Dessert Directory - Restaurant Review

A Walk Down the Sugary Lane

Dessert Directory is love at first sight. The doors open to a pretty little café in a French setting, with white dominating the décor, a beautiful French scene mural on the front wall and Disney music playing in the background. I went during day time so the sunlight peeking through the windows done up in green was giving the Parisian dessert boutique a sunny, happy vibe. Vintage tea cups hanging down from a chandelier instantly caught my eye – what an original idea to do up a café! Cute little cupcakes tucked under glass bell domes, marshmallow bouquets and macaroons towers in pastels (fake but almost look edible) used for the decoration allow you to devour a little slice of France right here in Lahore.  

Word of Caution: The process of choosing which dessert to go for is a tough one – each one of those attractive little bad boys sitting behind a glass shelf calls you towards them with great force and demands that you get into some serious binging right away. So, you need a lot of strength of character and resilience to make a smart, sane choice.

We talked to the three owners of Dessert Directory; Amer Randhawa, Moniba Randhawa and Khadija Shafqat, to learn a little more about them and the café while gobbling down a heavenly piece of carrot cake and sipping on the refreshing mint chiller. Here’s what the partners had to say.

When did you first decide that the restaurant/café business is the business you want to be in?

Amer: We started off with Prime Edibles in 2012 and were working from home initially. Khadija, an NCA student back then, and I were friends and I loved her skill at modeling and carving clay. So we decided to take her skill to the kitchen. That’s when she and Moniba, my sister, started experimenting with desserts and making them look and taste incredible. One of our first items were fruit bouquets which were an instant hit. Having gained enough experience and clientele over the next 4 years, we decided to launch a commercial project by the name of Dessert Directory in 2016.

How did you come up with the concept on which Dessert Directory is run?

Moniba: Well, it is a pretty original concept and we haven’t seen it elsewhere! Keeping in mind the dedication the Lahori’s have for ‘meetha’, we knew that the market was missing out on a specialized dessert bar. And with the help of Khadija’s final MBA project, which was based on the idea of desserts by different vendors under one roof, we decided this is the idea we want to go ahead with.

Do any of you supply desserts for DD?

Moniba: DD is run and owned by Prime Edibles and our customers love our stuff so it was unfair if we did not have ourselves as a vendor! So yes, we stock some desserts under the Prime Edibles banner. We have a kitchen at the premises and before we open up the café, we make our desserts right here every morning.

What is your educational background?

Moniba: BSc Hons Information Systems & Management from University College Lahore and MBA Marketing from Lahore School of Economics

Khadija: Bachelors in Ceramic Design from National College of Arts and MBA Luxury Brand Management in food and wine from INSEEC, France

Amer: BSc Hons Information Management from University College London

What inspired you to have a French setting/décor for the café?

Khadija: Being familiar with the latest concept of sensorial gastronomy, we wanted to create a cute, cozy ambiance that reminds our customers of their trips to Europe and their tea/coffee times at the local pastry shops that appear at every corner in European towns. Those who haven’t travelled much will also find our café appealing as they will be able to experience a Parisian coffee shop right here in Lahore.

Cherry Tart

Did you outsource the interior designing?

Khadija: Each and everything has been designed by Moniba and I. From the tables to the window displays, the walls to the ceiling, have been conceptualized and executed by us. We hand-picked the serving dishes and tea cups from various markets and shops from around Lahore. It was a lot of hard work but we are proud of ourselves!

Lindt Tart

Chocolate Truffles Bouquet 

 Who did the wonderful wall mural?

Amer: Shahwali Khan. He is an architect by profession but his painting skills are exceptional, as you can see on our wall! He also a great understanding of food and he helped us during the tastings when we were choosing our vendors and coming up with our menu. He helps out his brother, Shahnawaz, at his French restaurant, Amu

What has the response been like so far?

Moniba: Over whelming! We still have not launched a formal marketing plan so, so given that, we couldn’t have asked for more. We are mainly thriving on word of mouth promotion at the moment.

What are the perks of having your own business?

Moniba: Autonomy! you get be your own boss

Khadija: You do what you love!

Amer: The feeling of accomplishment

                                                                                  

Lemon  Flan

Choco Smudge Cake

The downside?

Moniba: Devotion! Work, Work & Work!

Khadija: You can’t run away from problems, you have to take the bull by the horns.

Amer: High level of stress!

  

What is your favorite item at DD?

Amer:  Cadbury torte, Cadbury dream and Assorted Strawberries

Moniba: Belgian Lindt Tart, Twix Cheesecake Trifle and Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Khadija:  Mango Pavlova, Cherry Pie, Kiwi Panna Cotta

Macaroons

Mango Panna Cotta

Kiwi Panna Cotta

What are your working hours like?

Moniba: The opening hours are 4 pm to 12 am, but will change in the winters. For the team, however, it is round the clock!

Would you be expanding your menu or sticking to desserts only?

Amer: As Dessert Directory is the first Luxury Dessert Bar of Lahore, it is definitely going to stick to desserts only. But of course, we keep updating our hot/cold beverages regularly. As for expanding our menu, The Prime Edibles team will soon be operating the British Council Library Café offering a deli menu along with our specialized desserts.

Twix Cheesecake Trifle, Nutella Shot, British Trifle

Do have a city you want to travel to just to try out the desserts there? OR have already traveled to and have your favorite desserts from there?

Amer: London for desserts, hands down! I would like to travel to Buenos Aires to try some there soon.

Moniba: I can't pick one, I am a dessert lover! I've had the best desserts of my life in London, New York, Paris, Dubai, Milan  and my next destination for desserts is going to be Sydney.

Khadija:  Paris. I've lived there for 6 months studying food and wine and I made sure to stop by at different patisseries while exploring the city.  If I get the chance, I’d love to try out some desserts in Tokyo. Their flavors are mature, cooking techniques advanced and they have some crazy combinations which I am dying to taste!

Cookie Dough Cheesecake

How do you see the dessert market in Pakistan developing?

Moniba: The dessert market is quite stagnant at the moment where people restrict themselves to the flavors and textures they are familiar with. But be assured that entrepreneurs like us are working very hard to change the market trends and dessert palette of our customers! We think the market will evolve and be very different (in a good way) in the coming years.

Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?

We would like to stick to our current cozy ambiance. But surely we are looking out to expand to different areas of Lahore. Maybe, some day we expand to other cities or even internationally! Fingers crossed!

* This story has been published in TGIF Magazine, The Daily Times
Photography: Locura by Faizaan Ahmad. You can check out his work here.