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Olive Café & Bar, Kolkata hosted Chef Dhruv Oberoi for an exclusive three-day Weekend Residency from 17th to 19th July 2026, bringing together contemporary Indian cuisine, handcrafted cocktails and Olive’s signature hospitality. The residency was curated as a collaboration between Olive Café & Bar and Chef Dhruv, offering diners a specially designed menu that reflected his ingredient-led philosophy and modern interpretation of regional flavours.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
The Executive Chef at Olive Qutub, The Grammar Room and Bar Serai, Chef Dhruv Oberoi has earned recognition among Condé Nast India’s 40 Under 40: Most Exciting Young Chefs. Having trained with acclaimed chefs Ferran and Albert Adrià in Barcelona, he brings a global understanding of technique while remaining deeply connected to Indian produce, traditions and culinary memories.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
The residency was an exploration of how familiar ingredients could be transformed without losing their identity. The drinks set the tone for the evening, with cocktails designed around the same philosophy as the food. The Betel Leaf Negroni came with its herbal complexity, while the Kasundi Sour brought Bengali mustard-inspired notes into a cocktail format. Other creations, including the U’Luvka Vodka Amla Martini, Evan Williams Bourbon Cocktail and Dos Flam(os) Tequila Cocktail, reflected an unusual yet balanced approach to regional flavours and global spirits.
Chef Dhruv Oberoi Brings Ingredient-Led Indian Cuisine to Olive Café & Bar, Kolkata
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
The menu moved between nostalgia and surprise — from delicate Tapioca Cheese Buns with Pickled Amra to the sophisticated Kalimpong Cheese Gougère, from the vibrant Burrata in Jamun to the comforting depth of Pork Belly in Panch Phoron. The desserts continued this thoughtful approach, transforming Bengali classics into refined contemporary expressions.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
The Cha Mishti Platter brought together Taal Gur Crème Caramel with Kanakchur rice and fresh dates, Aamaada Cheese Tart with almond biscuit crust and mangoes, and Radhunipagal Rice Crêpes with coconut and tender coconut. Paired with Darjeeling Tea Liqueur, the desserts provided a fitting conclusion to a menu built around memory, locality and innovation.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
Slurrp had the opportunity to speak with Chef Dhruv Oberoi about the ideas behind his recipes and the philosophy guiding this residency. Rather than a conventional conversation, the discussion revealed the thought process behind transforming regional ingredients into contemporary culinary experiences.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
Slurrp:: What inspired this collaboration, and how does it feel to bring your philosophy to Kolkata?
Chef Dhruv Oberoi: This started from our family meal traditions at Olive, where our young chefs cook for the team from their own identity and background. One of our chefs put together a fantastic Bengali thali with nine distinct dishes using hyper-local ingredients, and it was incredibly satisfying. From there, it felt like a natural extension of Olive’s DNA of celebrating our heritage, taking a familiar philosophy and adapting it to a new cultural context of European recipes and core Indian produce. Kolkata has a strong emotional connection to food, so it was about responding to the city rather than imposing a style.
Slurrp: How do you balance contemporary technique with traditional flavours?
The ingredient leads, always. Technique refines it, but the flavour and memory stay intact. It’s about evolving tradition, not overpowering it.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
Slurrp: Why these Bengali ingredients, and how did you reinvent them?
Chef Dhruv Oberoi: They’re deeply expressive and nostalgic. The idea wasn’t to reinvent them, but to recontextualise, changing format, pairing, or texture while keeping their identity intact.
Slurrp: How did working with Ferran and Albert Adrià influence your approach today?
Chef Dhruv Oberoi: It taught me precision and purpose. Innovation should elevate an ingredient, not distract from it—that’s something I strongly apply to Indian produce and my cooking philosophy today.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
Slurrp: What was your inspiration behind the Pork Belly Tartlet?
Chef Dhruv Oberoi: It’s about balancing rich pork, sharp mango, and layered sweet spice accent from panch-phoron. A small bite that delivers fat, acid, spice, and texture together.
Image Credit: Saborni Saha
Slurrp: How involved were you in the cocktail program?
Chef Dhruv Oberoi: Completely. I worked closely with my mixologists. My interest in cocktails began with a Negroni, which led to creating a very unique, flavour-forward betel leaf Negroni, my personal favourite. The drinks follow the same ingredient-led philosophy as the food.
Slurrp: What experience do you want diners to take away?
Familiar flavours, seen differently. Something nostalgic yet surprising, and a meal that feels memorable beyond just the food.
