If you’ve always wanted to see what being on the Great British Bake Off is like
Kalisha and Aleena Patel outside what will soon become Bristol’s first baking experience venue, Bake It! Bristol, on East Street in Bedminster(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
If you’ve always fancied a go at the Great British Bake Off now is your chance – as Bristol is about to get its first baking activity venue.
Bake It! Bristol is set to open in the city in July, and is the brainchild of sisters Aleena and Kalisha Patel.
People signing up for a Bake It! experience will essentially get a taste of a technical challenge on Bake Off, albeit without Noel Fielding talking to them every five minutes and cameras in their face when they drop something.
“It’s going to be like being in your own little Bake Off,” said Kalisha. “You’ll have your own station, your own ingredients all laid out, there’ll be a themed recipe, which you follow along so it’s suitable for all abilities.
“You make the cake, you decorate the cake how you want to, and then at the end we’ll have a little competition of who has made the best cake, like the TV programme,” she added.
The Bake It! Bristol base is in East Street in Bedminster, in what was until earlier this year the East Street Emporium, a large shop premises opposite the famous East Street Fruit Market.
There’ll be space for up to 24 bakers, so could be booked out completely by workplaces for team-building, or large parties and hen dos.
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“You do it in pairs, you book it in pairs, but it’s suitable for anyone. It’s going to be great for hen dos, great for groups, a little date night, friends,” said Kalisha. “We’re going to do kids’ sessions too.
“The important thing is that you don’t have to be good at baking, you can be a complete novice. There’ll be recipes and instructions, but the main thing is that it’s a fun activity and you can be as competitive or not competitive as you want,” she added.
Kalisha and Aleena moved to Bristol six years ago, and got the inspiration from similar experience venues in Birmingham and London. Kalisha has a background in hospitality, while Aleena has been a baker and a pastry chef. “So we’re both very food orientated, and we just love baking and we’re also very chatty, so it’s pulling all of the things together,” Aleena said.
Kalisha and Aleena Patel outside what will soon become Bristol’s first baking experience venue, Bake It! Bristol, on East Street in Bedminster(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
“We think it will go down really well in Bristol, it’s a foodie place here, so I think it will be quite exciting for people,” she added.
The opening of Bake It! Bristol is another new and innovative business coming to East Street, as the area and its empty shop premises are transformed and brought back to life.
Earlier this spring, Bristol Live reported that Southville Deli is coming to the end of East Street, while the upmarket Pinkman’s Bakery has opened inside a new children’s activity centre called PickleTown, in another of the large and previously empty stores.
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