While restaurants have been brought to their knees during this pandemic, home cooks have risen. And how! From bakers who were doing things for a while, seeing their business boom to first timers who have used the opportunity and time to establish their offerings, there has probably never been a better time to try out food from home kitchens. Chennai is no different. Over the last 5 months, I've had the chance to buy and try from some of them, and a few really stood out. So instead of trying to rank the best bakers (which is an extremely difficult task), I'm listing out five of my favourite things that stood out. 

Cinnamon Rolls, Baked by Faz

Now, Fazil has been a dear friend and fellow blogger for nearly a decade. While he was always famous for his biriyani, we all knew he played around in the kitchen. When he said he was going to sell food during the pandemic, I naturally assumed that he finally decided to launch his biriyani, but when he said he was doing cinnamon rolls, I was quite taken aback. Now, I do know how much he loves cinnamon rolls from Cinnabons. Every time some one came back from Delhi, he tried to get a box for himself and if we were lucky to meet, he would make an effort (a serious, reluctant, half hearted effort) to share a bite. Little did I know that he would be able to not only recreate, but come up excellent new flavours for his cinnamon rolls. What was so good about it? The cream frosting. Absolutely lovely, no-shortcut-cutting-corners kind of cream frosting. Wait till his salted caramel and coffee frostings come out! 

The Instagram Handle is Baked_by_Faz  A box of four is Rs. 500 and a box of 2 is Rs. 300

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Lotus Biscoff Ice Cream, Fluff Creamery

Another first timer, I had the chance to eat two of her ice creams. While the strawberry cheese cake was fantastic, the one that left me wanting more was the Lotus Biscoff. Now, the lotus biscoff is actually a biscuit. To make an ice cream of an excellent biscuit was not only a great idea, but she actually managed to pull it off extremely well. With chunks of little cake inside, the nice and caramel-y flavours are great to finish any meal. I believe a couple of more flavours are coming along, but whatever you get, don't miss the Lotus Biscoff. I loved it.

Her Instagram handle is Flufffery.  A 200 ml pot is Rs. 190, and a 500 ml pot is Rs. 450

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Everything Bagel, The Bagel Pot

Well, it might be a very American thing, but good Bagels in Chennai are hard to come by. That's where Renee comes in. A small menu, some great dips to rub on your bagels, or simply place a breakfast order and a bunch of bagels with dips and sides land at your door step. I wasn't a big bagel fan. Bagels were usually stale or hard, and chewy (but chewy is exactly how it is supposed to be), but once I got used to toasted bagels, my opinion changed forever. Renee's bagels are just about right. In fact, I love that these are not exactly like the American ones, but a tad less chewy. Slice it up, toast it and you're in for a treat. I had some sausages and they simply upped those bagels.

Her Instagram handle is The Bagel Pot Bagels start at Rs. 50 and platters from around Rs. 400

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Sourdough breads, Harini 

A well done bread is art by itself, but Harini takes it a notch further and takes art quite literally. It took me a while to have the heart to slice her sourdough loaf. Extremely customisable, you can pretty much pick what you want to go into your bread or leave it for a classic. Now, depending on what you're used to, you might find this a tad less sour than a classic sourdough loaf, but the art work on top, combined with a slice toasted with just some butter is enough to make your breakfast. In my case, I pretty much finished the loaf, munching it with butter for breakfast, then for pre lunch snack, an evening snack and a pre dinner snack. 

Her Instagram handle is Harini Sankarnarayanan  A boule starts at Rs. 300. The one you see above was Rs. 400

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Idiyappam and Paya, Arifapa.

This was probably the find of the lockdown for me. For Rs 600, you get a pot of paya, a beautifully done paya at that with a little more than a dozen idiyappams. In fact, I got extra idiyappams and was able to use it a couple of days later too. Done only on weekends, Arifapas Biriyani, which serves biriyani through the week, serves this amazing combo. Depending on what kind of paya you are used to, you may find this different to varying degrees. This is more from the NorthWest Frontier region and immaterial of if you like paya or not, this is a must try! 

You can reach out at Arifapas Biriyani

While I continue to keep surveying the landscape for interesting stuff, let me know if you come across something that I must try. 

Happy Eating.