Our Story

From Balance Sheets to Bold Flavours

Over the past two decades, Deepali Ray has transformed a personal spark into a culinary movement. It began when she watched colleagues separate themselves at lunch because of dietary restrictions. She envisioned a cuisine where everyone could share the same table—secular, inclusive, and community‑minded. Her answer came from Tangra, India’s own Chinatown, where cultures and flavours intertwined with ease.

With this vision, she created Fifth Season—a thoughtful symbol of a season of love that blossoms beyond boundaries. In 2006, she launched Tangra Chinese, bringing to Singapore Indo‑Chinese food that was bold, nostalgic, and unifying. She chose Tangra first because it captured the legacy of Chinese migrants with their fiery sauces, later reshaped by Tibetan influences into something distinctly Bengali.

With this vision, she created Fifth Season—a thoughtful symbol of a season of love that blossoms beyond boundaries. In 2006, she launched Tangra Chinese, bringing to Singapore Indo‑Chinese food that was bold, nostalgic, and unifying. She chose Tangra first because it captured the legacy of Chinese migrants with their fiery sauces, later reshaped by Tibetan influences into something distinctly Bengali.

From there came Kolkata Beckons, her Concoction of Bengal’s Heritage. Here, she showcased how Bengal’s cuisine absorbed the flavours of Mughal, British, Dutch, French, and other influences—turning the region’s food into a living mirror of secularism. Most recently, she unveiled DIPU, where Tikka Masala—an Indian dish with European roots—meets Persian delicacies like Chelow Kababs, a staple re‑imagined in Bengal with countless variations. Together they celebrate diversity, history, and innovation on one plate.

Deepali often says her drive is a blessing inherited from her father, a selfless man who fed thousands. As a child, she would toddle around with baby hands and feet, helping him cook for the hungry. Though she never trained as a chef, that legacy taught her that food must feed the soul. To her, food binds people, removes boundaries, and travels across borders—a true season of love beyond boundaries.

Her journey was anything but conventional. After moving to Singapore in 1998, she held senior positions heading Finance and Business Development in multinational companies and government projects. Yet her passion for food and her keen eye for Singapore’s multicultural dining scene pulled her away from balance sheets and into kitchens, dining rooms, and stories of flavour.

Deepali combines vision with discipline: she is a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant, and holds a Master’s degree in Commerce from the University of Calcutta. This blend of emotional depth and professional expertise continues to anchor the evolving story of Fifth Season.