A new generation of hospitality talent is gearing up to change the face of Crown Melbourne.

A few weeks after DJ-turned-restaurateur Grant Smillie announced plans for Marmont, a Cali-cool riverside bar at the casino, there’s news of another new venue coming in hot.

On December 7, Mischa Tropp, owner-chef of Fitzroy’s Toddy Shop, will bring his celebrated Indian cooking to the precinct, opening a restaurant and sports bar.

But where his Fitzroy restaurant honours the food of his heritage in Kerala, in India’s south, 150-seat Kolkata Cricket Club (KCC) on level one will have a “pan-Indian menu with a bunch of Bengali dishes and influences”.

Tropp was inspired by old-school Bengali cricket clubs and members bars, along with wildly popular Indian diners in the UK, such as the two-Michelin-starred Gymkhana, and Dishoom.

“We’re not modernising Indian food, though” he insists. “We’re trying to cook Indian food really well, and present it in a nice and considered way.”

Interior designer Min Chun Tseng (Toddy Shop, Silk Spoon) is transforming the casino’s former San Antone by Bludso’s BBQ site into a two-pronged Indian dining experience.

It’ll be a white-tablecloth affair in the KCC Dining Room, which will be powered by charcoal tandoors and a wood-fire hearth. The menu will have Indian crowd-pleasers such as Tropp’s butter chicken, and the vibrant green-hued saag paneer. But also Bengali specialties such as chingri malaikari, a coconut-milk-based prawn curry fragrant with mustard oil; and kosha mangsho, an unctuous curry of goat and onions.

The rattan-wrapped Sporting Bar will be more casual, serving thali plates loaded with your choice of curries, rice and sides, and cricket on the big screens. Tropp will also serve Bombay sandwiches – “the best vegetable sandwich you’ve ever had” – which are grilled, slathered in butter and green chutney, and served with tomato sauce.

Tropp’s Toddy Shop reopened recently after a renovation to expand its kitchen and capacity – from 20 to 50 diners when a parklet eventually opens on Charles Street.

But when KCC opens, he’ll unlock a whole new market. “Being at Crown lets us do great Indian food for the general public, rather than just the niche [crowd at Toddy Shop].”

Kolkata Cricket Club will open on December 7.

Level 1 Casino, Crown Melbourne, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank, instagram.com/kolkatacricket_club