Meet the bakers - Part 12

Chocolates are something that can light up the face of a girl. As I'd mentioned in one of my earlier posts, a chocolate can even give you an orgasm.

Choc of the town is perhaps my biggest weakness. An IT Pro turned chocolatier - Subhatra Priyadarshini's new venture specializes in fresh delicious hand-made personalized chocolates and they are delivered all over India.

Excerpts:

D: Have you been doing this for a very long time? What inspired you?
SP: I had always wanted a career where I can use my creativity/artistic skills and have fun too. I attended a course on Women's Entrepreneurship at IIM Bangalore two years ago that gave me the final push to pursue this dream. Among the many ideas that came up during the course, making chocolates seemed the most exciting. I decided to be as creative as possible in the chocolates I make. The fact that this allows me to come up with new ideas very frequently keeps me motivated to continue growing this business.

D: Do you specialize only in chocolates?
SP: At the moment, we are only into chocolates.

D: I see that you deliver across India. What special care do you take when doing long distance delivery? Do the products reach in the same shape, size and texture?
SP: We did extensive research and tried out various methods in the first few months of going online. We now have what we think is the perfect combination for ensuring safe delivery of our chocolates - sturdy packaging, ice packs for keeping them cool and tie-ups with reputed logistics providers like Bluedart and DTDC. So yes, the products reach in the same shape, size and texture. Our large base of repeat customers is a testimony that we are doing this right.

D: Do you plan to open a store? Or are you content with baking at home?
SP: At the moment, we operate only through www.chocofthetown.com . Being an exclusively online store has its advantages like reduced overhead expenses and the non-necessity of holding an inventory, so I am quite happy with the current model. We have a large range of product pictures for customers to choose from, and we make the chocolates fresh after receiving an order. Of course, setting up an exclusive store for Choc Of The Town is one of the dreams and we will evaluate this again in future. (Spoken like a true management grad ! ;-) )

Signs off Subhatra - If you have a dream to start something of your own, don't wait for all pieces of the puzzle to fall together - it never will. You can always figure things out as you go along. Have fun!

I wish I have the guts to do that some day ! You are inspiring ! 


Cheers and see you and your chocolates on the 30th ! 

Eco Cafe, Chamiers - Eat more with your eyes

Chamiers has always held fond memories for me. My first time there was at the property right opposite to where it is now. The outdoors were amazing especially post monsoons.

It was at the Eco Cafe that I had my first sip of spicy hot chocolate after wading through some heavy rains way back in November 2010.

Today was very hot in Chennai and I was too sleepy. I'd left work early so I could catch up on some sleep before I headed to Eco Cafe. I woke up with a start, to find that it was already quarter past 6. I didn't want to rush through the traffic, with what me being an almost-victim to an unabashed auto driver yesterday. Surprisingly all lights turned green and I just zoomed ahead and had reached Chamiers in under 15 minutes.

First one to arrive, I just wandered a bit, trying to get some pictures. Slowly the foodies trickled in. There were an overload of DSLRs around. There was a tripod and Doc had the external flash too. It was tricky shooting inside the cafe, as it was dimly lit in yellow. Flash made things worse, and I was a little rusty to shoot without flash. So, pardon my jaundiced pictures. (Kamalika - picasa link here - https://picasaweb.google.com/103933428096344757675/EcoCafe)

If I had to rate the food based on presentation, Eco Cafe would score a perfect 10. Unfortunately, we just can't eat with our eyes. :-)

The food was ordered in random; obviously we weren't fine dining.

The veg chowder soup, was crumbly and the right temperature. (The soup bowl was chipped. Chamiers to take note - you really DO NOT serve in chipped bowls). Bruschetta was crisp and thankfully didn't soak with the tomatoes. I quite couldn't figure out what the other toppings were. You just can't go wrong with the potatoes - the wedges were perfect. (Eh.. well, I did mess up the aloo capsicum once and S was kind enough to tell me it was okay, but I felt super guilty throughout that day)

The chocolate almond milk was too nutty with the almond flavor overpowering everything else.

I'd always liked a pasta salad, and the ingredients here were interesting. Roasted aubergines, zucchini, bell peppers, thyme and balsamic. It was total let down when a forkful was eased into the mouth. The aubergines weren't roasted and were completely raw. Pasta was under cooked (I know pasta has to be al-dente, but this was one below al-dente). Neither was there thyme, nor balsamic. The flavor was lacking.

The cinnamon-apple cake is usually an all time favorite but today's piece was cold and probably old as well. It didn't feel fresh. But hey, the spicy hot chocolate was just perfect as always ! The waffles were right on the money - neither too crunchy nor too soft, with the honey doing the honors. The pancakes were good, so was the maple syrup. The chocolate sauce on the waffles had a benadryl-y flavor. Something was just not right with the chocolate sauce.

The club sandwich was decent. The penne pasta with mushrooms and pesto had too much pesto and olives. In a nutshell, every dish had one ingredient that was over powering (mostly the pesto / olives) and we couldn't quite catch the flavor of the other ingredients.

That said, the mushroom risotto with ratatouille was perfect. Perfect risotto, not too soggy not too dry and not too many mushrooms. The caramel custard with oranges by the side, was pleasing to the eye, and to the taste buds as well.

I'd go there again for the spicy hot chocolate and perhaps for the sandwiches and the waffles and of course for the laid back ambiance. Slightly over priced, and over powering flavors in some of the dishes could be a sore point with the Eco Cafe. Having said that, I'd certainly recommend Chamiers for the sheer joy of sitting in a quiet environment and sipping the hot chocolate on a rainy day.

Hormones, Chocolates and Some Hugs

Thanks Sridevi for this fridge magnet. Every time I feel low, I look at this, open the fridge, eat a piece of Lindt (Thanks S, I still have the Lindt) or Hershey's Kisses (Thanks R, Yes I still have these). And today, I ate a piece of Lindt. I want to eat another, but I need to keep this in stock until S buys me more.

The days when your hormones simply can't handle themselves are those days that you crave for a little nice word, a warm hug and chocolates. (And surely, that nice little word and a hug will also produce a barrage of tears. As S says, dam opened ! :-P )

I still remember, Shanky used to take me to Anokhee, at Chamiers, for the spicy hot chocolate, with extra cinnamon and chocolate, when I was low.

And who cares about calories when it's chocolates and feeling good.

I always wonder what it is about chocolate that makes us girls feel so kicked about. A chocolate can even give you an orgasm - who needs a boy friend? (Er.. Well... not always... :-P)

Chocolates apparently increase levels of something called serotonin in the brain. This serotonin controls most of the cells in the brain, and is responsible for all things related to mood swings, sexual desire and all that.

A chocolate-y Sunday it is !