Chocolate-covered coffee beans, bittersweet orange rinds covered in chocolate, anjeer chocolate - this is not your average dessert list. Called Chocolate Happenings, these tiny cocoa temptations come from pastry chef Aadore Sayani, a woman who knew what she was doing when she decided to call her confectionery Sleight of Hand (www.sleightofhand.in).



Her story began with Chef Rahul Akerkar and his once-popular restaurant Under The Over. By the time Sayani moved on in 1994, she had the following five years plotted. A certificate course in hotel administration and food technology at Sophia Polytechnic was followed by lessons in Cordon Bleu at the French Culinary Institute in New York.

By 1997, she was back in the city with a decision. What's the best and worst part about working with chocolate, we ask. "There is no worst part," she laughs. "I can't live without chocolate." Considering the years she has spent selling these concoctions, we wonder what the Indian palate tends to favour. "Truffles," says Sayani. "And I don't make those."

Apart from the popular Chocolate Happenings, she also sells a vast variety of brownies, shortbreads, cookies and cake. Sayani's big recommendation: The Gooey Chocolate Brownie. Go, before it's gone.

At: Sleight of Hand Confectionery, 6 Prescot Road, Fort. Monday to Saturday, 10.30 am to 7 pm
Price: Rs 200 for 100 grams (approximately)