Bon appétit!

For Bengalis, Durga Puja is not just a festival or a celebration, but it is more of an emotion and spirited spurt of passion that goes beyond the boundaries of religion.

As the mellowed season of autumn creeps in, the streets of Kolkata come alive with the sounds of dhak (drum), ushering in those five days of worship and merrymaking, not to forget a lavish and hearty meal every day!

Every street and alley smells of tantalising aromas — from bhog to biryanis, luchis, kathi rolls, cholar dals, ghugnis, noodles and countless sweets.

Durga Puja is clearly synonymous with a veritable food fiesta. Those five days, the home kitchens are shut with women of the house dressed up in beautiful saris and traditional ornaments, busy participating in the fanfare along with other family members.

With the festival making it to the list of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, apart from the honour, this will also witness an influx of international tourists to Bengal, who want to experience the grandeur of the Puja and its inclusivity.

However, it's not just about foreigners who visit this city to soak in the festive season, be a witness to a grand spectacle and return home. There are some who have come here, settled down and started a business of their own.

This Durga Puja, if Kolkatans wish to deviate from the quintessential Bengali delicacies and try something new for the sake of experience and experimentation, they can gorge on a wide range of French, Italian or American food for a change, that has slowly carved out a niche of their own.

In 2014, Grant Walsh started 8th Day Cafe and Bakery. He says 8th Day is for the locals and Indians as a whole. The underlying idea was to give an American-style experience in Kolkata without people having to travel to America. He chose Kolkata because of the influx of foreigners, which made it easier for him to come up with good speciality coffee.

"I explored Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru but they already had good speciality coffee joints," he adds. "Kolkata did not have any, so I chose to build 8th Day Cafe and Bakery here."

During Durga Puja, Walsh is planning to keep the outlets open till 10 pm or further. Popular dishes at 8th Day include West Range Omelette, Quiche, Grant's Sandwich, Southwest Hummus Wrap, BBQ Chicken Wrap, Cinnamon Roll, and Chocolate Chip Cookies, and some great coffee.

Kolkata has had a long history of French connect. Anita Oraon and Cedric Josse's L'Instant Café here is all about authenticity and one must say that both of them have been able to use the connection bit to the fullest. They have, since the very beginning, ensured to serve up authentic French cuisine in an authentic café set-up. They are especially committed to sourcing high-quality ingredients and employing the most appropriate technique.

Anita, born and brought up in Kolkata, went to Qatar for about eight years where she met her French husband Cedric. Thereafter, their love story bloomed and Kolkata got its French paradise!

British chef Shaun Kenworthy, who has worked in one of the busiest restaurants in Europe — at Quaglino's in London — finds Kolkata warm and happening.

For him, the people here are welcoming and that's what makes this place so beautiful. Kenworthy is a fan of Kolkata's street food. However, according to him, Bengal's best bet is vegetarian food, which is full of interesting flavours and very different from its counterparts in the rest of India, and is kind of the state's best-kept secret!

He also adds that today, almost all organic essentials are available in the market. There are incredible cheesemakers around the country, great vegetables that are grown in aquaponics and an established winemaking industry.

Poorna Banerjee, a food writer, restaurant critic and social media strategist, says it's the soul of Kolkata that has made it possible for even foreigners to make this place their home, who have come up with their own restaurants, cafes and food joints here, serving up dishes with a dash of their native flavours.

Indrajit Lahiri, another food blogger and content creator, emphasises the cultural exchange that has happened as a result of foreigners coming down here and starting a food business. For example, Korean food wasn't known in Kolkata and since King's Bakery was founded by Seok Jung, a trained Barista from Seoul and his wife, Sojin Lee; people of this city can now chow down on kimchi and bibimbap.

King's Bakery has all things Korean — from doughnuts, coffee, mini choux, bowl meals, pickles, and traditional Korean hanbok (a form of Korean clothing) to bread, buns and even martial arts dolls! They even serve authentic Korean food round-the-clock.

It's no secret that we in Kolkata love our fair share of Chinese! We have to thank Monica Liu for four of our favourite Chinese eateries – Kim Ling and Beijing in Tangra, Park Street's Tung Fong, Mandarin on Sarat Bose Road and in Lake Avenue. The woman entrepreneur is much respected within the Chinese community and is an incredible restaurateur who's nicknamed 'Don of Chinatown' for her bravery and determination to run her business independently, fighting off goons.

The lip-smacking crisp chilli garlic fish with a side of prawn rice noodles, or a whopping bowl of comforting Cantonese noodles with a big dollop of their homemade green chilli sauce, and the crunchy lemon garlic chicken are instant hits.

One can try some mouthwatering pizzas and quality Italian food at Fire And Ice. It has had the honour of being named the best restaurant for pizzas and quality Italian food in South Asia.

"I had the pleasure of bringing authentic Italian cuisine to Kathmandu and I could have not done it without my team of Nepalese cooks and sharing that passion with them. Later, I repeated this with my cooks and stewards in Kolkata.

"After gaining such popularity in Nepal, India was on the cards. In 2003, I visited New Delhi and felt the time was ripe for a new challenge. At the celebration of the Italian National Day in June 2004, our Italian Ambassador suggested that a Fire And Ice was a must in Calcutta (now Kolkata) because at that time there wasn't any Italian restaurant in the city, apart from the outlet at The Hyatt Regency," says Annamaria Forgione, the founder of Fire And Ice.

She further adds: "It was a project that was dear to the Italian Consul that encouraged women's entrepreneurial skills based on micro-financing. To be the launching pad for such a project that promoted the economy of a very rural part of the city, filled me with enthusiasm. I brought our mozzarella expert to Kolkata and he taught a small group of people at a little farm, guided by Dr Bramocharya of the Institute for Indian Mother and Child (IIMC), to make mozzarella. The cows acquired by IIMC would be loaned to the women farmers and once the restaurant would be up and running, we would buy the mozzarella produced by them for our pizzas. The proceeds of the purchase would go back into their project which would loan cows to the women. The joint work of Fire And Ice and IIMC gave a great boost to the economy of that particular area of Calcutta and it's still on.

"We opened our doors for business in July 2005 on the ground floor of one of the most beautiful, historic buildings of Kolkata — Kanak Building. It was built 200 years ago by a Nepalese Rana family on Middleton Street. Fire And Ice soon became the winner of the 'Best Italian Joint in Kolkata' as well as the restaurant that served the 'Best Pizza in Asia'. Today, Fire And Ice Pizzeria boasts of three well-established restaurants in Kolkata, Colombo and Kathmandu."

The most popular dishes include Spaghetti aglio olio peperoncino, Spaghetti carbonara, Lasagna tradizionale and Lasagna vegetariana, Polenta, Gnocchi di patate, Pesce alla griglia and Tiramisu.