV shows also there in Italy and it also there's also Spanish version of it but the Catalan version everybody there are so many people who watches it there are families there are young kids old people watching it so that gave us a lot of visibility in 2022 and even more because we won the program and we run it with a very high mark which is not usual and not common for the TB program people usually get an average of a six or a seven we got an 8.4 8.6 out of 10 which was very high and lots of people started to actually come to the restaurant because there was something that was very interesting that customers told me is that Barcelona has so much variety, so many restaurants, so this actually acts as a filter for people to choose and to go to a place because they already see the TV show, it's a reality TV show. So they show a lot of things, they show the decor, the staff, the menu, the food and you have different opinions on that same show of how the restaurant is pictured. So people get an idea and then they choose to go or not to go. Speaker 3 (5:02) Yeah. So that's interesting because that kind of gave you the push, being a new restaurant, being a part of, and during COVID, it must Speaker 2 (5:14) have Speaker 3 (5:15) been extremely challenging. Exactly. So tell me, I know I've asked you this before, but of course there are now we're, you know, on YouTube as well. And it's a different experience. So what... And I also know that your parents have two, three other restaurants. Speaker 2 (5:34) And Speaker 3 (5:35) two of them that are outside of Little Andaman that are in Barcelona are more sort Speaker 2 (5:43) of traditional Indian, right? Exactly. And Speaker 3 (5:47) Little Andaman, firstly, why is it called Little Andaman? And secondly, what was the idea behind? creating a cuisine which is Indian but at the same time it's not that Indian curry. Exactly. Speaker 3 (6:04) that come about okay this is still recording okay sorry Speaker 2 (6:08) so yes uh little andaman is the newest outlet of the four outlets that the bambi group has the bambi group um has three restaurants as you mentioned over here in barcelona and one is in ibiza which is totally different it's not indian cuisine it's uh it's tropical it has a lot of cocktails it's from breakfast till dinner so non-stop kitchen and it's a seasonal outlet so that's the one which is the most different but it belongs to the same owners. The other three which are placed in Barcelona, the first one is Bembi, which was opened in 2000. That one is traditional Indian cuisine in a modern space. And why did we start with traditional Indian cuisine? This is because 20 years ago, Barcelona wasn't as cosmopolitan as it is today. Correct. And you wouldn't get good Indian food. So my parents wanted to do justice to our heritage and actually give portrait India and its gastronomy in its fair way. That's how Bembi started. Then in 2000, Rangoli was launched. That is in Barceloneta, which is by the beach in Barcelona. And it attracts more tourists, though there are still locals. But I would say that locals and corporate companies go to Bembi rather than Barceloneta, because that is far away from the city center. And what we do over there is Indian street food. plus traditional Indian cuisine. The menus between Bemi and Rangoli are more similar than with Little Andaman, but they are also different. So all three restaurants have their own identity. Speaker 3 (7:43) Yeah, which is important, you know, but also challenging at the same time. Speaker 2 (7:48) Because Speaker 3 (7:48) you have to, one, you know, the quality, the... Speaker 3 (7:55) You know, also people get tired of, like, if you have repeat clients, they want to see something different on the menu. So the fact that they have a choice between three restaurants, you know, of the same group, I think is pretty incredible. Let's talk, you mentioned cocktails. Exactly. Now I want to ask you, because I have tried some of your, before we talk about the food and how you came up with the concept and all of that, I want to talk about the Speaker 2 (8:27) cocktails. Okay, let's go for it. So Speaker 3 (8:30) your cocktails have, they could be, I mean, the spirit is not Indian. Exactly. But you have curated cocktails with? Indian spices, you know, like your Speaker 2 (8:44) tamarind and ginger. That's a bestseller. Exactly. So Speaker 3 (8:49) what kind of, how did you come up with the idea Speaker 2 (8:53) of Speaker 3 (8:54) doing these very bespoke cocktails? And what kind Speaker 2 (9:00) of a reaction do you get from the clients? It's a very interesting question. The concept of Little Andaman, Little Andaman is the small, I have to talk about the concept to go to the cocktails. To Speaker 3 (9:11) go Speaker 2 (9:11) to the cocktails. Because otherwise it won't make much sense. So the concept of Little Andaman is the smallest island which belongs to the Nicobar and the Andaman islands, which are really, really, really far away from India. But they belong to India. So our restaurant concept is a bit following the same lines. We are based in the city center of Barcelona. But in this neighborhood, near Calle Arriba and Montane, where we are placed in Calle Montane, what is served here is basically tapas. All around you'll find Spanish tapas. What