Passion, hard work pay off at this Jaipur cafe-bakery (Foodie Trail-Jaipur)

The best in any business, person or profession comes out only when it is backed with passion and hard-work. This fundamental is amply visible at a two-year-old cafe and bakery outlet located at Mahima Trinity Mall on the New Sanganer Road of this Rajasthan capital.

BakeChef, as it is named, is the crown of the mall, located on the ground floor, right in front of the main atrium.

BakeChef, one of its kind, is a carefully crafted snacks and drinks joint. The interiors are smart with soothingly-coloured and checkered theme-wall with a black granite backdrop. One wall is adorned with a huge montage depicting the delicacies the outlet serves. It also has a piece of mirror work on which the customers can write up their comments. The wall opposite has the names of all the coffees sold.

The cafe is, albeit a small place, with just around 20 covers and does reasonable volumes in takeaways and home deliveries.

The menu covers a large array of vegetarian and non-vegetarian sandwiches, rolls, wraps, burgers, pizzas and pastas. Add to this a large variety of deserts in the form of cakes and pastries.

The drinks section offers a large variety of coffees and mocktails.

All delicacies have a unique, unconventional yet soothing taste and flavour.

"None of us are professionally qualified chefs or cooks," the ever-friendly owner, Jitendra Nigam, told IANS.

"And imagine, this is our strength. We do not box ourselves into a typical recipe. We rather just do what we feel will tingle the pallets of our customers. And it works," he added.

BakeChef's USP is that it is one of the most composite cafes and bakeries in town. They bake their own breads and deserts. They make all their sauces like the pesto, white and red sauce for pastas, pizza sauce, barbecue dip and more. All the fillings, vegetarian and non-vegetarian such as the bhuna paneer, Italiana chicken, Panjabi chola, mutton keema et al, are all made in-house.

And all this is done under the keen supervision and involvement of the owner himself.

Nigam is also a certified coffee expert. He holds a degree in coffee blending, roasting and brewing from The Coffee Board of India, Bengaluru. No wonder the coffees taste so authentic and aromatic.

Subramanium S., a frequent visitor to BakeChef, told IANS with a cheek-to-cheek grin: "BC serves the most likable filter coffee in Jaipur. Whenever I wish to be back home I come here to sip BakeChef Filter Cappi".

There is something for everyone at BakeChef. One can have a snack and drink for as little as Rs.99. A couple can dine on a three-course meal for less than Rs.1,000.

The meal comprises a Virgin Mohito welcome drinks or a tomato basil soup, a main course of any item from the menu and a desert, which can be a chocolate pastry or a Brownie with ice-cream.

Tomato basil soup, one of their specialties, has a very simple yet innovative recipe.

Put together coarsely cut tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, basil and celery root. Blast it with a little olive oil, sugar, a few cloves, pepper corns and salt to taste. Churn and adorn with a few basil leaves and serve hot.

The Veg COC (cheese, onion, capsicum) sandwich is another popular dish at the cafe. The stuffing comprises closely chopped onion, capsicum and parsley. The bread slice is layered with a paste made from butter, eggless mayonnaise, in-house pesto sauce, shredded cheeder and mozzarella cheese. The sandwich is grilled & served crispy hot on a wooden platter with a signature barbeque sauce.

BakeChef has truly proved that 'Small is beautiful' and a right business concept, when well-executed, makes for big success!

FAQs:

Prices start at Rs.99.

Three-course meal for two: Less than Rs.1,000.

(Anil Sharma can be conacted at anil.s@ians.in)