Naomi Patisserie and Bakehouse opened its doors to Hyderabad on Christmas last year, and has managed to garner praise from several gastronomes in the city in just two months. Our primary goal was to check out their desserts that have been making quite the buzz, but were pleasantly surprised by their extensive menu featuring European and Middle Eastern eats.
The quiet, inviting vibe at Naomi was palpable, with the earthy decor and furniture marking a stark difference from swanky places typically spotted around Jubilee Hills. Set in a home that now houses the Bakehouse and Patisserie, the sprawling outdoor space at Naomi Patisserie and Bakehouse has already played host to several birthday parties, anniversaries and recently, their Galentine's bash. A life size Buddha statue further enhanced the calming energy of the space.
Interestingly, 'Naomi' means calm and pleasant in Hebrew. Founders Chef Nikitha Umesh and her husband Chef Akash Stanley reserved the name for their future first born child when they began dating. "When we couldn't find a suitable name for the Patisserie, we settled on Naomi since in a way, our first venture is also our baby," says Chef Nikitha Umesh who represented India at Bocuse d'Or, the biennial world chef competition. Chef Nikitha specialises in Pastry while Chef Akash is an expert in European cuisine. "In short, I bring the sugar and he brings the spice!" said the Chef jestfully.
We started our meal at Naomi with a Hummus and Falafel platter served with warm pita, smoked paprika, scallion and pickles. The Hummus served chilled, was the respite we needed from the premature February heat. The Buttermilk Fried Chicken, a bestseller at Naomi was crisp and served with a house made dip with sour cream, mayo and herbs.
Next came the Red Rooster - a wood-fired spicy chicken pizza with a Sourdough base, topped with sunflower seeds, and three types of cheeses - aged cheddar, parmigiana and mozzarella. The super stretchy cheese made it even more fun to devour the pizza. "The sourdough used in our pizzas is fermented for forty eight hours, which is healthier on the gut and doesn't give you that heavy, bloated feeling which we typically get after eating regular pizzas. Most Neapolitan pizzas are made with sourdough too," said Chef Nikitha explaining about Sourdough pizzas.
We walked through the archways indoors, across the French windows to check out the dessert section at the Patisserie, which had a selection of entremets and reimagined old school classics like the Coconut Pineapple Choux, Brookies and Black Forest with familiar flavours, elevated. Cupid's Snitch, an homage to the Golden Snitch from Harry Potter caught our eye, complete with gold dusted chocolate wings set on a chocolate ball.
We ended our meal at Naomi with Mamra Almond, the most popular dessert at the joint that blew us away. The dessert is shaped like an almond, with a thick chocolate coating that we broke, to find layers of vanilla bean mousse, a caramel ganache and an almond praline at the centre. The dessert was equal parts familiar and new. "Ingredients are at the focus of all our desserts and food at Naomi. We like to play with one familiar ingredient and challenge ourselves to create several dishes around it. We don't like confusing our customers with a dissonance of over-the-top flavours. Our focus is on local ingredients and innovating with them," said Chef Nikitha signing off.
₹2,200 for Two, at Jubilee Hills.