North Kashmir is emerging as the new place with elegant, cafes, hotels and restaurants which are attracting lot of young men and women towards the serene environs. For hours, the young people sit and enjoy the taste of various varieties of dishes, bakeries and coffee. These places are no less than what food buffs could find on their table in the top hotels, cafes and restaurants across the country or in the Srinagar city.
In last couple of years dozens of such places have been established by young people after they traveled different parts of country and some even have an international exposure. They (young men and women) brought their experience home and now are trying to provide quality food to people and replicate the experience in their native places.
Be it the historical town of Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara or Bandipore or along the Srinagar Uri national highway, dozens of such places have come up where people could be seen enjoying lavish food, taste uniqueness of coffee and varieties of bakeries.
Unlike past these new places have marvelous envious and high quality hygiene which attract more and more people especially food lovers to these places. Hotel industry has never been an alien for the people of north Kashmir with world class tourist destinations in north Kashmir’s Gulmarg in its backyard, the hotels have been here since decades and before the opening of Jehlum Valley Cart Road (JVC) when English men and women frequently visited Kashmir through this road which is now closed and renamed as Srinagar Muzuffarabad road they (English men and women) taught locals the making of high-class bakeries and trained locals as chefs, bakers, waiters and in north Kashmir some villages are still known for providing high class manpower for bakeries, restaurants and other food places as it has been in the genes of people since decades.
With good number of tourist arrivals and locals developing taste and love for food many new places have become now landmark in the long list of hotels and cafes and one such name is Bake My Cake established at fashionable Mint Complex on Srinagar Baramulla national highway.
Though the cafe is just two years old but within the short span of time it has made its name and fame and people from far off places visit the cafe to enjoy different bakeries and coffee. The cafe has recently been refurbished to accommodate more people. This place provides French & Turkish taste to visitors, cafe aficionados in north Kashmir and is currently offering French bakery and coffee with over 300 lips smacking food items on its menu.
Even families find this place safe and refreshing owing to a good number of female staff. The visitors to the region also become a continuous clientele of the place. Tourists on the way to the LoC sit and chat in the café before proceeding to the edge of the district.
“It was my dream for years to create a space where people of north Kashmir will get quality food not only youngsters but families also. Two years ago, I started this journey and it is turning to be a successful and now we have even expanded the place to accommodate more and more people,” said Mudasir Naqashbandi who owns this place. “I try to make this cafe a place where everybody can come and spend leisure time.”
Apart from male employees, the owners have given proper opportunity to females also. “We have also hired female staff in our café,”said Mudasir.
Recently the cafe won IBS a reputed award.
“It was a reputable moment for our startup “Bake My Cake” to receive the much treasured “International Business Award” hosted by 4ace Entertainment. The aspirations and dreams with which we gathered the courage to step inside the highly competitive pool of business , sacrificing blood sweat and tears to achieve even the most moderate opportunities only so that we could showcase our expertise and ideas are still fresh in our minds.
It’s commendable how hard work starts to pay off in the form of such respectable recognitions. We are highly honoured and motivated for the future and hope that we keep working sincerely and ambitiously in the coming years as well,” he said adding that in near future more food varieties will become part of the cafe’s menu. “We want to make this place a unique in food and environment which could become famous throughout the country.”
With couple of years only the cafe has earned a name and people come from various places to spend leisure time at bake my cake. “For me it was a wonderful opportunity to be at this place. Apart from quality food the environs and its interiors are cool and the staff very cooperative,” said Ishfaq Ahmad who traveled from nearby Sopore to taste the turkish bakery here.
Another food lover, Ahmad Bilal said the place is one of the best in north Kashmir. “Not only locals, tourists should also visit this place.”
Head chef at the cafe, Firdous Ahmad says that they try to make new items at the place so more and more people will get attracted towards this place. “We are happy that our customers after tasting our varieties again visit to us.”
With every passing day the clientele is growing especially the place has become craze among youngsters.
“Our main emphasis is quality of food and provide homely envious to the customer and families. We also try to improve if there are shortcomings after receiving feedback from our valued customers. Our cafe is answer to those who were earlier saying that north Kashmir especially Baramulla has no better place for food and coffee and ours is an answer,” said Manager, Hilal Ahmad.
