With its titles ‘Mumbai’ and ‘Kolkata, this publishing house is redefining the coffee-table book genre!

● Heirloom Cities is an independent, design-led publishing house, founded by San Francisco-based Sri Bodanapu
● The publishing house has produced carefully researched books that document the culinary identities of two of South Asia’s most historically layered cities, bringing a sharp design lens to cultural storytelling
● The inaugural volume – ‘Mumbai’ – was launched worldwide in May 2025, and has since won the prestigious Gourmand Awards, considered to be the “Oscars” of food-culture books
● The upcoming title – ‘Kolkata’ – the second edition of the city series, launches worldwide on 28th April, 2026

Heirloom Cities, a design-led publishing house founded by Sri Bodanapu brings deeply researched coffee table books that look at the identity of cities through the people and food cultures that shape them.

So far, Heirloom Cities presents two titles, Mumbai (now available) and Kolkata, set to launch on 28th April, with more cities and their culinary stories to follow. Heirloom Cities explores these historically layered cities through recipes and personal essays, brought to life through photography and illustrations. Each book is a rich visual anthology, with engaging storytelling that captures how food connects families, communities, and urban histories. The ambition is to expand the publishing house’s footprint to cover cities across India, Asia and beyond, creating a living archive of urban culture around the world.

“I started Heirloom Cities to move beyond the familiar narratives around food, and to explore its depth and diversity. Our first two books reflect Mumbai and Kolkata as they are today; vibrant and evolving, shaped both by legacy and a dynamic, contemporary culinary culture. In doing so, we have brought together stories of how people live in these iconic cities, accompanied by culture and heritage” -Sri Bodanapu, Founder of Heirloom Cities.

The first title from Heirloom Cities, Mumbai, presents a portrait of the city’s culinary life – from bustling street food stalls and historic Irani cafés to home kitchens and the evolving contemporary dining culture.

The second title, Kolkata – edited by Madhushree Basu Roy and Anindya Basu, expands this exploration of a rich and complex food culture, particularly tracing how colonial history, migration and local traditions have shaped one of India’s most distinctive culinary identities.

Both volumes have been produced as print collectibles, joining a growing genre of design-led cultural publishing, where editorial authority and visual identity work together to create books that function as both references and objects of beauty.

The books feature contributions from well-renowned voices in the design and culinary world. The Mumbai title has contributions from Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal, Smitha Menon, Dr. Mohsina Mukadam, Nikhil Merchant, Roshni Bajaj-Sanghvi, Antoine Lewis, and Sayoni Bhaduri.

Kolkata brings an equally accomplished line up of contributors including Anindya Sundar Basu and Madhushree Basu Roy, Malini Banerjee, Amrita Das, Priyadarshini Chatterjee, Pinaki Bhattacharya and Dolon Dutta Chowdhury.

Together their knowledge, lived experiences and creative talent bring the food cultures and histories to life in the pages of these two voluminous coffee-table editions.

“Heirloom Cities grew out of my observation that there was very little representation of elevated storytelling around food cultures from Asia. In a landscape of cookbooks and design books that remain largely Eurocentric, I felt a strong need to create a more sensorial experience around food, culture, and communities. As we expand our footprint across Asia,
I’m excited to continue telling the stories of some of the oldest and most remarkable culinary
legacies in the world”-Sri Bodanapu