Coming Soon: Toddy Shop Chef Mischa Tropp is Opening a Casual Bar and Restaurant at Crown

Mischa Tropp is bringing some much needed cool to Crown. On Saturday December 7, the Toddy Shop chef will open Kolkata Cricket Club and Sporting Bar, a pan-Indian and Bengali venue inspired by Indian members-only bars.

“A restaurant at Crown needs to be approachable for the Indian community and for the general public. I was like, ‘How do I do something incredible and not too niche?’” Tropp tells Broadsheet.

His answer is a two-in-one venue with a casual front bar, The Sporting Bar, where people can drop in, “watch whatever cricket is going on in the world”, order a thali plate and a Bombay sandwich; and a white-tablecloth dining room, where the food will be “what you would expect at members clubs in India” and at restaurants such as London institution Dishoom. “Its core identity is a Kolkata Bengali restaurant.”

Everything will be cooked over two of the tandoori ovens made by Samuel Fraraccio (aka The Brick Chef). Expect paneer, butter chicken and pushka, which Tropp describes as the Bengali version of pani puri, as well as wood-fired prawns with a coconut and mustard oil curry, and goat curry with caramelised onions.

“I planned on opening a restaurant in this style before Toddy Shop happened,” Tropp tells Broadsheet.

He was taught how to cook Bengali food by Iti Mira who, in Tropp’s words, is “this amazing aunty-grandma who is full of energy and incredibly proud of her culture.” He notes that the cuisine’s many global influences – notably Dutch, English, Armenian and Chinese – make for a distinct culinary tradition that he says will have broad appeal.

Tropp’s venue is in the former San Antone by Bludso’s BBQ space. It was redesigned by his partner Min-Chun Tseng, who is also behind Toddy Shop’s distinct pale green and pink interiors and Victor Liong ’s Silk Spoon.

This is the second new restaurant to be announced at Crown in the past few weeks, signalling a vibe shift for the area. It comes after Grant Simile, a club, festival and radio DJ who is also the restaurateur behind Ponyfish Island in the middle of the Yarra and EP & LP, Strings of Life and Grandmaster Recorders, all in Los Angeles, announced he’d due to open Marmont at Crown Riverwalk next month.

Kolkata Cricket Club and Sporting Bar will open at Crown Melbourne on Sunday December 7.