Goodbye, The Willow: Hyderabad loses a cult adda cafe
HYDERABAD : One of Hyderabad’s quirkiest hangouts has become history. The Willow Bake Shop in Banjara Hills, which offered lip-smacking grub and was an ideal chat-up space for many, has downed its shutters. Announcing this on Instagram a week ago, the owners had posted: “The Willow will be permanently shutting its doors on August 31. We will keep changing the theme every day for the last week, the menu for which will be posted a day before.”
Chaitali Pednekar, one of the three founders, speaks to CE about shutting down The Willow with a heavy heart. “We finally closed at midnight (August 31-September 1),” she sighs as she walks into the bakery which now wears an abandoned look.
No tantalising aroma of the desserts, no platters of food in sight, no customers, but a brooding silence filled the air as she spoke. The walls, still painted with curious scientific illustrations, had no onlookers.
The Willow Bake Shop was known for its ever-changing menu, with some names too hard to pronounce but easy on the palate. It had 162 types of tarts, including the Portuguese egg, and 50 varieties of croissants. People from all corners of the city would grab a table and spend hours together chatting away while savouring the delicately crafted food. What made the bakery special was that it was one of the few pet-friendly cafes in the city. It had an adorable pooch too, Madeleine.
Dr Sujit Seshadri, Chaitali, who was earlier an auditor, and Md Imad, a clinical psychologist, started the bakery in 2019 after the first two learned culinary craftsmanship at the Pastry School Lavon Academy in Bengaluru in 2018. They had intended to create a space that offered exquisite foreign cuisine at a cheap price and a space for discussion.
“Our intention was not to make money. It still isn’t. We are not closing down because we don’t have the money, but because we decided to part ways,” says Chaitali. She adds, “The pandemic did not stress us out physically, but has taken a toll on my mental health. Dr Sujit Seshadri, who is a veterinarian, has decided to go ahead with his profession and Imad also has some plans. I thought I could manage the bakery, but no.”
For Chaitali, The Willow is something that the three of them started together and it is no fun without her two partners. “I think we all just want a break,” she says as she holds back her tears.
A note in the cafe by a regular visitor, Lokesh, read: “Gonna miss you and this beautiful place. The smile and its sweetness that you put into baking.” City-based interior designer Isha Mishra said, “I will miss the discussions. I will miss the tastes, I will miss the people whom I have connected with in this bakery.”