Breaking Bread with Chef Saby of Olive Bar at Leonardo Olive Oil's Blogger Table

What do you do when you get invited to to meet Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, better known as Chef Saby and blogger friends from Chef at Large over a discussion about olive oil..... A happy monkey jig jig :) This meet was sponsored by Leonardo Olive Oil, hosted by Himani Dalmia and Chandana Paul at Olive Bar and Kitchens in Mehrauli.

Any place that I visit is judged not just on the FSA (Food, Service and Ambiance) but also on how the cloak room / washroom is done up aswell.... This was definitely going to be an afternoon well spent as the teaser to this campaign was lovely... naturally lit, aesthetically done up and importantly spic and span.

Chef Saby played to the gallery... His warm welcome and friendly banter while carrying on the serious business of cooking up a storm was endearing. He's among India’s top ten chefs and has recently been awarded Best Chef of India National Tourism Award, 2011-12 by President of India. WHoaaaa... Quite a celebrity he is... appears regularly on Page 3 too... for all the right reasons ;)

Not just talented, also a willing teacher, he runs an academy for young chefs. He comes from a family of artists, no wonder his food reflects his artistic side. Good news or Bad news.... He plans to retire next year to spend time with his lovely daughter and paint....

Rare captures.... Sid having fun with the camera, just that it's on the other side of the lens this time. About the food, we were served fish and asparagus done in a nitrogen batter.

Vaibhav, the Executive Sous Chef was frying up a frenzy with the Espuma technique, which is part of molecular gastronomy . It's basically done with a Nitrogen vial which is attached to a 'gun' that pumps the gas into the batter and makes it light fluffy and crisp in texture when fried. It was quite yummy n crispy fresh out of the pan.

Aastha, assisting Vaibhav and Saby through the afternoon and a really sweet host. She even gave us little prize hampers if we answered her quiz questions correctly. She's a crossover like me... studied at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and then working with Saby to train as a chef at all of 22. Cheers for Girl Power.... Hip Hip Hurray :)

Blogger paprazzi.... where Food is the star.... We descended on the food like a species which Himani's never seen.... Yes, we are a different species... were the 'Foodus Bloggerus'.... noone eats till we are done clicking ;)

Lovely plating of anti plasti platters, mushroom pate and yummy starters. They were a treat to our eyes and tasted delicious too.

 We were joined by Mr Donato Pantaleo(from Leonardo oils Italy) and Mr VN Dalmia (president Dalmia International) for lunch. Yes, we had the gumption for a sit down lunch after being plied with all that yummy food throughout the afternoon. There was Black truffle porcini risotto (White Alba truffle paste, summer black truffle, truffle oil), Classic lasagna Bolognaise (Rustic hand ground tenderloin Bolognaise.) and a Mezze platter too. Each table had it's own mortar and pestle accompanied their unique handmade artisan skillet bread.

D-E-S-S-E-R-T-S......
Mouth Wateringly  delicious Apple and walnut crumble, Olive’s signature tiramisu, Praline mud cake

Chef Saby is truly special... at a mere cheeky mention of wanting to see his kitchen.... He walked us through and gave us demonstrations and let us into his pantry too... and YES... His BAKERY too... *Jumping up and down with GLEEEEEE....* 

Picture Credit - Sushmita of My Unfinished Life

The bunch of us had a lovely afternoon with Sid Khullar of Chef at Large, Sangeeta Khanna of Banaras ka Khana,Ruchira Hoon-Philip of Cookaroo, Charis Alfred Bhagianathan of  Culinary Storm, Sushmita Sarkar of My Unfinished Life, Deeba Rajpal of Passionate about Baking, Parul Pratap Shirazi of The Shirazine, Rekha Kakkar of My Tasty Curry. Ps: All the pictures you see of me are clicked by the lovely Rekha. Special hugs for you Rekha {{{}}}... Thanks :)

Ps: All these yummy goodies were cooked and drizzled with Leonardo Olive Oil.... 

Sri Lankan Food Festival at Blooms, Eros Hotel

I thrive on trying new cuisines and different sorts of foods whenever I can... (though not taking the Andrew Zimmern route to bizarre ;) ) Was invited to Blooms at Eros Hotel managed by Hilton for a Sri Lankan Food Festival.... Am I glad I accepted the invite or what.... It was a wonderful experience dining with Chefs Ravindra Pushpakumara and Ajith Hewabandula who came all the way from Sri Lanka and Chef Ramandeep from Eros Hotel, Delhi.

The decor at Blooms set the mood for our afternoon.Sri Lanka's cuisine has elements common with cuisines from Kerela and Goa. Spices occupy a predominant place in most of the dishes... Chilies are an integral part of the dishes(supported by the government's data too ;) ) . Chefs told me about using coconut husk being used to smoke and cure meats... wouldn't that be such a lovely flavor profile.
The live counter for fried snacks was popular among guests. We had banana fritters, yams, cutlets but what we like best were the prawns.
The salad spread was interesting too with Fish moju, Curried Chicken salad, Cucumber-Tomato-Orange salad, Capsicum-Tomato-Mango salad, Fried bittergourd salad... did you read Bittergourd... me eating Bittergourd is such a remote possibility but this salad has me converted.... Pssstttt : The chef told me his secret.. These bittergourds came all the way from Sri Lanka and were not grown on Indian Soil... The soil makes all the difference to these bittergourds. Sri lankan ones are sweeter n much less bitter than the Indian ones....

Show me a punjabi and I'll show you a pickle lover.... The condiments were an absolute delight. We were served Dehi achcharu (Lime pickle), Sinhala achcharau (Sri Lankan pickle), Amba achcharu (Mango chutney), Katta sambol (Onion and tomato sambol), Pol sambol (Coconut sambol), Seeni sambol (Tamarind and onion sambol) Each of these Chutneys n Pickles were lip smacking :)

The main course consisted of Kukulmus Hoddi (Chicken pepper curry), Elumus Kaluwata (Mutton black curry), Rathu Kakuluwa Hoddi (Fish red curry), Red rice (Sri Lankan country rice), Parippu Hoddi (Dhall curry), Rathualla Hoddi (Beetroot dry curry), Dhabala Themparaduwa (Wing beans tempered), Wattakka Kalupol Maluwa (Pumpkin curry), Keselmuwa Themparaduwa (Banana flower tempered) and Awara dry curry. What my friend and i freak out on was the Kukulmus Hoddi (Chicken pepper curry). These curries were served with Pittu and hoppers. hoppers are very close to appams.
The desserts were Kallu dodol (much like Goan Bebinca), Sago cream, Wallithalapa (also called Weli Thalapa and is made of Rice flour, Coconut milk and Kithul or Coconut trealce). Here's the link to an blog with lots of Sri Lankan dessert recipes.

Also read my friend Sid's experience at the festival here.

Great Steak Festival at Geoffrey’s

December is a month of festivities and celebrations... No celebrations are complete without food and drinks... Was invited to the Great Steak Festival at Geoffrey’s,which has been from 02nd Dec’ 2011 and continues till 18th Dec’ 2011 at Select City Walk, Saket and Noida.

Geoffrey’s is a typical hangout place for us, being regulars at Noida(as that's where I use to work), we visited Select City Walk for a change. The menu had Chicken Cordon Bleu, Hawaiian Chicken Steak, Grilled Pork Chops, Lamb Medallions, Pan-grilled Red Snapper Fillet, Norwegian Salmon Steak, and Tenderloin. We wanted to sample all the steaks but the portions were huge so we requested the chef if he could give us smaller portions, to which they readily agreed.

While waiting for the food to arrive, we chatted up and had loads of catching up to do since we had all been busy with work and life in general. Hawaiian Chicken Steak arrived the first... pineapple and chicken are a favourite combination with me and when cooked well, makes me smile :) The sides of hash brown, tomatoes and vegetables was a nice combination.

The Pan Grilled Pork Chops on the menu are grilled to perfection, were succulent and tender. The mustard sauce blended in really well with the meat. Along with this the butter glazed potatoes and tossed vegetables were a delight. In my defense for eating all these carbs... winters is a good time to stock up on energy *Wicked Grin :)*

The Lamb Medallions grilled to perfection with its dark red color are a treat for the eye and so is the taste. Perfectly seared, served with parmesan mashed potatoes, butter sauté vegetables, topped with rosemary.

The peppered Sole steak had the wonderful flavouring of black pepper, lime n garlic. This steak had accompanying sumac potatoes, tomatoes and buttered vegetables. Would personally have preferred the fish to not be cooked for long as it reduces the flavour.

For dessert we indulged in a wonderful chocolate cake served warm with icecream and chocolate sauce.... This was such a perfect end to a wonderful afternoon. Small note on pricing, the steaks start from Rs.455/- onwards and are quite reasonable for the quantity we observed for guests who ordered full portions.

The 3 of us had such a wonderful time thanks to the folks at Geoffrey’s and the folks at Impact PR.

Dinner at 28 Capri Italy, Defence Colony

It's place which you can visit if you've got time to spare....

The service was friendly, food average and slightly low in the value for money quotient, ambiance was nice(don't miss the love-lift for 2, which leads to the restaurant ;-) *Evil Grin*), the best was Live Music.... the singer was really good and choice of songs was lovely. Him and my drink are the only reason I would go back. Would however have liked to try some pizza on my next visit.

You'll find 28 Capri Italy listed on Zomato.com. We had Orange Pepper Martini and Diet Coke on the rocks(!). The drink was nice and arrived soon. It was served with Nachos and a lovely Salsa sauce.

Why is it that I have all friends who want to be like Manoj Kumar n cover their faces when I say smile.... Why do they want to remain anonymous.... #boring
For starters we had a Cold Cut Platter which had Chicken Salami, Bacon, Smoked Chicken and Turkey served with Black Olives.... Now this is what happens when you go out with a friend who is on a diet..... You don't get to indulge..... She keeps a check on what you are eating.....

Our main course was Grilled Chicken with Mustard and Jalapeno Sauce. Wouldn't rate it as bad but not even great. Just about passable... The sauce was quite nice though but took it's time to come....

The litmus test of any Italian restaurant... Tiramisu..... This one was a #Fail for me..... I wouldn't order it again.

Ca Va, Defence Colony ~ A Delightful Sunday Afternoon

This place is a must-visit!

Bijoy Majhi, Bhupesh Jain and Rajnish Taneja, have created a space to provide exquisite Med- European dining and bar experience to the food lovers after Angels in My Kitchen.
You'll cross the bakery on your way up to the first floor outlet of Ca Va. We were the only ones when we walked in and got pampered and were still pampered after more patrons came in.

You'll find Ca Va listed on Zomato.com

We started with Virgin Mary and Mango Passion Martini.... Well made drinks which were followed by some lovely dishes selected by my friend.....


Chunks of chicken, peanuts and garlic in paper thin shells of fillo pastry with hand-ground pesto..... This my readers, was just f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c... and had me going at it like a bear to honey.... The Chicken was tender n well cooked, the pastry crispy and sauce yummy..... the peanuts added to the bite....

The Pan seared Prawns with Spicy Barbecue Sauce was delicious... succulent, flavourful and brilliantly done. The bread basket which had an Olive Focaccia, Wheat n Bran Bread and Garlic bread served with Herb Butter was nice but not great enough to rave about or poke holes about.

The Home smoked Breast of Chicken with sliced Mexican Jalapenos Pizza was well done.... just that the crust was slightly like a quesadilla, would have preferred it slightly more crisp base (just a personal preference) and the Chicken Leg Steak with Red Wine Sauce was also nice. However my friend found the mashed potato insipid .....
We devoured all the food on our tables n left nothing but a few crumbs n mashed potatoes....

For dessert I wanted Tiramisu..... I ordered it only after checking if it'll be served in a glass and not a plastic cup or something.... When the plastic cup came, I was very disappointed.... Since it was from the bakery below, we weren't charged for it.....
The taste was nice but the fingers were absolutely soggy n not crisp.... only good(read bad!) enough to feed the pigeons outside the window....

Now for some nit-picking..... The toothpicks arrived in different heights.... My friend had this bright idea of taking it in perspective to show the variance in height.... ;) Now thats what 2 people do on a well spent Sunday afternoon with tummies full and pampering... They are spoilt and will nitpick and want a perfect experience.....

That's me enjoying the Tiramisu..... and since modesty doesn't feature in my middlename.... The Tiramisu from my kitchen is much nicer..... but this one's not bad either considering I can enjoy it without having to slave in the kitchen myself and then waiting overnight for it to develop flavour....

Just a word of caution... The place is slightly on the expensive side but the experience was nice overall including Food, Service and Decor. Would give it a 3/5.

PS - The place also has discount for Amex card holders

The Ants Cafe ~ Breakfast with Sanjeev

On my trip to Bangalore, met up with some very old friends..... That's Sanjeev who I met at my early days at Infoedge ~ naukri.com. He's one of the most talented Graphic Designers I know. Check out this work at designjaunt.com
We use to have loads of fun together in office. My first offsite at Infoedge was a trip to Dakpathar with this gang of guys and girls. It was one of the most memorable trips of my life.
Sanjeev's a very outdoor person, who has a passion for riding bikes and exploring new places. His biking club is called 60kph

His other constant love in life is Sassy....

We went to The Ants Cafe in Indiranagar. It's sweet little cafe on the terrace of a store selling things from Nagaland. Sanjeev ordered the Veg breakfast, which had exotic mushrooms, baked beans and grilled tomatoes.

I ordered the Chicken extravaganza omelet, which had Chicken sausage, Chicken salami, , Corn jalapeno, , Olives and Cheeeeeessssseeeeee...... Both our meals were extremely nice and we had a great time chatting up.

Jenny's Date Cake ~ A Personal Touch

Was on holiday in Bangalore with family and loads of friends to catch up with. How can any holiday be complete for me without baking. Mami(the sweetheart that she is) had kept a recipe for me to try out. I was a bit skeptical about a date cake..... You'll read below about how wrong I was. Mami n I had such a fun time making this cake..... :)

The cake turned out amazing. Had taken it along when I visited Suma of Cakes and More and Madhuri of Cook-curry Nook. Both of them flipped out. Suma's kids wanted seconds and thirds..... Anytime children ask for seconds on a non chocolate cake..... preserve the recipe forever. Kids are the best critiques of comfort food and taste :)
Madhuri wanted the recipe to try out.... another testimonial..... A really cool fellow baker who takes classes in baking is asking for the recipe.... The recipe is a keeper, people....

Date Cake
Ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Cups Flour (sifted)
2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
2 Teaspoon Grated Ginger
6 Tablespoons Butter
1 Cup Gur

Date Sauce:
3 cups Chopped Dates
3 Cups Water
1+1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Caramel Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Butter [you can add more butter if you prefer a thicker sauce]
1 Cup Cream

Method:
Date Sauce:
1. To make the date sauce, boil the water and chopped dates till pulpy and squishy for about 20-30 minutes. As soon as you get a thick sauce add the baking soda and stir well.
Tip: Be sure to have a vessel thrice as large in volume as the sauce, the mixture will bubble up quite a lot. Put it aside to cool till room temperature
Cake:
2. Cream the butter and gur, till well incorporated.
3. Add 1 egg at a time and beat till incorporated.
4. Stir in the room temperature date sauce.
5. Fold in the sifted flour with Baking powder and spices.
Tip: Jenny's secret to this amazing cake.... mix it by hand. She says it adds the personal touch to the cake.

Caramel Sauce:
[am shamelessly picking up the steps from simplyrecipes.com as they've written it exactly like I wuold have done it along with instructions :) ]
1. First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

2. Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on.
Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.


Another noteworthy tip would be to use the best dates that you can get. The dried up ones won't do much for this cake but the semi moist ones will take the cake's flavor and consistency to a different level. We arrived at this conclusion after making the cake twice with different dates each time.

Note to Self: Am in love with Mr. Faber after making this cake... Total convert.......

Verdict:
The end was just mindblowingly fantastic... [pardon the grammar but this cake really deserves this praise n more]. The firm crust and soft moist insides with flavors which just have to be eaten to be believed. The caramel sauce packs-in-a-punch, by adding body and multiplying the flavor by 100.
This recipe is definitely a keeper forever :)
Talking about this cake has made me drool again..... I need another slice... running to the kitchen.....

Chocolate Cherry Tart ~ A visit to Chocolate Heaven

Meeting cousins who are holidaying is a delight..... It gives me the opportunity to pamper them with all sorts off goodies. Both my cousin's are studying abroad so when they are back it's party time. My sister has just graduated and this was a celebration of sorts too for a special n extremely hardworking sister.

When asked what they want...... Pat came the reply... something chocolatey without nuts.....

With Stone fruit ~ Cherries in the market, how could I not add their divine flavour to the intensely Chocolate Tart I decided to make. This divine, decadent Chocolate Cherry Tart from my friend Radhika has to be tasted to be believed. It has loads of adaptations as it's a very versatile recipe where the flaours can be varied as per your tastes... n our tastes include loads of Chocolate, Coffee and Bailey's....

Chocolate n Cherry Tart

Short Crust Pastry Base

[Adapted from Gauri’s Apple Pie Recipe]

Ingredients:

Flour- 200 gms

Butter cut in small cubes and chilled-100 gms

Powdered Sugar – 2 tablespoon

Baking Soda- small pinch

Cold Water-4 to 5 tablespoon to help bind the dough

Flan Dish- 9” to 10” diameter (preferablely loose bottom)

Method:

1. Cut cold butter into small similar sized cubes and refrigerate again.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and the powdered sugar.

3. Now blend the flour mixture with butter at low intermittent speed in a blender, till the mixture turns crumbly. Remove from the blender into a large plate and combine it with your hands to form a dough. DO NOT KNEAD the dough.

4. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. You can even leave it over night.

Note: if you leave it in fridge overnight or for 4-5 hours, take it out and let it rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes as the dough would have hardened due to the butter in it.

5. Roll out the dough into a round disk of 1/8th of an inch in thickness. Make sure it covers the base and the sides of the flan dish.

6. Grease the loose bottom flan dish or cover it with butter paper. Spread the pastry in it. Press it down on the sides so that the dough takes the pattern of the mould. Prick lightly with a fork. Keep in the freezer for 10 minutes.

7. Bake at 200 degree in a preheated oven for 20 minutes light golden.

8. Remove pie from the oven and let it cool.

Tart Filling:

Filing consisted of simple Chocolate Ganache and Cherries.

Ingredients:

Cherries Chopped in Halved- 50 grams

Cherries for decoration

Chocolate Chips or any good quality sweet dark chocolate- 300 grams or approx 11 ounces

Heavy Cream [I use Amul cream]- 350 ml

Bailey's - 50 ml

Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1. Dissolve the corn starch in 50 ml of cream, keep aside.

2. Gently heat rest of the cream, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips, leave them to melt.

3. Add bailey's to the corn starch mixture, stir it well.

4. Add the bailey's and cream mixture to the ganache. Stir the mixture till smooth and let it slightly cool.

5. Place the chopped cherries in the tart shell and pour in the ganache mixture. Spread it evenly till it covers it almost to the top.

6. Refrigerate it overnight or for 4-5 hours till the chocolate sets.

7. decorate with cherries and serve chilled

Mami had a spread for lunch... She followed it up by her famous cheesecake....Took us down memory lane... She's the one who introduced me the to concept of a cheesecake for the first time when we were kids.... Hadn't heard of something so fancy way back then.... Thanks for the initiation mami..... n yes all of us kids use to freak out n rush thru dinner only to get to the dessert course really soon for the cheesecake...

I also knew that these guys are fans of Irish Bailey's because of the Tiramisu I had done for them earlier. The tart proved to be be quite a success....

We forgot who all was watching their weight...

We forgot who was suppose to be having sugarfree...

We forgot that there are some who don't have alcohol......

All we could remember was the crisp tart shell and super chocolatey and melt-in-the-mouth goodness of the filling....

That's the bunch of us..... Mamu, Mami, Cousins, Mom and Vimla Aunty.

Verdict:

It’s a chocoholic delight... like Shut-your-eyes-in-Bliss... on every mouthful.....

We went to chocolate heaven n were forced to comeback after the tart got over..... I was made to promise that I'll make it again.....

Comforting Banana Chocolate Cake for Amit Beer Ghosh

At the onset.....
Admit it....
I'm taller than you n that too by a good margin..... ;)

Now that, that's out of the way... let's get on with this post.....
Amit's been a member of the 99acres.com product team for long enough to be On-My-List and so much more. It's always a a bitter sweet moment when a colleague moves to another company. A friend is happy that a friend is moving closer to their goals.... what lingers is memories....

He's a great human being, with a great sense of humor and willing to extend support in the team and outside. Have really enjoyed working with him. His creative n writing skills are amazing amongst so many other skills :)

This is the collage we made to give him for his farewell.... It's got some very precious moments we've shared like Birthday's , Outings, Photo shooting trips, Rock Star trips, many days when tiffins n sweaters were left in office, Diwali/Independence day/ Christmas parties. He's even won a prize for my 'Aaj Mein Khush Hun' contest, was one of my first serious clients on Valentine's day. One was the memorable parties was at his place.... can't forget the hilarious fun we had playing pictionary and yummiliscious spread of bengali food laid out by aunty.

As you would have seen by now that music is an essential part of his being.... so his cake had to have some musical element to it......

and now for BADLA......... ;) How could we let him scott free..... The ceremonial decoration of the nose did happen as I could bear to see my hard work smeared on his face... ;)
When I asked Amit what flavours he wanted... pat came the reply Chocolate.... and as an after though he added 'and any other experiments you would like to do'.... lol..... It's evident that he loves Chocolate and I know that Rum is a soft spot considering Beer can't be put in a Banana Chocolate cake unless i get hold of a Guinness bottle..... So I made her a Banana Chocolate Cake which has a layering of rum soaked raisins n chocolate...

Amit Writes.....

I've known Nachi for about 3 years now (we share the same workspace in office), and for as far back as I can remember, she has always been treating us to royal desserts. Her reputation as a baker has increased manifolds in this period, to the point that new joinees get to hear of her more as the girl-who-bakes-fingerlickin-stuff than as a laptop-ing, document-writing, MIS-crunching product manager.

Her knack to theme-up her products and not-to-repeat has made her the favvvvorite of many in office. Monday mornings are not so blue-sy over at Infoedge, cause more often than not she will walk in with a scrumptious spread that she would have worked hard at over the weekend. As a result, absenteeism in our team on mondays has seen a huge decline in recent times. The office cafeteria has also seen unprecedented sales dips on those days, to the extent that it has now stopped stocking pastries, cakes, muffins etc etc - they just ain't selling no more!

I am not a connoisseur by any stretch of imagination. I am not particularly aware of the various dessert-y options out there. Heck I even find it hard to pronounce the names that I see on display at a baker's. But I do know my chocolate, and she has a particular penchant for products of that kind. So my good luck, that on that fateful day of placements at B-school, of the 3 career options I had, I chose this one. Birthdays or beer-days, office-festivities or post-office parties, no celebration is complete without Nachi surprising us to a lovely new treat. It's quite a sight actually, when she's about to unveil her latest creation - A quick look around the table would show people drooling all over, armed with their spoons and forks ready to dig in :)
For the two birthdays I have celebrated in this office - I have been treated to a Chocolate Blackout cake and a Lemon Lava cake - And boy, both of them were sinfully delicious! Birthdays at Infoedge, are usually team outings to trendy restaraunts, ending with a traditional cake cutting / smearing ceremony. I've had mine at 'It's greek to me' and 'Lotus Pond'. The Lemon lava cake, this last birthday, was a little out of the ordinary for me as I'm usually one with very strong chocolate preferences, but I enjoyed this one so much that for the next 2 days I was having the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Nachi, it's been great knowing you, working with you, hanging out with you .. and of course greedily devouring your cakes :D ... Keep the goodies flowing in....

All The Best... :)
Ps: Will treasure the pencil....