Dhaka, April 18 (UNB) - The second Bangladesh Fashionology Summit will be held here on May 2, aiming to firm the footings of Bangladesh to fetch its share in the $130bn global market.

Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE), the organizer of the summit, unveiled this at a press conference at a city hotel on Thursday. 

The summit has been titled ‘Digitalization-the Next Destination’ which is aligned with the government’s goal - ‘Digital Bangladesh Vision’.

A total of 41 speakers from 15 countries will speak at various sessions of the summit to be held at International Convention City, Bashundhara.

Organizers said smart clothing is the fourth industrial textile revolution which will reach a sales volume of more than US $130bn by 2025.

“The recent increase of wages and the cost of production have made it inevitable for the apparel manufacturers to concentrate on value added products. The $130 billion smart clothing market is an area we need to focus on to survive and thrive,” said founder and CEO of BAE Mostafiz Uddin.

The shift from producing basic to smart clothing will not be so easy and it has to be done gradually with proper planning and preparation. The objective of the summit is to facilitate the shift, he said adding that all have to work together if they want to do something better.

Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque will attend the summit as the chief guest.

Ambassador and Head of Delegation, Delegation of European Union to Bangladesh RensjeTeerink, Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh Winnie Estrup Petersen, Honorary Consul General, Consulate of Greece in Dhaka and Senior Vice President of BGMEA Faruque Hassan, Managing Director, KDS Group MdSalimRahman and Director, Pioneer Denim Limited Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed, among others, will address in the inaugural session of the event.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will attend the closing session as the chief guest. DNCC Mayor M Atiqul Islam, FBCCI President M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, BGMEA President-elect Rubana Huq, Dutch Ambassador Harry Verweij, Pacific Jeans Ltd Chairman Naser Uddin will also attend. 

I didn’t really consider myself a sweet tooth until I had a Taro (kochu) frozen yoghurt at YoBerries a few years back. Sadly, the place shut down leaving me quite bummed out about the whole situation. Ever since, I jump at every opportunity I get to try out new dessert places to find a new addiction.

Gelatofix opened up very recently at Chef’s Table, Gulshan. It’s a Singapore-based Italian gelato coffee chain which usually is attached with PastaMania, an authentic Italian, casual dining restaurant. While I haven’t had the opportunity of trying PastaMania yet because I always end up ordering some sushi or Thai food whenever I am at Chef’s Table, I definitely had to try Gelatofix to see what the hype is all about amongst Instagram food-bloggers.

To start off, I love ice cream and dessert shops where you can taste a flavor before committing to a whole scoop. We did exactly that and finally settled for the Rocky Almond Parfait from the Parfait section and two different ones from the Magic Boxx section: Nutty Brownie Toast and Pistachio Bronte Toast. Visually, I was awed by the beautiful presentation of all 3 items. They were colorful, big on quantity, and looked unlike any dessert items I’ve tried in Bangladesh.  The parfaits are desserts served in layers usually with whipped cream, fruits, and a custard like puree. The Rocky Almond Parfait consisted of 2 scoops of Mascarpone and Piedmonte Hazelnut gelato, marshmallow, almond slices, and creamy sponge cake with whipped cream to top it all off.

Of course, the beautiful layering made me shriek inside like a kid and I could simply not wait to dig in. I made sure I got a spoonful of everything so that I could taste the whole package. Lo and behold, I was quite disappointed just because of the cake. The cake tasted like more of a fudge brownie which without the gelato was quite dry instead of creamy as they claim. The almond slices gave it an extra texture which was quite nice but not enough to win me over. I quickly moved on to the Magic Boxx so that they don’t melt before I got to enjoy the offerings.

I absolutely loved the concept! The buttery sweet toasted loaves were a delight to eat with the gelatos or just the Giandula Chocolate sauce. You will instantly get a premium feeling by just the taste of the whole item. We got the Pistachio, Knam Dark Chocolate, and Mascarpone (quite the hit flavor) out of which the dark chocolate was declared the least favorite at our table. Bits of cookies, nuts, strawberries, and peanut butter sauce had sealed the deal for us. But it was intensely bitter to stomach and we wound up finishing the Nutty Brownie Toast with just the sauce and mascarpone. The Pistaschio Bronte Toast was sweet and salty which goes so well in desserts such as a chocolate chip cookie!

We went for the small Magic Boxx and still felt that it could feed upto 2. Note for future self: avoid the Dark Chocolate, Mascarpone goes well with all their desserts, ask for extra peanut butter sauce, and don’t over-order.

By: Ifreet Taheea

Dhaka, Apr 17 ( UNB)- Even though I am not much into chocolate since childhood, I have a strong liking for chocolate desserts and drinks. Every coffee shop I visit, I make a point to order chocolate desserts or drinks. Some surprise me with their taste and make me their loyal customer and some disappoint me big time. Almost 3 years back opened the first chocolate café in Gulshan North Avenue of Dhaka, Bangladesh. I am sure by now you can guess I’m talking about the famous Butlers Chocolate Café. I have visited this Cafe numerous times by now and became quite a huge fan of it. This article is a bit about their history and their famous Chocolate Lava Cake.

Founded by Ms. Marion Bailey-Butler in 1932 in North Dublin, the company has a chain of Butlers Chocolate Cafes, first in Ireland followed by New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Owned by an Irish manufacturer, the cafes offer a range of special organic handmade chocolates as well as meals and snacks.

It has been over 3 years that this cafe opened in Gulshan North Avenue in Dhaka. It looks very fancy on the inside with nice seating arrangements and also a very organized setup outside with huge umbrellas. They have an arrangement indoors where different varieties of chocolate are placed along with the elegant gift boxes. The outside arrangement looks very appealing in the evening with the string lights beneath the umbrellas. You can visit Butlers with friends and family. It is usually open for breakfast from 8 a.m. and serves customers till midnight.  

The main hype behind Butlers Cafe stems from its handmade chocolates and their Chocolate Lava Cake. Quite fascinated by the name (which I’d never heard before), I had to try and figure out whether it could live up to it. Oh my ! The freshly baked choco lava cake was served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream which mixes smoothly with the cake and hot molten chocolate. It was warm, soft and gooey. It is perfect for 2 people but if you are a crazy chocoholic or you have a sweet tooth then you can eat the dessert all by yourself. If you haven’t visited Butlers yet, here’s a tip: do it before Ramadan is here!

By: Marjan Rahman

Bangkok, Apr 17 (AP/UNB)  — A dog found swimming more than 220 kilometers (135 miles) from shore by workers on an oil rig crew in the Gulf of Thailand has been returned safely to land.

A worker on the rig belonging to Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Vitisak Payalaw, said on his Facebook page that they saw the dog swimming toward the platform last Friday. He said they were lucky to spot it because if there had been waves it probably would not have been visible.

The dog made it to the platform, clinging to the support structure below deck without barking or whimpering, Vitisak wrote.

The crew managed to lower a rope and secure it around the dog's neck and haul it up. Vitisak said they speculated the dog might have fallen off a fishing trawler, and dubbed it Boon Rod, or Survivor.

The dog was delivered by boat to the southern port of Songkhla on Monday and was declared in good shape after being taken to the animal protection group Watchdog Thailand.

Vitisak said if the dog was unclaimed, he would like to take it to his home in northeast Thailand.

Elsterheide, Apr 16 (AP/UNB) — A small Slavic minority in eastern Germany is keeping alive a long, intricate tradition of hand-painted Easter eggs that's been passed down by Sorbian families for generations.

At an Easter egg market in Elsterheide near the Saxon town of Hoyerswerda, around two dozen egg painters showed off their trade on Sunday.

Werner Zaroba said he learned the craft from his grandparents, remembering how as a child on Good Friday, "we would paint the eggs to give them to our godparents as an Easter present."

Decades later, the elderly man sticks to the tradition. He dips the eggs into a color bath, then using fine knives he scratches delicate patterns on the surface of the eggshell.

Zaroba says it takes him up to seven hours to decorate one egg alone.