They're husband and wife. He's the business partner at Jazz Garden, she's the `pitch-in' partner. While Anand Shankarnarayan has an experience of 14 years in the kitchen and a post-graduate degree in hotel management, Dhanashree is still learning the ropes.Though Anand is the man in charge of the kitchen, Dhanashree helps with the bakery products. Says she, ``Since I have done my course in baking and confectionery, it was almost natural that I contribute in that area. But when they started this restaurant, I was already in my fourth month of pregnancy. So my work was restricted to carrot cakes, banana loaves and the like.''And with the birth of their son, Dhanashree's work has been reduced to making the dough for the puff pastries and other goodies that Anand takes to the restaurant. Says Anand, ``We decided to have a baby after seven years of marriage. At the very outset, we had resolved that one of us would be at home to care for the baby till he was a few years old. And Dhanashree decided to be the one.''But it's not as if she only looks after the baby. Says she, ``We don't have an oven at home or I could have made all the pastries here itself.'' So instead, she makes the dough for the same while Anand bakes them at Jazz Garden.They live in the same house, work for the same place and share a life together, so how are the two different from each other? Says Dhanashree, ``Anand is the calm, quiet one. I, on the other hand, get hyper about everything. In the beginning, when I'd go to the restaurant, I would get into a tizzy if the order from the kitchen did not reach the table, even before the guests could, whereas Anand would stay cool and ask me to calm down.''Anand agrees. ``I am the one who keeps his calm in the family.'' But what would it be like if they were to switch roles? ``For one,'' says Anand, ``she'd take a hell of a long time to simply finish the job. To cut an onion takes me one-fourth the time it takes her, so you can imagine what the kitchen would be like. But yes, the bakery department would suffer - she is much better at it than I am.''``For Anand, the sky is the limit. He has so many ideas, wants to do so many things, he's just waiting for the right moment to do various food festivals, so that people know food like they never have before.'' Even at their home, it is Anand who takes over the kitchen on Mondays, and whenever there are guests. Says Dhanashree, ``That's when I leave the kitchen to Anand. He cooks better than I do''.
