As winters in Bengaluru are slowly making way for spring, an upcoming breakfast spread is trying to keep the city cooler for longer. A refreshing à la carte menu is bringing the winter magic of the French Alps to the city, blending it with the comfort of Indian produce.
Winter Breakfast with chef Aarohi Sanghavi, founder of Mäki Pâtisserie, will be hosted at Bengaluru's The Conservatory, an event space for all things gastronomy, on 3 February. The menu is inspired by Sanghavi’s experience of working as a chef at the luxury hotel Cheval Blanc Courchevel, located in the heart of the French Alps.
In winter, the breakfast at the luxury hotel, which was surrounded by snow-covered pine trees, would be all about preparing people for a long day of skiing and sledging. "An extensive breakfast would be served to the guests to make sure people have the energy for the snow-related adventures. I developed this menu from that memory of the French Alps, bringing it together with Indian ingredients, as well as some of the dishes we make at Mäki,” Sanghavi says.
Since the menu aims to present a French Alps experience, Sanghavi had to put the spotlight on the desserts. “I noticed that in the French Alps, people like rustic and classic desserts for breakfast. There would be an extensive purely sweet menu,” she says.
One of the desserts from the menu, inspired by the French Alps region, is Bourdaloue tart, a classic French dessert made with pears and almonds. Sanghavi will make it with honey-roasted pears, cacao nib, silvered almonds. The menu also includes ouef cocotte, baked eggs in chèvre served with sourdough bread and cold cuts, and the essential varieties of coffee, such as expresso, pour over, as well as a lavender vanilla cortado. For the coffee, Sanghavi is collaborating with coffee roasters, Vithai, a brand that focuses on speciality coffee from Tamil Nadu.
Sanghavi is using fresh Indian produce to enhance the menu. For instance, strawberries from Mahabaleshwar will add freshness to the warm strawberry crumble cake with mascarpone. One of the sourdough tartine options includes cape gooseberries, which will be in season from February and another will include locally sourced mulberries served with whipped ricotta.
“Although the cold of the French Alps cannot be brought to the city, I have tried to infuse the feeling of wintery comfort through the dishes,” she says.
For Sanghavi food has always been associated with comfort. Since she was young, she always enjoyed being in the kitchen; it came with a sense of peace. However, pursuing a career as a chef wasn’t something she had envisioned. While doing her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Life Sciences, she realised her heart was still in creating recipes. “Cooking brought me joy, and so I decided to train as a chef right after graduation. I have never looked back,” she says.
"When we talk about breakfast, it’s become common to talk about the usual egg benedict or BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) sandwich so we wanted to go a bit deeper and present a variation,” says Akhila Srinivas, founder of The Conservatory.
Winter Breakfast will Chef Aarohi Sanghavi will take place on 3 Feb at The Conservatory. The price for one is ₹1800, without taxes.
