As long-time advocates of the buy local campaign, its owners view this development as a “natural progression” from their previous efforts. After all, it is what the pandemic calls for: local sourcing of products.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Kapetolyo, the landmark coffee place within a stone’s throw from Manila City Hall, is shaping up the way Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and its owners, Rich and Margaret Watanabe, envisioned it to be—a clean, beautiful and well-lighted destination that, apart from showcasing Manila’s renewed thrust to attract local and foreign tourists, provides guests with the best locally sourced coffees, hot and savory dishes as well as desserts.
Just earlier this month, the husband-and-wife team of Rich and Margaret, who are also behind the SGD Coffee chain, partnered with Chef Christian Valdes of CMV Txokolat to provide guests with a special five-course Valentine’s season dinner dubbed as “Dapwan 4.” As its number implies, Kapetolyo’s latest dapwan, which means hearth in the Kankanaey language, was in its fourth iteration since the place opened to the public sometime in October last year.
From serving some of the best locally sourced coffees from Sagada, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, Cavite and Batangas, and pairing them with in-house as well as supplied cakes, pastries and cookies, Kapetolyo has also started serving guests hot meals since December. Among its bestsellers are Inadobo sa Kape, Carbonara with Etag, Pesto Massimo Pasta and Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Soup, among others.
Extra-special menu
But the trio felt that Valentine’s season, which ran from February 13 to 15 at Kapetolyo, deserved an extra-special menu, never mind if the place, which on regular days is open to walk-in diners, had to limit the number and time the arrival of guests through reservations in keeping with social distancing measures.
“It took me about a month of planning, training, sourcing and execution to be able to come up with our Valentine’s Day menu,” says Christian.
Apart from being mindful of company branding, which is to celebrate some of the country’s best locally sourced ingredients, one of the young chef’s primary considerations in planning the special, five-course dinner was to come up with offerings that appealed to a broad range of people. And that included those with specialized diets.
He also stayed within a certain price range while also being mindful of his limitations—from the kitchen personnel’s number and level of knowhow, to Kapetolyo’s small open kitchen itself.
Despite such limitations, he was able to come up with a menu that passed the couple’s exacting standards. This included Pumpkin Christophine, a pumpkin-based soup paired with espresso whipped cream and dehydrated coconut shavings and served with sourdough toast basted lightly with coconut oil.
“The most difficult part in coming up with the menu wasn’t the incorporation of, say, coffee or chocolate into the dishes,” says Christian. “It was in achieving consistency and freshness as well as assuring the availability of local ingredients that we used in the dishes.”
Coffee’s versatility
Since he wanted to highlight how versatile SGD (Sagada) coffee is while also showcasing how a savory dish could “evolve” using coffee, Christian opted to take a bit of risk that resulted in a rich, flavorful soup that was like no other.
For the main entrees, Christian offered diners three choices: Filet Mignon on a Bed of Red Rice; Herbed Butter Pan-Seared Chicken; and, for vegetarians, Shakshuka, which consisted of tomatoes and bell peppers slow-roasted with Middle Eastern spices and feta cheese. He then topped it with fresh cilantro and mint leaves.
Take note that Christian opted for locally sourced and supposedly healthier unpolished brown rice and adlai to pair with his beef tenderloin and chicken leg quarters, respectively.
A Valentine’s Day dinner wouldn’t be complete without dessert. For his Chocolate Fruit Bouquet, Christian came up with the sweetest La Trinidad Valley strawberries and Polomolok pineapples dipped in South Cotabato dark chocolate.
To set the Valentine’s Day mood, Margaret had a section of the restaurant’s wall blanketed with an assortment of fresh flowers. A flatscreen TV, a holdover from the Christmas season, played looped images of crackling fire to simulate a fireplace.
In lieu of singers performing in an enclosed area, a no-no in the age of COVID (at least, for the meantime), the couple tapped members of the Manila String Machine to play classic and contemporary love songs and movie themes.
Surprise dessert
As an added treat, Rich, a gourmand who knows his way around the kitchen, provided each guest with a surprise dessert consisting of small servings of home-made quality strawberry ice cream, tiramisu and cheesecake. Diners, especially the ladies, had a wonderful time satisfying their sweet-tooth cravings with the second set of sweets.
In keeping with the restaurant’s advocacy of promoting local ingredients, the strawberries were sourced from the Mountain Province, while the cheesecake, instead of using imported blueberries, was topped off with bugnay, a local wild berry that’s widely available in the Cordilleras.
Kapetolyo’s biggest source of pride, of course, are its coffees. For the tiramisu, Rich and his team used authentic SGD coffee espresso to achieve, says Margaret, “that authentic coffee taste.”
Kapetolyo’s identity
Going native has always been part of Kapetolyo’s identity. “We’ve been advocating the buy local campaign since SGD Coffee started,” Margaret adds. “It’s a natural progression to carry over this action to Kapetolyo. We feel the need for this now, more than ever, because it is what the pandemic calls for—local sourcing of products.”
Owing to the success of “Dapwan 4,” the trio will soon begin planning the next edition of Kapetolyo’s “coffee dinner.” They’re looking at the possibility of offering a new set of dishes on Mother’s Day.
“Maybe sooner,” Margaret declares. “We just have to find a reason to eat and serve more good food!”
One thing is for sure, says Christian: “We definitely don’t want to serve the same dishes. We will probably adjust and come up with a different menu for the next holiday. But, definitely, it will be delicious.”
And, in true Kapetolyo fashion, a menu that also celebrates pride of place through the use of some of the best and freshest locally available ingredients.
