By Hermes Joy Tunac
The newest branch of this high-end café and bakery in Bonifacio Global City, apart from serving good food, is new normal-compliant and open seven days a week for your next brunch out!
Within a span of seven years since the launch of its first café-bakery at the ground floor of Net Lima Building in Bonifacio Global City, Wildflour Café + Bakery continues to catch on among Metro Manilans like wildfire, as it opens its eighth branch also located in the heart of BGC.
“We started in BGC, and we continue to flourish in BGC,” says Wildlour Café + Bakery president and CEO Ana Lorenzana de Ocampo during the opening of the restaurant chain’s newest branch at Ritz Residences just across Uptown Bonifacio.
Al fresco dining
Known for its famous salted chocolate cake, freshly baked loaves of bread and ensaymadas, and Southern-style fried chicken, Wildflour Café’s newest branch also happens to be its biggest. And in keeping with the times, it’s introducing what Ana and her team deem as a unique concept as diners continue to embrace the new normal.
“This is our first branch to feature beautiful al fresco seating with its own bespoke canopies, which are perfect for those who prefer to dine outdoors in the new normal. The branch also features our largest showcase bakery to date, equipped with a number of state-of-the-art equipment that we’re proud to say are the first in the country,” Ana continues.
The 313-sq.-m. store can accommodate around 60 guests. In true café fashion, diners can enjoy the view of Uptown Bonifacio’s skyline, streetscapes and pockets of greenery while savoring good food. “We chose Uptown Ritz because, aside from being a great, visible and accessible corner space, we like the neighborhood and how it offers a nice mix of residential, office and commercial spaces,” the restaurant chain’s founder adds.
Pushing through
While the opening of their newest branch was delayed due to the pandemic, Ana, together with her partners and pool of talented staff, remains grateful.
“It took us an immense degree of control, tough decision-making and careful planning to adapt to the times, but we’re grateful to have been able to not only endure, but rise above the crisis, to be able to carry out our vision to open this amazing new branch,” Ana says with a hopeful smile.
Given that the entire world isn’t out of the woods yet, all Wildflour branches continue to adhere to stringent health and safety protocols to protect staff as well as customers.
The Uptown branch, for instance, has put up acrylic barriers between tables and counters, social-distancing markers, automatic alcohol dispensers and temperature scanners within its premises. All employees are required to wear PPEs, while the place regularly undergoes scheduled disinfection as overseen by a designated onsite sanitation officer.
Aside from the eight Wildflour branches across the metro, the company also runs four sister restaurants dubbed as Little Flours, which offer more evident Filipino touches on its menu.
A graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Administration from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Ana later went to London for Culinary Studies at Le Cordon Bleu. She is also the brains behind Farmacy Ice Cream & Soda Fountain and Pink’s Hot Dogs.
As a commitment to continue bringing the Wildflour experience to more diners, Ana only hopes that their new Uptown Ritz branch offers a reprieve to people in the new year. The opening of Wildflour Uptown Ritz, she says, also provides “a glimmer of hope to the ailing food and beverage industry.” With bated breath and a prayer straight from the heart, she and her partners remain confident that “the industry will be able to eventually surmount the crisis and see better days ahead.”
Graphics by Elizabeth Rachel Laus
