The night before Finale’s launch, the bar is festive with the scent of freshly browned butter, just-pulled espressos and a pile of leftover pizza. As her young team whisks, stirs and sifts, bouncing energetically between a wall covered in hand-written recipes on Post-its and their workstations, Anuhya Reddy beams contently. It is late and they have been on their feet all day, fuelled solely by Domino’s pizzas, judging by the cartons collecting in an unsteady pile amidst laptops, notebooks and bags of gourmet ingredients. She couldn’t be happier.
Finale, the dessert bar tucked into a side street in Gopalapuram, leading off the busy Cathedral Road, is a tiny space with big dreams. Currently serving a limited menu, which includes fluffy brioche doughnuts, buttery shortbread and tall elegant cakes, it is already creating a buzz and will gradually start offering experimental plated desserts.
When Anuhya’s parents sent her to London in 2018 to study Architecture, they did not expect to welcome home a baker two years later. “I went to do my Masters at the Royal College of Art. And then midway I decided to quit, and I asked the college to transfer my fee to Le Cordon Bleu,” she says. Her parents had no idea she had shifted to culinary school. “I did it without approval — but I was working part time at Starbucks first, then with Peggy Porchen and I realised I liked working in the kitchen more than studying Architecture.”
Despite COVID-19, 2020 at Cordon Bleu kept Anuhya busy. “Even during the pandemic, we had work opportunities. I was with Le Gavroche, which has 2 Michelin stars, for six months: we did plated desserts, eclairs, cheesecakes and their signature truffles.’
When she finally returned to Chennai by the end of 2020, she connected with serial restaurateur Sandesh Reddy and began to work at his test kitchen, developing desserts for different outlets.
Finale is her next big leap of faith. “It’s a risk to be taking, to be honest — the desserts here are very experimental and I am not sure how customers will react,” she says, adding however that so far, it has been encouraging. “For our soft launch, I tried an Earl Grey doughnut and that sold out in 10 minutes!”
Their first big order was also an atypical wedding cake. “We made a two-layer gold coated cake. One had chocolate and vanilla fudge. The second was caramel white chocolate.” She also got an order for her Matcha pistachio cake recently, strengthening her resolve to craft a premium whole cake menu.
Busy prepping for the weekend, Anuhya is planning to serve freshly made raspberry, mango, caramel and chocolate brioche doughnuts — all of which need to be pre-ordered. “There will also be a selection of tarts: fresh vanilla strawberry, mango with raspberries, and mocha,” she smiles.
Enjoy the perks of a soft launch while they last: an experimental menu, a high energy kitchen and the occasional free cookie.
Finale is at Ganesh apartments, 101, Cathedral Rd, Kanakasri Nagar.
