Chez Flo

Chez Flo we have for the moment in addition to the Cafe, 2 guest rooms available for rent. After the blue room here is the Amber room ;-)

I just went tonight to buy some fabric to create Chez Flo uniform. Noooo it will not be a white shirt and black trousers (white is always grey or yellow in Bangladesh after a while ;-))). I have chosen orange!
Yes, orange color, flashy and bright as the sun....
I have chosen the design as a traditional shirt without collar. Just to mix the tradition of Bangladesh with a "french" touch! That's why they will also wear an apron dark beige with the logo Chez Flo embrodered in the front! I know it's difficult to visualize so I promise to put some pix as soon as it's ready ;-)

We have created also a new item for the Cafe today! The choclate tart. It's a biscuit pastry filled with a chocolate cream inside served with s small pot of "creme anglaise"! We also do the same tart filled with fresh Lemon curd, Orange Curd and Moka cream ;-))))

Bon appetit!

We add a new item to our list, the Biscotti Date, raisins and Pistachios. Trust me, it's excellent!

What is behind the idea of RBBA and Chez Flo. It's what I call Responsible Business or Ethic Business. It's a way to help people from Bangladesh from inside meaning that I am helping them to develop business, generate incomes and then use this money to help more people.
I just opened the guest house and the Cafe. I have 4 people working with me. 1 couple under employed by the previous people in the house, 1 cook out of job for 3 years, 1 assistant Manager who is learning business and 1 waiter who just want to learn a job and feel useful!
My job is to develop the business and train them in a real situation in order to give them skills but also hope. Also, I am sourcing experienced and also non experienced staff for hospitality with a good behavior who want to work abroad, especially in UAE.
I am meeting each of them, discussing their cvs, checking their english and evaluating their motivation and aptitude to work in a new environment. Some of them had tears in their eyes as they were so scared to talk to me because of total absence of confidence in the process to apply for a job...
Finding a job in Bangladesh is so difficult and the major problem for the young people even if they have diploma is experience and getting skills.
I believe that helping children with education and food is a major task and many great people are doing it. But we also need to help the young adults? They are the future parents of the kids and if we help them to find a job, they will be able to feed their children and give them a proper future.
That's part of breaking the cycle of poverty. Today, many children are begging in the street sent by their parents instead of going to school.
Bangladesh is changing a lot, in a good way, but there are so many people here and so many unemployed. Bangladeshi are fantastic people hangry for food but also hangry to learn and work. If we can help them to find a job especially in the booming hospitality sector, we will have done something Responsible. Maybe it's a drop in the ocean but it's a drop of hope and I have to try!

Just finished to decorate the first Guest Room ;-) It will be The Blue Room. Hope you enjoy!

I am so proud and so happy!
We just got our first customers this morning ;-)) OK, I know them and they are friends but what a good news when Bertrand called me to say he will come as a customer!
Sultan and Salim just got the opportunity to put in practice what I told them yesterday and this morning.

Here we are, we just finished to set up the "Cafe" this morning. Big step for us. Simple furniture I transformed or repainted in order to give them a better look. Curtains stiched by needed ladies as what we do here is always keeping in mind that it can help someone.
Salim is very excited by the Cafe. He is in training with me for the last 2 weeks and honnestly? I cannot eat a piece of Tea Cake anymore as I have tried so many to be sure we will get the perfect recipe ;-).
We have decided to start with 4 items to be proposed in the Cafe.
- Tea Cake Ginger and Lemon
- Chocolat fondant from Grand Mie
- Crepes (Sugar - Lemon - Chocolate)
- Paesh Cinnamon (which is the bangla name for Riz au lait or Milky Rice)

We also offer
- Coffee
- Tea
- Ginger, Lemon, Honey Tea
- Fresh Orange Juice
- Fresh Apple Juice
- Fresh Mango Juice
- Fresh Pineapple Juice
and of course 7 Up, Coke and water ;-))
The Coffee and Tea will be served with one of our homemade Ginger cookies

I will also cook some items people can take home as for example an Onion, Raisin Chutney I just made yesterday.

Chez Flo has already 3 trainees who are really looking forward to improve their skills!
Bon appetit!

That's the name of the Company and it means Responsible Business Bangladesh. We just got the approval from the Joint Stock which is a kind og Government Name Bank. You have to go through this process before starting any paper. RBBA is ours now and I am really happy.
Under RBBA we will have Chez Flo and Cafe Flo of course but also an hospitailty recruitment company. That's the core of the business. The idea is to source qualified staff or staff with potential, select them, interview them and do the liaison with some renowned hotel in Dubai who apply a real politic of social responsability for their employees. That's what I call Responsible. Chez Flo and Cafe Flo will be at the same time, free of charge, a training platform for those who need a help in order to get some skills.
We have already a trainee in Bakery and an office assistant who are working with us.
I received around 20 cvs of experienced people who are willing to go. I know some of you will tell me that if I send the best of the profession, the country will loose its expertise. I don't think this way as those people are stuck in their jobs for the last 10 years and do not give a chance to the young generation to have a job as the turnover is not important enough yet! I also hope in a very near future, I will be able to provide good people to the Bangladesh hospitality industry meaning that this sector will be in big development.
Tomorrow morning is a big time for the Baker trainee as I have a meeting with l'Alliance francaise in order to discuss around some "samples" the possibility to provide cakes for their Cafe ;-)))
9pm already and just finished my last meeting. Need to rest as I will start at 6am to cook with him!

This title seems simple when you live in some "easy parts of the world" but for me here, simple things turns to nightmares. One full day from 9am to 7pm just to go and find the right fabric to do my bed sheets and the curtains. Of course you can find ready made bad sheets but I don't think that big flowers and Winnie the Poo will look nice Chez Flo ;-). So, I went all the way to old Dhaka where you find the fabric market! what an adventure... Crazy traffic, very hot and humid day in this so busy area.

Then we went to the New Market to find matresses and pillows... After bargaining and sweating like crazy, I came back home exhausted but happy ;-)