I-S Xperience Bake and Take: Positive reinforcement

Nobody likes being told they’re doing badly. It’s a shame everyday grownup life basically entails listening to the ways you’ve screwed up and trying to figure out how you can fix it.

Fortunately, we had none of that negativity at the I-S Xperience: Bake and Take at Dolcetto by Basilico at The Regent Singapore.   

Executive chef Simone Cerea and pastry chef Lorenzo Sollecito took us through the basics of making tiramisu at the interactive session. Now, you might think, the last thing you want to do after a long day at work is slave away in the kitchen.

But this was different. In a cheery space decorated with orange accents (with orange aprons and orange recipe books to match), while all wearing our very own chef hats, we crafted our individual desserts. Don’t worry, it was none too taxing. The pros had already whipped up the mascarpone mix to layer with the savoiardi biscuits, and piped it into disposable pastry bags (they even snipped the tips for us). So all we had to do was put the ingredients in pretty glasses.

Even the clumsiest work was met with effusive praise. “Fantastic job!” the chefs said. “And so quick too, we won’t need to come into work tomorrow, you can do the job.” When we overfilled our glasses and the tiramisus looked lopsided, Cerea assured us, “Art is subjective. Different people like different things.”

He’s such a fibber, but those white lies were much appreciated. Sometimes, even adults need to be coddled. And after the class, we settled in for light dinner: Seared tuna, mini sandwiches, pastries and our own tiramisu creations. They let us take home some of Dolcetto’s lovely bread too.

We all miss the happy shiny cheerleaders we called teachers in kindergarten. (Remember when you could draw the world’s most hideous stick figure and be heralded as the next Picasso?) We miss that. And you can relive it at Dolcetto. The service at The Regent is just that good.