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In pictures: Chef Roger Van Damme of Michelin-star restaurant Het Gebaar inaugurates new bakery cafe at Ek Tara
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In pictures: Chef Roger Van Damme of Michelin-star restaurant Het Gebaar inaugurates new bakery cafe at Ek Tara
Damme, the man behind Antwerp’s Michelin-star restaurant, Het Gebaar, spent an afternoon with kids from the Kolkata NGO making waffles and sharing smiles
By
Urvashi Bhattacharya |
Published 14.03.24, 07:24 PM
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Ek Tara, a charitable trust in Kolata’s Topsia that supports underprivileged children, along with Tomorrowland Foundation, inaugurated a new bakery last month at the Ek Tara Music & Art School. Present for the unveiling and celebrations was pastry chef Roger Van Damme of Michelin-starred restaurant Het Gebaar in Antwerp, along with Shashvat Dhandhania, executive chef of Kolkata restaurant and patisserie To Die For. The two chefs cut the ribbon opening the doors of the in-house cafe
All photos courtesy Ek Tara
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Following the inauguration, Chef Damme cooked up batches of Belgian waffles in the new cafe for the enthusiastic students in attendance. This was followed by a workshop by Dhandhania and a special performance by Damme’s son Lucca. The event was also supported by Her Future Coalition, an Kolkata-based organisation empowering women and girls
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The cafe accommodates up to 15 individuals and is equipped with modern facilities to produce a variety of baked goods. The in-house cafe is set up to cater to the kids and students of Ek Tara and is expected to be fully up and running in May of this year. Young girls and women from the foundation will be handling the operations of the cafe including making the confections and their training will begin in April
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Shashvat Dhandhania conducted a cake-making workshop, where he demonstrated his expertise and shared his love for baking with Ek Tara’s students and a group of mothers. ‘We had 12 kids participating. Over an hour and half, we made a special recipe — a Hazelnut and Almond Financier Sponge Cake topped with Lotus Biscoff. Everyone who participated was really enthusiastic and some of them even took my number down and called me later to ask about alternative ingredients,’ said chef Shashvat
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Tomorrowland Foundation has an ongoing collaboration with Mobile School, a non-profit organisation focused on working with street children around the world. Chef Damme also visited Ek Tara’s Mobile School to share the waffles made in the new bakery with the kids
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Chef Damme’s two sons, Lucca and Amani joined him on the wrap. To wrap up the event, (in picutre) Lucca surprised everyone with a DJ set, which added a musical element to the cultural exchange
