Chocolate Festival in the Capital

Lip-smacking chocolate delicacies are being showcased at the ‘Chocolate Festival’ which is going on in the Capital till October at Raro-The Gourmet Shop, Defence Colony. It is a part of the Sagar group chain (of Sagar Ratna fame) which is also called JRB Foods private limited, a new generation venture.

In this context, One World News interacted with Shikha Abel, the branch manager of the Defence Colony outlet. Read this to know more about that chocolate festival which people of no matter what age would never opt to miss out on.

What is this chocolate festival all about?

As a chocolate lover, I think Chocolate is a great invention (smiles). It helps us in our down times or when one feels low or depressed. Besides, it has medicinal benefits also. So, we are promoting chocolates this month in pure forms. We have products like handmade chocolates with fruits & nuts.

How is it different from the usual days?

In this month, we are showcasing some special items and calling guests to taste something new. We are also telling guests about its benefits like if you have 100 grams of pure chocolates every day, you will never have a sore throat. So, for the entire preparation, we have gone through a proper training and then informing the guests accordingly. In this festivity month, the weather is also so cozy that most of us have sore throat and cold and we long for a nice cup of hot chocolate.

Have you conducted such festivals before?

No, this is the first time we have conducted a chocolate festival. Last year, we had a cookie festival wherein pure cookies were exhibited, which had no butter, margarine or oil in it. The shop was opened on 26 July 2013 and it is still new.

Do you have a fixed menu or you keep on adding new recipes?

We do have a fixed menu but then we keep on experimenting with new items every alternate month as people cannot have the same desert all the time. We have a new chef from Russia in our Chhatarpur kitchen of Ocean Pearl Retreat, a banquet hotel due to which we have also included Russian specialties in our menu. It is witnessing a rapid increase in the sales.

So, tell us something about the specialty of the shop.

First of all, the shop’s name is Raro which in Spanish means rare and different. That’s why most of the menu items and their taste are different, like the Red Velvet Cake and almost all of the items are a little different than the other shops. We make very different cookies. It’s not the like the usual ones and are made up of pure butter. We have very interesting flavors like Anzac, a combination of coconut & honey. ANZAC means Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and there is a traditional tale behind it. The cookie was made during the World War 2. The soldier’s wives used to send them these cookies for their long stay in army camps. It is made up of butter, oats, honey & coconut.

There is another specialty called Spicy Delight which you won’t find anywhere else. It is a little spicy cookie, mixed with black pepper. We had never thought of keeping cookies but then, we got good response. There was a complete different picture in our mind when we had opened it. We had planned not to keep any regular stuff like Chocolate Truffle, Black Forest but then one has to mould accordingly to the market as customers were asking for them. Moreover, we serve fresh items. We prepare it in front of the customers and serve them fresh.

Raro is exhibiting and selling some of their famous chocolate items for its visitors. Those special items include- Assorted Handmade chocolates, Chocolate Bonche, Chocolate Baileys Eclisse, Truffle Cupcake, Butter Cocoa Mousse Shots, Chocolate Eclairs, Double Chocochip Muffin, Rich Chocolate Tea Cake, Belgian Chocochip Cookie and many more.

So, you must visit and taste its chocolate coffee and hot choco muffin which is just so awesome that you won’t forget its taste for ages.