1200 noon, 29th July 2014, Tuesday:
The thesaurus describes an artisan as an artiste, an authority, a composer, a craftsperson, a creator, an expert, a handicrafter, an inventor, a painter, a virtuoso, a whiz. Maybe they forgot " the risk taker".
Enter into the wonderland of The Baker's Dozen, "your Artisan Bread shop." The brain child of entrepreneurs Aditi Handa, her brother Siddharth and her husband Sneh Jain , they have tasted quick success and have opened up four stores of their own and stock selected breads at more than fifteen partner stores within a span of 16 months. These bread boutiques are strategically located in Kemps Corner, Pali Hill, Prabhadevi and Oshiwara. Aditi, the feisty young lady also doubles up as a Head Baker, having gone through the rigorous Bread Bakery course at French Culinary Institute, New York.
I enter the small dainty outlet. Its very artistically done. Quaint murals on the wall. Black boards announcing the menu one one side. A book of feedback prominently displayed. And a sheer brilliance of hygiene. I scan the floor for some bread crumbs. Zilch.
Aditi, in a close tete-a-tete, informs about the rationale behind their unique venture. " There is a dearth of quality breads in India – We aim to provide exposure to international quality breads in the country. Like all western cultures making their way here, we recognised this idea as a mega cultural shift - back to baking bread - the way it ought to be. True to our name, we are always trying to give to our consumer more than his / her expectations. Yes, we do serve 13 slices in our dozen!"
We bake breads and only breads! - their tag line goes. Translated, except for a minor deviation of coffee, they do not sell anything else except bread. They have not gone down the safe and oft beaten patisserie lane. But this micro specialisation has, au contraire, introduced a whole new vista of breads to India. You learn that the innocuous bread is not simply a cut and dried affair of what you have buttered and toasted in the mornings. The bread is a whole world in itself with so many hues, colours, flavours, contours, connotations, varieties and aromas that you cannot but be left marveled.
One of the biggest USPs of this place is that the TBD is a baker led bakery. "Even though our breads are preservative-free still having a shelf life of two days, we don’t stock any products beyond a day. Every food product / beverage product has certain ideal conditions under which they are to be consumed. Short shelf life products such as bread and milk are best when consumed within 24 - 48 hours. Thus if we sell a bread on day two, the consumer will most likely use the bread over day two and three - thus making the bread ’not ideal’ on day three. To ensure that each TBD consumer gets to taste our breads as we intended to serve to them - we do not serve yesterdays breads today". To such an extent that any leftovers on day two are donated to a nearby orphanages / charities with instructions to finish them off by the day end.
Some other nuggets during the interview:
"As Steve Jobs had said: What will I do with Market Research? Market does not know what it wants..."
"Baking is not a perfect science, it is not absolutely precise. The only way to a good product is that you have to connect to it, you have to feel that the product is ready."
"We don't coin a recipe and then just alter it with flavors to come out with different products. Our products are unique in themselves, it is an altogether different recipe for most items."
"Only when you add malt or caramel or artificial coloring agents does your whole wheat bread turn brown. We are not adding these things so our brown bread will never be that industrial brown bread."
"Our wheat breads have 50% wheat and 50 % maida flour. If we use more than 50 % wheat, the bread will become very heavy and difficult to digest, and then we will have to add chemicals or emulsifiers, which we want to avoid. So at 50% wheat and 50 % maida flour our breads are far healthier than 100 % wheat bread with chemicals."
Whew! Heavy stuff.
I am informed that they maintain extremely high standards of hygiene and technology in their kitchen. People are welcome to give them a surprise visit in their kitchen any time. Plus the two chefs they have Manish and Asmita, they have been there right from the beginning. Absorbed when they were fresh out of culinary schools, they have kind of stuck on. More so, in a way, they have adopted a patronizing attitude towards their kitchen, often getting at cross roads with Aditi whenever they hold a difference of opinion. "Its our turf and we encourage brainstorming and innovation wherever merited".
I look around to understand the products.
There was the Brioche - a light sweet yeast bread typically in the form of a small round roll - nestled inside a cage.
There was the rich, braided Challah (a Jewish Sabbath‑and‑holiday bread made with eggs).The braided ones, which may have three, four, or six strands, are the most common, and folk lore has it that because they look like arms intertwined, symbolize love.
There was the Baguette - a long, narrow French loaf that is commonly made from basic lean dough. It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust.
There was the Focaccia - is a flat oven-baked Italian bread product similar in style and texture to pizza dough. It is topped with herbs or other ingredients. (" The Focaccia that we make are totally oil free").
There was the Ciabatta - a flattish, open-textured Italian bread with a floury crust, made with olive oil. ("These breads are rich in protein. The protein which you get by having two slices is equivalent to what you get in a bowl of daal").
There were Croissants - a buttery flaky viennoiserie pastry / bread named for its well-known crescent shape. Croissants and other viennoiserie are made of a layered yeast-leavened dough.
There was Four Grains Sourdough bread and the Cinnamon Bread. ("The Four Grain Bread is one of the most popular breads that we have. It has as high as 64 % seeds. This means that for every 100 gms of flour, there are 64 grams of seeds added to it").
The verdict: A big Thumbs Up. A big congratulations to the principals.
The ratings, they go like this.:
The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4 / 5, Food Choices 3.5 / 5, Food Portion 4 / 5 Food Presentation : 4 / 5
The Other Determinants : Location 3.5 / 5, Cleanliness 4 / 5, Service 4.5 / 5
The Hygiene Factors : Ambiance 4 / 5, Space quotient 2.5 / 5, Delivery time 4 / 5
The Conclusives : Food Price 3.5 / 5, Honesty 4 / 5, Overall Experience 4 / 5, Will I Visit again 4 / 5
PS: Bouquets / brickbats on the review can be addressed to sanjaynpunjabi@gmail.com
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