Mumbai and its ever growing appetite for delis and bakeries

About a decade ago, the deli and patisserie concept was pretty nascent in the alpha city of Mumbai. I remember bakeries from as far as when only the Irani ones existed to the ones that were only available to the privileged of South Mumbai. Then there was this one brand synonymous to every birthday party in Mumbai with its pink logo and small cake shops in every corner of the city. Later sprung the likes of more private delis that served much more than cakes and breads and with decors of degrees from London and New York. The price tags were shooting but so were the depths of a pocket and the city’s ever growing bakery yearning.

Word spread with the population and people having traveled realized what an averagely decent bread or cake was over what the bakeries in the city doled out. Why should only South Mumbai enjoy the gourmet experience? The demand increased and before you could blink, there were branches all over in Bandra and Lokhandwala. Meanwhile other enthusiasts started exploring the market and voila! Some exceptionally talented chefs/ bakers grabbed a piece of land, tagged it with a fancy name with a specialty that, in all honesty, is better or even at par with those in the Londons and New Yorks of the bakery world and Mumbai started seeing a change. And the ones who cannot afford a land, Facebook stood like a rock by their side.

What’s the change?

Bakeries are not just chocolate and black forest cake shops with bread as a side anymore. Customers can now differentiate between a melt in your mouth and a dry cake base. Cheese cakes are no more privy to high end hotels. Fruit cakes are not with apples and oranges; we need kiwis and dragon fruits. Breads are not just brown; there are two grain, multi grain and no grain!?

This change did not come in a jiffy. It took almost two decades and yes, we were much behind but yes again, we have finally arrived! So much so, that I think some of the better bakeries are in the opposite side of the town and no they don’t come cheap. But with the buying power and the ever evolving palates, red velvet cup cakes are no more a novelty, fondant cakes are no more exotic and you don’t have to go the Taj for your wedding cake. You can choose by stepping into a plush cake shop/patisserie or order from the comforts of your home and most of them offer online shopping too!

Taste is what holds the key now and all we need is crunch, juice and gooey; location and cost don’t matter!