Urban Eating

Urban Eating

Published in 'Instep Today'

31st July, 2007

By Fariha Rashed
July 14th saw the opening of a brand new Bakery and Coffee Shop in Lahore. Yes, yes, I know! ‘Another one?!’ you ask. Let me put your mind at ease. This bakery/coffee shop IS a little different for the sole reason that it ends up serving more than one purpose. If you want to know how, do read on.

The orange-ish building of ‘The Urban Chef’ is situated on main Ghazi Road in Defence. Surprisingly, it managed to quite easily cater to nearly 200 invited people at its opening, which was organized by JB & Jaws Productions. Other than the free food [something Lahoris can never resist!] there were other kinds of interesting attractions at the event. Mr. Abrar-ul-Haq, along with his family, made an appearance as the Chief Guest, and one saw him enjoying a good round of colorful cocktails and scrumptious food the coffee house-come-bakery has to offer. A nice kid from BNU called Haroon sat propelled on a stool with an acoustic guitar in hand and sang ‘Manwarai’ by Noori and ‘This Love’ by Maroon 5. The audience looked quite pleased and entertained.

As one walks into the bakery, one’s eyes are met with an abundance of color. Rows of shelves on the walls behind the counter have cans and cans of juices and soft drinks placed on them. The Urban Chef is basically divided into four floors. The basement floor is a sheesha lounge, where people can also enjoy special flavored drinks. Apparently the entire place can be booked for private functions as well. The ground floor is the bakery, and looks somewhat like Gourmet. Both bakeries also more or less offer similar items, both homemade and foreign. The first floor is the restaurant, where people can indulge in all kinds of desi and continental food. The restaurant seems to be catering to a more sophisticated and mature market. The second floor is another sitting area, where again one has access to food types such as pizza, desi dishes, and continental food. The second floor is also appropriate for small gatherings, gigs, movie shows and parties. It’s formed more like a small hall that can accommodate about 80 people.

It is nice to see that there are more traditionally styled bakeries opening up in Lahore. ‘The Urban Chef’ is affordable, stocked well with fresh eateries, and with its sheesha lounge, caters to a very important part of the population – the youth.