Nutmeg, the spice, was once known to be worth its weight in gold. Nutmeg — The Gourmet Shop at ITC Sonar comes close! On its well-stocked shelves are gourmet breads, French pastries, cakes, cookies, homemade quiches, tarts, artisanal chocolates, gourmet tea and coffee... and more. They even have a blackboard outside specifying the time when fresh bakes will be available. The grab-and-go shop also keeps sauces, condiments and food from Kitchens of India.

The revamped store threw open its doors on October 15, with ITC Sonar’s cake-mixing ceremony underway. “As we herald the season of good tidings and happiness with our traditional cake-mixing ceremony, we also unveil Nutmeg — The Gourmet Shop, which is a designer confectionery, a boutique bakery and a divine condiment store. In keeping with the festive season, we have specially crafted hampers, selection of chocolates and kitchen accessories for your home and for gifting,” said Atul Bhalla, general manager, ITC Sonar.

t2 browsed the Nutmeg shelves.

An enthusiastic bunch of children, guests, special invitees and employees of ITC Sonar gathered at the Bay of Bengal Lounge, beside the water garden, to take part in the annual affair of cake-mixing on October 15. The guests wore aprons, gloves and caps to dig in and get their arms dirty. Into the 120kg mix went raisins, red-candied cherries, orange peel, seedless dates, figs, prunes, walnut, almonds, dry apricots, blackcurrant, candied ginger, pistachio, spice, brown sugar, alcohol and more. Don Saigal and his merry band crooned to keep the guests on their toes. “Our cake-mixing session is an annual ritual. We enjoy it a lot as all our employees join in with the guests. This is probably the biggest cake-mixing in Calcutta!”said Mayank Kulshreshtha, the executive chef at ITC Sonar.