With the Holey Artisan Bakery downstairs and the O'Kitchen Restaurant upstairs, the Dhaka eatery with large windows looking out at a lush lawn suggested an oasis in an increasingly dangerous city.
That illusion ended at about 9 p.m. on Friday, as gunmen burst through the door of an establishment that sells profiteroles and pizzas to Dhaka's elite.
"It is an elegant place: diplomats, successful businessmen, and politicians would meet here," said Agnese Barolo, wife of the international affairs adviser to Bangladesh's prime minister.