Bake Off’s Ali launches pretty city patisserie
EXPERIENCE YOU CAN’T GET OUTSIDE OF LONDON PROMISED
A TEA room and patisserie has been launched by former Great British Bake Off contestant Ali Imdad.
Cocoa by Ali, in Market Street, promises an experience you cannot get anywhere outside London.
Ali told the Mercury that customers can expect a “fun, vibrant and highly photogenic cafe that not only celebrates the food and desserts it serves, but also the surroundings you eat them in”.
Cocoa is not the first opening in Leicester for Ali, who appeared in the fourth series of Bake Off in 2013, and the Great Christmas Bake Off in 2016.
Together with two business partners, he opened a pop-up dessert parlour, Gunpowder and Tea, in Leicester in 2017, before launching a permanent parlour, Rebus Domes, which has since closed.
In 2018, Ali launched his first Cocoa by Ali tea room and patisserie in his home city of Birmingham - and, according to the baker, it has gone from strength to strength.
The University of Leicester graduate said he wants to continue the brand’s success in Leicester, which
he described as his “second home”.
The menu features a variety of dishes, from Indian-inspired chicken tikka mac ’n’ cheese to Korean-inspired fiery chicken and waffles.
According to Ali, a favourite dish is brioche baked toast, which is filled with cream cheese.
There are a number of Leicester exclusives for diners to try, including six-hour slow-cooked beef tacos, a vegan full English and a creamy butter chicken naanwich. The cake selection will change on a daily basis.
Cocoa by Ali is at 18 Market Street, Leicester. It will be open every day, serving brunch from noon until 4pm and an evening menu from 5pm until 10pm.