A gourmand’s ideal joint

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SHOPPING for groceries becomes more glamorous with the newly-opened O Gourmet at the Bangsar Shopping Center (BSC).

During a media preview recently Bandaraya Developments Bhd (BRDB) executive director Datin Seri Bettina Khan said O Gourmet was born out of BRDB’s desire to reinforce BSC’s reputation as a thriving, living contemporary destination.

“We have a strong food component here at BSC and decided to capitalise on that with a sophisticated, diverse range of delectables,” she said.

Can’t miss it: Spanish chocolates with a variety of unique and delightful flavours.

Khan added that people were becoming more aware of what they ate and appreciated the finer things in life.

The hall is spread out to help shoppers walk through the various stations that cater for personal use or as gift items for loved ones.

There is a bakery with freshly- baked breads, a wine section which has the best selections from Europe and vintages from other countries, cheese section, coffee beans and tea leaves section, organic food section, the butcher with a selection of halal and non-halal meats, a deli with spices and cakes section.

There is also a fresh juice and gelato section for those craving for a nice dessert.

Resident wine sommelier Sebastien Le Francois said he handpicked all the wines in the section.

Exclusive: Le Francois says he handpicked all the wines in the section.

“We have wines from all over the world and a range of champagne selections, we want quality not exclusivity,” he said.

According to him, they also have a wishlist where shoppers could request for a certain bottle of wine and Francois would try and find the said label for them.

The halal butcher corner has prime meat as Khan believes people are becoming more discerning with their choice cuts.

As for the non-halal section some of the meats found here may not be found elsewhere like the Proscuiito Parma and the Serrano Ham from Spain.

There is also a cosy corner with Chinese delicacies like the egg tart from Kum Lun Tai and roasted duck and pork.

According to O Gourmet director Alex Wong, he brought in Kum Lun Tai into the scene as their pastries are one of the best.

“We used to buy mooncakes from them before,” he said.

Next is a unique shop called Spice Route, a premium range of exotic spices from India’s spice belt, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra.

Spice Route director Kannan Doss serves a unique blend of nuts prepared specially with the customers’ choice of spices apart from selling the herbs.

“We use a variety of nuts, which we saute to remove the moisture, after which we deep fry it and it is set aside for the oil to drip off. After that we saute the nuts with various spices of the customer’s choice,” he said.

The result is a unique flavour of mixed herbs with crunchy assorted nuts ideal for any occasion.

No food hall is complete without cakes, and Just Heavenly is a confectioners delight.

The co-owner, Nigel Skelchy, said each cake was tasted and approved before it hit the shelves.

“We make sure there is quality control, so we periodically take one off the shelve and try it,” he said.

Chocolates of course would never run out of admirers and Blanxart serves Spanish chocolates with a variety of unique and delightful flavours, from dark chocolate with rose petals, and assorted nuts to masala chocolate.

Brought in by a Spanish company from Barcelona, the managing director of Spanish Passion said it was the first time they had brought in Spanish chocolates for all to try.

The food hall is located at the East Wing concourse of BSC and for more information log on to www.bsc.com.my