The Joy of Giving... The French Loaf cake event

On the evening of CFG's 8th Anniversary Celebrations, Mr Mahadevan, one of the guests announced their Longest Photo cake event .. This was part of the Joy of Giving week. Last year, they had done the same event, except the cake was based on movies of yesteryear. This year, it was a tribute to Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja... 

Not only this, but he announced that 100kgs shall be set aside for Chennai Food Guide members, given to us for FREE... The event was slated for 2nd Oct , at Express Avenue Mall.

As decided, we all met up at the mall at the venue of the event, and were excited to see what was ahead of us.  We got to meet a few new faces, and interact with other friends as well.. In total, we were about 30 of us, we walked around the entire length of the cake, trying to spot the movies we had seen, heard of and the ones that were completely new. We waited patiently sweating away, listening to Mohan, Parthiban, Srinivas, Sriram, Mr Mahadevan, Chef Bhupesh, and Gautam Menon speak about the event. It was amazing to hear the announcements of cake being sold, people who bought them, and the money contributed to Ekam Foundation. Few members from CFG got the chance to speak to Raj TV, while the rest of us generally hung around having a good time.... 

And then, it was time to cut the cake..... Few minutes later, we were all trying to fit the huge cake box into plastic bags... but only after checking out what movie was on the piece we received. Even though it was free for us, we went ahead and made a contribution to Ekam... What a beautiful feeling to give to those in need.. Apart from the little deeds that we do, we thank Mr Mahadevan of Oriental Cuisines for this lovely opportunity as well... :-) 

 I had Pillai Nila on my cake... Not heard or seen this movie...

Subsequent to the event, the group waltzed lingered around, catching up, taking photographs, and winding up with a burppilicious dinner at Rajdhani...

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Cake Buffet at The French Loaf, Harrington Road, Chennai

So, i saw this "Cake Buffet at The French Loaf" ad in today's Hindu.. I wondered how much dessert can one eat? Even though it is unlimited, even though the buffet is only Rs249, how many cakes or muffins or tarts can one plough through? Before i was done wondering, i heard my phone ring.. It was from Burrp and they were asking me if it was possible to go check out a preview of this event? Whoa, did they read my mind? I replied "Yes".. Within few minutes, the PR person called and informed me that i could visit The French Loaf in Harrington Road between 2-4pm.... That was it! 

I remember how few years ago, this was a new cafe in our area and today, there are over a dozen outlets across the city.. wow! I walked into French loaf around 3pm, met with the PR team who spoke about the event, and how the whole concept was the 1st in South India and it sure was creating quite the buzz among foodies in the city... French Loaf had recently created a record by creating the longest cake as a "tribute to 75years of Tamil Cinema". It was displayed at Express Avenue.. Infact, if you were to ask me, it was French Loaf who revolutionized the whole Cakes should look much more appealing,"lets bring on the excitement and drool factor on 1st look concept!"

There i was at a place so familiar and yet i dint know what to expect when a man in white and white hopped over, introducing himself as the Chef- Bhupesh .. He shared with us the birth of this Dessert Buffet and the different treats that were in store for those who landed at French Loaf on 10th December between 4 and 10pm.. It was an Unlimited Dessert Buffet where we hope to introduce people to different kinds of desserts, beyond cakes, show them tarts, cheese cakes, pies, profiteroles, truffles, mousse, rum balls and some more

There were more than a handful Eggless desserts i noted [ the silent voice within my head jumped in joy thinking of my family, some of whom were particular about eggless]... 

The 1st cake that was brought out of the kitchen was a beautiful turqoise coloured Fish, with blue scales & brown fins.. it looked divine!! It was a Black forest cake but all i kept thinking was "i could never cut such a beautiful creation, leave alone devour it..  "

And then came this burst of red on a bed of white cloud, it was Strawberry Cheese cake, covered with fresh Strawberries... Ooh, yummm...

The grand finale was a cake that looked like it belonged in the garden, a simple cake with a beautiful decoration on the top, made completely with white chocolate. It was fascinated to see the wrinkles, folds that made the chocolate look like a sheet of fabric... 

There was also a Chess board cake on display, which will make its way to the buffet, but i couldnt take a shot of it, maybe when i go on Saturday i will share how the complete spread was, provided i can contain the excitment and flavours!! :-) 

Oh, forgot to mention the wide array of  delicious cakes that made it to our table for us to relish... There was a Blueberry cake with barbie photo on it that tasted divine, a strawberry cream cake, Black forest, Chocolate Truffle and the fresh pineapple cake...  What a treat for the eyes and soul they were!!

So, if you are in Chennai and have a Sweet tooth, head over to The French Loaf on 10th December... The buffet will be sitting waiting for you in Le Chocolatier lounge [1st floor, above French loaf, which also belongs to the same Oriental Cuisines Group]... 

Update:
A collage of cakes and treats that was up for grabs on the day of the Buffet....

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