One literally has to crane one’s neck out of the car window to spot the ‘home of Mariannick’ or Chez Mariannick. Located in Siddapura, off Varthur Road, Chez Mariannick is housed in a brick-and-mortar shack with fields on one side, and signs of concretization on the other. This quaint and rustic French creperie-boulangerie, was first started as a bakery by French-born Mariannick Halai and her husband of Indian origin, Shashi, four years ago.
The home of Mariannick started off as a bakery, in a 10- feet-by-10-feet stone structure located in the middle of a field which the couple had rented from a farmer at Rs 1,100 a month.
“I built our first wood-fire oven in that small plot. My wife and I would carry trays with baguettes and croissants for a kilometre from our apartment. After the baguettes and croissants were baked we would then set off on our scooter and sell our produce to whoever wished to buy them,” recalls Shashi, who worked as a carpenter besides dabbling in other artisan works along with Mariannick in London, before shifting to Bangalore.
Today Chez Mariannick has grown to be a 60-seater restaurant that dishes out a lunch and dinner menu six-days a week, with Sundays off. On Fridays and Saturdays the restaurant serves crepes, while on other days wood-fired pizzas are a staple as are baguettes, croissants and few French desserts. Fresh salad and breads are served to diners “just the way it’s done in France,” Shashi says.
And then comes a straightforward admission: “Nothing comes for free. Call it complimentary and put the price up on the food or just say that’s the meal deal, that’s the combo.” Pizzas come for Rs 350-450, bakery products start at Rs 50.
The couple delivers over 100 croissants and close to 80 baguettes a day to the posh residences in an around Whitefield such as Prestige Ozone and Palm Meadows. They also deliver to Bangalore’s Beverly Hills address, Epsilon, and other high-end gated communities such as Adarsh Palm Vista.
On the difficulties in running an authentic French restaurant Shashi says, “I have only been able to train one person who’s been with us for three years. It’s impossible to get someone who’s committed. You get them, they learn and they move on.” He adds, “Our flavours are what you’ll find in a very good French bakery. And that’s because of Mariannick’s hands. One must understand that in India things always change. Each bag of wheat that you’re going to open will be different from the one opened before. That’s just India.”
source: http;//www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / City> Bangalore / by Anshul Dhamija / TNN/ March 04th, 2012