What does Masterchef Australia and The Whitefield Baking Company have in common? - Kate Bracks!!!

Masterchef Australia can be credited with starting a revolution that completely altered that way that anyone approaches food. It has within the span of three years turned the nation (and I mean India here) into a completely food obsessed one. Not that we were not connoisseurs of the good stuff already, but the appreciation and knowledge of a variety of cuisines and techniques definitely stems from there. The regular dal-chawal eating home was now attempting to get a perfect crust on their pie!  Dinner time (the holy thread that bonds us in an Indian family) was moved to an hour earlier, so that we could all sit down to watch Masterchef at 9:00 PM. Who ever heard of a food show being given a prime time slot?

Masterchef Australia Season 3 was one of my favorite seasons.  I don’t think I missed even one episode. I knew each and every contestant by name and followed their escapades in the kitchen closely.  And Kate Bracks - Dessert Queen and  mother of three, took home the title with a sweet flourish! For people like me who live and breathe food – these are our celebrities! So do you think I missed a chance to meet Kate when she came down to Bangalore – no freaking way!!

Smoke House DELI in Bangalore! (Indiranagar, Bangalore)

I don’t want to be biased…no I really don’t. But I couldn’t help doing cartwheels when Smoke House Deli finally opened in Bangalore a week ago. I remember driving down 100ft road and doing a double take in Feb, when I saw the huge glass façade with the black and white writing that said ‘Smoke Hou’ (the rest of it was covered, but I knew in my heart, that it was Smoke House Deli). For all practical purposes we are going to refer to it as SHD in the rest of the post!.

“Smoke House Deli is an all-day café and delicatessen. This award winning brand serves everything from pancakes to noshes, pasta to burgers and dessert to cocktails.” - SHD

After wowing patrons in Mumbai and Delhi SHD decided to grace Bangalore!! I was invited for a Bloggers Table a day after it opened (yes, I have some perks) and boy was I raring to go, even though it was a Wednesday night. And what a night it turned out to be –chatting with the owners Riyaaz and Kiran, being lavished with an awesome menu from chef Glyston Gracios, gossiping with my fellow bloggers and downing cocktails like there was no tomorrow. (Unfortunatley there was a tomorrow… and a hangover crashed the party as well, but that’s a story unfit for a food blog!)

Mangrove - Restaurant.Cafe.Wine Tavern (Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore)

I live at a point where going to Indiranagar or Koramangala or MG Road is the same distance. I know, lucky me! With so many food options scattered at my doorstep, I hardly travel beyond these areas for a quick bite. But after a point it becomes same old same old and this weekend we decided to travel to the beyond. Ok, that’s Kalyan Nagar near H.R.B.R. layout for you. We took the Bypanahalli route because the GPS on the co-resident’s phone said it was the shortest and fastest route, but we din’t know it would lead us to a defunct railway crossing! After a few more adventures, we reached Mangrove. It’s a new American cuisine restaurant that’s opened its doors, to entice the sudden population burst towards Manyata Tech Park and ORR. There is a big sign painted on the entrance wall so that you don’t miss the restaurant on the quite road. J

We expected to find the restaurant under a Mango tree, but realized that the young couple who run the place came up with the name when they were scuba diving in the Andamas (which you know is also famous for its Mangroves). The lady also runs a bakery called Oven Treats and after being in the business for 8 years thought the time was right to step it up. The restaurant/café/wine tavern offers all day dining from 11am to 11pm, but you still have to wait for a while longer to have your meal with some wine. (The license is on its way). The space is split into two areas – the ground floor being more casual and café like, while the top floor acts as the more formal dining space. (The co-resident fell in love with the wooden chairs, but unfortunately it’s not something we can buy here. The restaurant had them tailormade and shipped from Pune L)

French Macarons and Amande Patisserie

There has been a flurry of activity around the Macaron in Bangalore. Suddenly home bakers have taken to trying their hand at churning these pretty treats out, Taj Vivanta has a Macaron festival, patisseries are selling them hot off the mint and  there has even been serious discussions on a popular food group around their spelling! Adding to this is Masterchef Australia – I don’t think there’s been one season where the contestants have not tried their hand at impressing the judges with a fancy macaron. I guess we’ve reached critical mass for the Macaron in Bangalore and Amande Patisserie has come in at the right moment!

Before you read any further, I have a few things to profess. When I first came across Amande, I was just a happy customer. Being a click crazy person, of course I had to take pretty pictures of the Macarons and cry out to all and sundry on Facebook on how much I loved them. Owing to this evangelist behavior Amande’s customer list included people from my friend list as well! Amande’s owner was tickled pink that a few pictures could get him a larger fan following. (They don’t have a retail outlet yet..only home delivery by ordering online.) So he asked me to click a couple of more pictures for his website – to showcase new flavors. I happily obliged (which food photography obsessed geek wouldn’t?). So now that Amande is a photography client, (P.S. As of now, none of my pics are updated on the website yet. Will let you'll know when they are) Would it be wrong of me to write about them?  I did think of this for a long time and finally decided – I love their macarons irrespective of shooting for them and it would be a great disservice to you guys if I didn’t talk about it here. Besides, if I’m telling you upfront about the circumstances, so I'm sure you guys would understand. (P.S. I got paid in kind in Macarons and wine, so that lessens the promotional angle :P)

AU BON PAIN (Koramangala)

Au Bon Pain (pronounced O-Bo-Pa) literally means ‘the place of good bread’. So when you walk into the ‘international bakey café (as they call it) that’s what they expect you to expect.  I like that they call it a bakery café – sets them apart from the gazillion coffee shops around. Not that they don’t serve a mean coffee… but you get the drift! The outlet at Kormangala is located at the Sony world junction. The said junction becoming a kind of a food fest, what with ten to twelve restaurants within a 500 meter radius! Au Bon Pain is quite easy to locate considering the trademark cheery yellow colour of the café. (I have the same colour painted on my walls, so excuse me for thinking it’s a great colour!). That said - where do you park once you reach that junction?? Street parking in this area is like a game of musical chairs and most often than not, you are left without one! We parked next to Sapphire and gingerly crossed the mammoth signal.

Stepped in to a buzz of activity, considering it was lunch time. I guess people would consider this the ‘healthier’ option compared to the fried chicken and cheesy taco across the street. The décor is basic and functional, albeit cheery, which is what we’ve grown accustomed to in a café. Besides, it’s self service, so you shouldn’t expect a fine dining atmosphere! They have different ‘areas’ from where you choose your food and plonk it onto your tray and then go get the whole mish mash billed at the counter. I say mish mash cause that’s how my tray looked. Choices choices! It’s basically a pay for what you eat buffet and thank the lord for that, otherwise I would have more muffins and glazed rolls than the tummy can handle!

They have fresh juices that you can pull out of a dispenser, Salads, a dessert and beverage bar, a soup section, the main course counter and finally the freshly baked goods section (my fav!). So I hobbled across with hubby and we picked up a veritable (questionable) combination of eateries! The Litchi iced tea for me and the apple juice for him. The apple juice was good and seemed au naturale, though I know the litchi ice tea had enough sugar in it to give you a nice afternoon buzz. I also picked up a soup – Tuscan Chicken and veggie. I only did this cause I am a sucker for what they serve it in – a bread bowl! Thankfully someone told me to take the soup in a sensible paper cup and just before eating, to fill up the bread bowl. Excellent advice, considering the amount of time I took in making the rest of my selections, the soup would have definitely either a. got absorbed in the bread or b. breached the bowl wall and made its way down my shirt! I would advise you to try it once. Just for fun!

For the mains I ordered a Jalepeno and Corn crostini and hubby ordered a Turkey, Ham and Cheese sandwich. The crostini was nice and crusty with a hit of garlic. I like my bread to have a bit of character and be crusty and chewy, but I doubt the rest of the population would agree. The sandwich on the other hand was quite insipid for the price. Slice of turkey and ham on a bed of wilted lettuce and tomato soaking the bread is not what I would pay good money for. I’ve had the Mediterranean Humus and Olive sandwich on a different occasion and that was actually decent. There’s other ‘Indian’ stuff on the menu like biryani’s and paneer etc., but I fail to understand why someone would come here and order that. Go to Richies or an Andhra mess! In a bakery – head to the baked goods, and that’s exactly where my heart lies!

 At the freshly baked goods counter, my hand was making these strange uncontrollable movements and at the end I had four things on the tray. (Note to self: All their breads are trans fat free.. Yeah!). Chocolate muffin was good and hubby said he would definitely grab this for brekkie. I loved the Blueberry Danish, it was all jammy and buttery and crisp in the right places. The Cinnamon Roll however was to die for! It had the right hit of cinnamon and sprinkling of raisins and topped with a sugar glaze….heaven! I headed to the beverage section to get some water… needed to cleanse the palate you see. All these varied flavors were playing tic tac toe on my tongue. Hubby picked up a Chocolate mousse on the way back (yes, I know its gluttony!). Now, I’m not generally a mousse person but this was great. Dark chocolate glaze, raisins embedded in the mousse, sinfully rich. Yes sir, that hit the spot!

Will I go back to Au Bon Pain? (19 outlets in Bangalore, apparently). Yes, for the baked goods and desserts. (Their Bagels are insane by the way, divine with the cream cheese. Tried this on a different occasion). The sandwiches however left me wanting. Not because of the taste, but because of the quantity and associated price. Maybe I should try the Indian next time… Actually Na! The service needs a special mention – helpful without being intrusive and as cheery as the yellow walls :) That said, for the convenience of a quick bite in a happy setting, I would definitely pick this one over the other café options!

AU BON PAIN

No. 650, 6th Block, Koramangala,

Ward No. 67, Bengaluru – 560095.

Landmark: Sony Center Crossing

Bakery Café, Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No Alcohol. Accept Credit Card.

Parking: Street, actually bylanes.

Other Outlets I know: Cunningham Rd, Indiranagar 12th Main, Old Madras Road (RMZ Infinity)

Price Point – Beverages - Rs.35-75. Sandwiches - Everything is less than Rs.150/- (Except for the turkey and Ham Sandwich), Desserts – Rs.55-75/-. Baked Goods – I don’t care, they were so good! Ok, they were all less than Rs.60/-.