When two good things come together

Saturday, 17 August 2013 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Good Market vendors The English Cake Company and Panino open joint outlet

By Cheranka Mendis There has never been a better time than now to visit the Jawatta area. With two of the best of Thursday’s Good Market vendors opening up a joint outlet down Sulaiman Terrace, there is very good reason to drive down that way, even in the blistering heat or heavy traffic, just to gorge on a delicious piece of vVctoria sandwich with passion fruit filling or bite into a healthy, wonderfully stuffed panini. Offering some super-scrumptious delights are The English Cake Company and Panino in a small and homely outlet down Sulaiman Terrace. For us at Daily FT/Weekend FT, the news of these two vendors joining hands in a location in close proximity to our office was godsend. Even though we have tried out products from almost every stall at the Good Market, we kept going back to these two vendors. Now, neither you nor I have to patiently count days for Thursday to arrive and come up with valid excuses to leave office early to grab some of their goodies before they disappear. Even though they only opened up shop earlier this month, the response has been great and their client base has been steadily on the rise. What is best here is not only do you get to sit down and taste the various items on the menu but you also get to see how everything is being made. Following an open kitchen concept, right behind the counter and the display cases filled with The English Cake Company’s wonders, there are busy hands beating eggs, chopping tomatoes, grilling sandwiches and doing a host of other things needed to keep up with the demand. The two companies have decided to keep their individual brand names going, retaining their identity while merging to make a whole host of customers happy.

The Panino story Sitting down for a quick chat while a steady stream of customers walked in, Kevin Harbison of Panino noted that things have been busy, what with trying to put the finishing touches on the outlet, overlooking the Panini production and back at home, assisting his wife Shari, the hands and brains behind Panino, with their newborn baby girl, Cameron. At the time of the interview 10 days ago, the baby was just eight days old and Kevin was all smiles. “My wife Shari is Sri Lankan,” he said sharing their story of Panino with us. “We met in LA and married there. We always loved going to the Farmer’s Market and we always loved trying out the various things they had there.” The story of Panino started with Shari’s love and talent for making ‘amazing’ paninis. “She made some really good toasted paninis that everyone loved. She was always making them for her friends.” Even though the idea of having their own stall was always at the back of their minds, as fulltime employees, they hardly had the time to follow their dream. Two years ago, the duo decided to come down to Sri Lanka, determined to give their dreams a chance to be realised. And then they found Good Market last year. “This is a niche product and the feedback has been good from day one,” Kevin remarked. “We are very particular about the ingredients and where we purchase them from. As much as we can, we try to go local and buy our produce from local organic vendors.” There are no artificial or frozen dressings or products in Panino’s sandwiches. Their challenge was to find good bread and cheese to make their paninis the best in the country. Having hunted high and low, they finally found that Sri Lankan roast-paan was best suited for the sandwiches as it retains its crispiness after being grilled, and found a cheese maker from Kandy who supplies to some of the key hotels and restaurants in the country. “Our menu is fairly basic,” he admitted. “However, we are trying to introduce more catering to the Sri Lankan palette with the use of fillings such as seeni sambol etc. very soon.” What they currently have is a more Westernised combination that includes tomato and basil paninis, mushroom and cheese, heart healthy vegetarian (with homemade roasted garlic hummus, extra virgin olive oil, fresh Italian parsley, avocado and gourmet cheese on crusty bread), Cuban sandwich with roasted herb chicken, chicken ham and gourmet cheese, breakfast panini with farm fresh eggs, chicken ham or sausage and gourmet cheese, pulled bbq chicken melt and chicken pomodori melt (herb roasted chicken, over roasted tomatoes, pine nut pesto and mayonnaise. Their best sell is the Cubano, a sandwich that originates from Cuban immigrants who resided in Miami. “Originally it was made with pork and ham. However here, we stuff it with chicken,” he said. The story of The English Cake Company The English Cake Company has a similar story to tell. Run by Ellie and her husband Yohan, The English Cake Company was born out of the frustration Ellie felt not being able to find a good place to buy cakes that were fresh, not too sweet, with no preservatives after returning from England. A daughter of a professional baker and confectioner, Ellie has driven all around Colombo looking for a taste of cake that was fresh as they get in England. And when she finally had to give up hope, she decided to start baking her own cakes and with the response she received from family and friends who were left amazed by how soft, fresh and tasty they were, the Company was born. “I didn’t want my cakes to have colouring, additives or flavours. I wanted something really fresh. Sadly we couldn’t find anything that I loved during our many attempts to find the perfect place. I started baking and then was told to check out the Good Market in Diyatha Uyana. We loved what we saw. It was all organic produce,” Ellie said. In no time they were back, and this time with their own cakes and brownies to sell. Going by the title ‘The Bakery’ at the new Jawatte outlet, Ellie’s menu of cakes includes “typically English” goods. From the delicious Victoria Sandwich to the Lemon and Blueberry Loaf, Lemon/Orange Drizzle cake, Chocolate and Beetroot Cake, Dorset Apple Cake, Peach Melba cake, Sticky Toffee Cake, Orange Jaffa Cake, Double Chocolate Cake and Cappuccino/Mocha Gateau the list is of endless, mouth watering cakes. Also popular and a FT favourite is the various chocolate brownies they have on offer. There is white choc-chip, dark choc-chip, peanut butter, English fudge and chocolate orange to choose from, and it is a difficult task to say what is better than the other. The cupcakes with gooey centres and meringue hats are also a must try at The Cakery. Ellie also makes delicious quiches, gourmet pizzas, gourmet yoghurt in varying flavours and gourmet fruit curd as well. “This is a lot of work,” she admitted while talking about the outlet, “but it’s very pleasing to see people enjoying not only what we offer but also the whole process of cooking that goes behind it.” Getting together It was Yohan’s idea to come together and open an outlet. With the increasing demand at Good Market, both vendors were thinking of setting up an outlet on an individual scale when Yohan proposed they sit together on one project that features both brands. “Every week, we found ourselves baking more and more,” Ellie said. “Somehow this was never enough as we were sold out almost before five or six o’ clock. We were thinking of opening up a store but were not sure of how we will manage it. This partnership is possibly the best we could ask for.” The two types of food featured under the brands are complimentary without being competitive. “People always come to buy one thing and end up taking home products from both of us.” Ellie noted: “We make what we would like to eat in a way that we would enjoy without complains. This I believe is what has kept it ticking. Everything is homemade and the effort is put in to give the best taste we can give while not compromising on the looks.” The outlet is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pix by Upul Abayasekera