Being followed by MasterChef Australia's celebrity judge Gary Mehigan on Instagram is not a casual occurence. But for Chef Vinesh Johnny, co-founder and chef at Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pasty Arts, who has a following of 35.6K followers on Instagram, Gary is just one of the celebrity chefs who follow him. Not just this, Vinesh was also one of the names in the Forbes list of 30 Under 30 Asia in 2016. So when we were informed that the chef has now opened a second outlet of Lavonne in the city, and wanted to host us for a meal, we were quite keen to be treated by the talented man.
Hot from the oven
It was a Monday morning when we decided to do drop by at the St Marks Road outlet of Lavonne. This cosy space is slightly smaller than the Indira Nagar Lavonne as it houses only a cafe and does not include an academy. We were greeted by the chef who was enjoying his second cup of black coffee. While talking about his idea behind Lavonne and opening a second outlet after seven years of setting up the first one, Vinesh asked us if we knew how to identify a good croissant. When we said, something flaky and yet soft, the chef, called for a butter croissant and cut it open in the centre. "A good croissant needs to look like a perfect honeycomb from inside, like this," he showed the sliced croissant to us, and with this learning we began our review of the second outlet of Lavonne.
Sweet encounters
We started by sampling the Gianduja Croissant and Cinnamon Roll. Both classic creations from the viennoiseries, were baked well. The gianduja filling in the croissant was rich and smooth. The cinnamon roll stuffed with raisins paired well with our cup of cappuccino. We then sampled the Savoury Pancakes, and sourdough toast topped with Cream Cheese, Fresh Figs, Pistachios, Almonds and Honey Drizzle from the breakfast offerings. The two pancakes were layered with jalapeno cream cheese, topped with two fried eggs, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, microgreens and crispy bacon. Light and fluffy, the cream cheese, the red peppers and the accompanying chilli dip added some heat.
However, it was the toast that was our favourite. Made in-house, the bread had just the right amount of sourness that went well with the flavour of the juicy figs, crunchy almonds and pistachios, subtly sweet honey drizzle and salty cream cheese. On the chef ’s recommendation, we tried the Hazelnut Exotica from the desserts selection. This tropical cake made of an outer layer of caramelised milk chocolate mousse and inner layers of hazelnut praline, passion fruit cream and banana cocoa nib cake was sinfully delicious. With such out-of-the-box desserts and an interesting food menu, the second outlet of Lavonne is a must-visit.
Rs 800++ for two. At St Marks Road
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