Master Chef

If you’re driving down Jessore Road in Kolkata, you might see us at Matrivilla. We are at 70/1/B, near Rammohan Estate. Master Chef is just a small kitchen really. We don't have a lot of space for people to sit, so a lot of our work is for people taking food home. Kolkata traffic is something else, and Jessore Road is always packed with trucks and buses. The noise is constant. Inside, we are usually busy with the stove. We do a lot of different things, from rolling out dough to frying up appetizers. It’s just a few of us working here. We buy our vegetables from the local market every morning, so whatever is in season is what we end up using the most. The walls have a few cracks, and the light isn't the brightest, but it works for us. We don't have a website or a social media person. Usually, people just see the sign while they’re stuck in traffic and decide to stop by. We spend a lot of time cleaning the counters because the dust from the road gets everywhere. It’s a lot of repetitive work, day in and day out. We just try to keep the oil fresh and the food hot for whoever walks through the door of Matrivilla. It's a plain life, but we like the routine of it and the familiar faces that come by.