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BAKING never sounded thisgood. Date, Almond andCoconut Energy Balls,Black Bread Roll, Rose-mary and CharcoalCrackers, and BriocheFrench Toast — learnall this and more at chefShaheen Peerbhai’s up-coming baking tour. The three-city tour

begins this weekendin Mumbai, wherePeerbhai wants toshow people thatthere’s more to pas-try than red velvet cup-cakes and brownies.“I hope to push stu-dents out of theircomfort zone bychallenging themwith new flavoursand textures,” shesays. The classes are divided

into sections calledDessert Fix, Ice Creams,Easy Bakes, Chocolat, CreativePastry, and the new Breads andBrunch Time. “ Each year, I havemy students request new thingsthey want to learn. They’ve beenchasing me to teach sourdough

bread, so I’vebrought mytrusty little blob

of levain (sourdoughstarter) from London.As for brunch — I dosweets all the time sothought it’d be nice to

mix up a bit of savourytoo.” The classes are

demo-based be-cause Peerbhai be-

lieves that people tend tolearn more when they are fo-

cussed on what she isdoing, rather than get-ting distracted withthings like why theirneighbour’s doughlooks different fromtheirs. “The students

are an active part ofthe process and get ahands-on look, touch andtaste at every step of thedish,” she says.

ON March 25, 26; April 15 to May 7TIME 11 am and 4 pm AT EighthStudio, off Carter Road, Bandra (W). LOG ON TO classes.purplefoodie.comCOST `3,500 to `6,000

With 125 games to pick from, Pair A Dice Café is for avid boardgamers if they are willing to overlook the long wait for all-veggie eats

PHORUM DALALtheguide@mid-day.com

‘GOGO naam hai mera…’ Sure,most fans of the 1990s hit AndazApna Apna will be able to com-plete this phrase by Shakti Kapoor.We are greeted with its tweakedversion: ‘Aaya hoon toh kuch tohkhelke hi jaunga’ mouthed by hiscaricature at the entrance of Pair ADice Café in Oshiwara. Four black-and-white checkered

Sunmica tables and a sit-downdivan make for a cosy atmosphere,or a war zone if a game gets too in-tense. From Catan, Battleship,Terra to award-winninggames like Eclipse, SmallCity, Tokaido and Linkee,you can choose from 125options that coverparty games, strategy,abstract, word build-ing, team building aswell as role-play. In a corner, a giant

shelf is filled withboard games forage groupss t a r t i n gfive. OwnerG a r i m aB a g r e c h aquit her fi-nance job tostart them o n t h - o l dboard game café be-cause she wasn’t happy

that her four-year-olddaughter was hookedto the iPad. “Peoplehave stopped rolling adice. They only click,”she rues. Settling at a table, we

browse through the all-veggie menu. Each dishhere has been given aname twist based on agame. We order a Mexi-can Bhel! Utter Non-sense (`150) and FluxOut with Hummus(`150). Prabhat, oursteward and gameguide, sets us up to playSplendour, a strategygame for two players or more. Ittakes him two minutes to explain

the game and leave us ex-cited to try it out. Wemunch on a buttery,toasted pita and coldhummus, both tangy

and creamy. TheMexican Bhelhas the crunchof tortilla chips,but the chilli

sauce induces acoughing fit,making us loseround one.

We order theG o d f a t h e rNutella (`295)for some en-ergy. We likethe fact that itis not overtly

heavy like a freak-shake, but certainlywish it was servedchilled.

To take us throughthe next round ofplay, we order a Gar-licky Green VeggiePizza (`250) andCosta Rica Rice withChilly Paneer (`150).Prabhat introducesus to the next game:Pylos, where eachplayer attempts to bethe one who placesthe final ball on topof a pyramid. It’s afun game. We cheat,we fight, we scream,we laugh.After four rounds

of play, there’s still nosign of our pizza. When it does ar-rive, it isn’t the one we ordered.There’s no garlic or pesto, but acheesy bell pepper one. We don’tmind — it is piping hot, juicy andhas a crisp base.Out last order takes over 40

minutes to arrive, and the rice istoo sour with vinegar. Extra pointsfor the fact that a non-hospitalityteam has conceived an offbeatconcept.

AT Pair A Dice Café, 53, OshiwaraLink Plaza, next to Woodside Inn,Andheri (W).TIMING 12 pm to 10 pm,12 pm to 11 pm (Friday to Sunday) CALL 26300345 LOG ON TO Cafepairadice onFacebook COST `100 per hour per head, `200 for two hours and `350 for the whole day; cover charge of `150

33 THE GUIDE mid-day Friday, March 24, 2017 | www.mid-day.com | twitter.com/mid_day | epaper.mid-day.com

For restaurant reviews, log on to www.mid-day.com

Learn how to create ice creams, egg-freedesserts, brunch staples,and sourdough at anupcoming baking tour

A caricature of CrimeMaster Gogo at theentrance of the café

REVIEWFOOD DecentAMBIENCE Lively

SERVICE SlowCOST Reasonable

VERDICT �

NEW ON THE MENUDig into fresh andhealthy Bento boxes11.30 AM TO 12 AM Sample somefresh and healthy, unwrappedbento boxes, which offer a differ-ent menu every day. Offerings in-clude satay, stir-frys, dim sums,salads, curries, gyoza, anddumplings. ON Monday to FridayAT Mamgoto outlets in Kala Ghodaand Bandra. CALL 33999610 (Bandra)COST `499 plus taxes (veg), `599plus taxes (non veg)

Pair a Dice Café didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals. Exceptional���� Excellent ��� Very Good�� Good� Average�

Game on!

Interiors

Flux Outwith

Hummus

GodfatherNutella

Vanilla and Praline Mousse; (top right) Shaheen Peerbhai. PICS/SHAHEEN PEERBHAI

Do the dough

BombaySourdough

DeconstructedCheesecake

CaramelIce cream