On a typical Monday afternoon, while vehicles honk incessantly and schoolchildren head home, Trincas restaurant on Park Street remains packed with patrons. Elderly friends reconnect, office colleagues celebrate successful deals, and retired couples enjoy leisurely afternoons within its warm, nostalgic walls.
Among them sits Anand Puri, the third-generation custodian of this Calcutta institution. When he returned to his hometown in 2019 after a decade in Delhi, taking over the family business wasn't part of his plan. "I had no intention of displacing or interfering with my dad's business, which he had been running diligently for 40 years," Anand reveals.
The Living Museum of Calcutta's History
For anyone who experienced Calcutta during the 1960s, Trincas feels remarkably unchanged. The cozy interiors, stage with red backdrop, gentle lighting, and classic Asian cuisine all evoke powerful nostalgia. Nearly every wall of the century-old establishment displays framed memories—black-and-white Park Street photographs, vintage menus, band pictures, and portraits of its Swiss founders.
This preservation is no accident but the result of conscious effort. As Anand settled back into city life, he found himself increasingly fascinated by the stories behind those images. This curiosity sparked what would become his passion project: the Trincas Timeline Project.
"In an attempt to piece together the long and colourful history of Trincas, I began an outreach programme called the Trincas Timeline Project," Anand explains. "I'm reaching out across the globe to people who once lived in Calcutta and have memories, pictures and anecdotes about Trincas."
From Swiss Confectionery to Calcutta Institution
Trincas has been a Park Street landmark since at least 1927, approaching its centenary milestone. The restaurant's origins trace back to two Swiss nationals—Cinzio Trinca and Joseph Flury—who alongside Flury's wife Freida opened a Swiss confectionery and tea room that eventually evolved into today's famous Flurys.
"Calcutta already had a huge expat community," Anand notes. "First, you had the British. Then Europeans were already here—Italians running booming restaurants, French, Germans, Czechs, and Russians. There was a big cosmopolitan mix."
Around 1940, the partnership dissolved for reasons still unclear, prompting Cinzio and his wife Lilly to move Trinca's Tea Room and Confectionery across the street to its current address at 17 Park Street. By 1958, sensing the British exodus and approaching retirement, Trinca decided to return to Switzerland, creating an opportunity that would change the establishment's destiny.
The Puri-Joshua Era Begins
The story of how Anand's grandfather Om Prakash Puri and his friend Ellis Joshua acquired Trincas reads like historical drama. Their friendship formed at The Grand Hotel during tumultuous times.
During World War II, as Japanese forces advanced through Asia, the British colony of Burma collapsed. Ellis Joshua, then 22, fled Rangoon with his elderly parents and seven siblings, finally reaching Calcutta where the local Jewish community provided refuge.
Meanwhile, Om Prakash had moved from Lahore to Calcutta in 1943, following his sister whose husband worked at the Grand Hotel. Both young men began their careers at the same establishment, forging a bond that would eventually lead them to Park Street.
In 1959, Puri and Joshua purchased Trinca's Swiss tearoom, transforming it into a full-fledged restaurant with live entertainment. Anand's grandmother Swaran played a crucial role, leveraging connections to secure funding for the purchase despite her family having lost everything during Partition.
Szechuan Revolution and Enduring Legacy
The decades that followed tested Trincas' resilience. The 1970s and 80s brought militant labor politics, curfews, and prolonged power cuts that often left the restaurant empty. "At one point in the 1980s, the restaurant went into loss-making," Anand acknowledges.
The establishment's salvation came through culinary innovation. Anand's father, Deepak Puri, who had trained at Taj Hotels in Bombay, recognized an opportunity. He introduced Szechuan cuisine to Calcutta at a time when Chinese food in India was predominantly Cantonese and Hakka.
"He democratised Chinese cuisine in India, especially Szechuan food," Anand says proudly. "It went boom—queues out of the door, people couldn't get enough."
The restaurant's musical legacy also has deep roots in Calcutta's history. "The music you hear on Park Street today—Trincas being the sole torchbearer of that tradition—has its roots in wartime Calcutta of the 1940s, when jazz musicians came to entertain the troops," Anand explains.
Today, Anand sees his role as preserving this rich heritage while making it relevant for new generations. "I've made history cool. I've made history current," he states, embodying the vision that has kept Trincas symbolizing Calcutta's cosmopolitan spirit, enduring love for jazz and innovative cuisine, and unique position among Park Street's many eateries.
