The next time you want to try freshly baked croissant and cold pressed juices for breakfast, you can pay a visit to The Artful Baker, says Christy Varghese
The hot summer sun has a major hand in depleting our energy reserves and we decide to take a much deserved break from work at any one of the eateries here at Khan Market. Though we are spoilt for choice, a cosy little eatery, The Artful Baker catches our fancy. As we step inside and our pupils adjust to the soft, mellow lighting of the eatery, we discover that we are just in time for the breakfast menu — their speciality.
Soon after we’ve settled down, Jeneva Talwar, the brand chef, welcomes us and our eyes wander around the peculiar yet somehow familiarly European decor of the place reminding of small Parisian cafes. The quaint restaurant has minimal furniture with people standing around, leaning on the planks attached to the walls which hold their cups of espresso while munching on some paneer focaccio.
“Artful Bakers commenced operations in September 2015. And though the one at Khan Market is the flagship outlet, there is another one at the Mall of India which is under maintenance,” Talwar told us, while we sipped on some cold pressed orange juice which offers some much needed respite from the heat. The practice of serving cold pressed juices is catching up in India, though it is fairly new. “We open at 8:30 in the morning and we have loads of people coming in after their customary morning walk at lodhi Garden for our cold pressed juices. While orange is my favourite, as I find it very refreshing, the melon cold pressed juice is more popular,” she revealed.
Talwar, who has a film making degree from NID told us that her penchant for food led her to go Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Patisserie at France to train as a pastry chef. Now after a year long stint as a chef at ITC Maurya, she is now committed to the restaurant. “Apart from the cold pressed juices, our itinerary of beverages also includes personalised shakes and smoothies. We recommend the banana shake with caramel syrup,” she added .
We were tempted to try one of the good looking pastries but then we decided that it won’t be wise to move onto dessert without trying the sandwiches and quiches that were awaiting our consideration.
On seeing our eyes lingering on the chocolate croissant, she mentioned that the ham and cheese croissant was her personal favourite. The salty crisp layer of bread went really well with the slices of ham and cheese enfolded within the croissant. Though it was a bit on the dry side, we found that a glass of sparkling cold pressed orange juice went really well with the croissant.
We discovered that the diminutive, fist sized chicken quiche, which looked appealing was surprisingly filling, as it buttered its way down our gullet. And unlike what we had thought, it was not at all soggy on the inside. loaded with an overwhelming amount of cheese, it had a creamy texture. Talwar told us that the secret to bake a good quiche is to use an adequate amount of parmesan cheese. The vegetarian quiche was loaded with copious amounts of cream, cooked spinach and eggplant and it was as sumptuous as the chicken quiche, if not more.
We confess that we were partial to the blueberry and oat muffin, as it was our all-time favourite. And to be honest, the muffin seemed heavenly until we tasted the monte cristo (on the recommendation of the in-house staff) which made us feel guilty for we then knew that we had conferred the title of ‘heavenly’ on the wrong pudding.
It was an overwhelmingly sweet chocolate mousse, garnished with white chocolate. When we took a bite off it, we were pleasantly surprised at the crisp and crunchy hazelnut base which lent the dessert a distinct buttery after taste. It was an apt way to end our break and really was the cherry on the cake.
But on our way out Talwar told us that the raspberry mélange was her personal favourite amongst the offerings at the restaurant. Though we were guilty in the beginning we decided not to halt the foodgasm we were experiencing.
Turns out that the monte cristo has a much worthy opponent in the raspberry melange. A sweet and sour dessert lent prominently by raspberries, the melange had a great texture to it, too.
And there seemed to be no shortage of surprises as we discover that it had a base of chocolate. The unusually good taste however, was a good way to conclude the meal with as it cleansed our palates.