Saturday, September 17, 2011

Café Volere in Cebu City

By Chef Ed Dychauco

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

CAFÉS are the in thing. And it won't be surprising to see small and large scale cafés and coffee shops mushrooming all over. Each and everyone have their specialties and offerings. Be it simple and basic drinks or desserts.

One of the newest and trendiest café to hit the Queen City of the South is Café Volere, a friendly modern coffee shop that is nestled on the basement of Rustan's Supermarket at Ayala Mall.

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Volere is an Italian word, which means, "I like," according to their store supervisor, Ms. Grace Moronia. A simple but very elegant place to have freshly ground special coffee using only the finest Arabica beans, meaty Lasagna (best-seller), scrumptious sandwiches (beef pastrami, tuna, chicken, and ham and cheese) in whole wheat, French or soft sweet bun, delicious and sinfully-rich desserts, cakes and pastries that includes deep-dark chocolate-based cakes and decadent cheesecakes. It is a place not only for coffee lovers but also to those who have a passion for something sweet!

Their well-trained female barista, Ms. Maricel Manaba, has been with Café Volere since they started and has served countless and various simple cappuccinos, lattes and espresso to the more sophisticated hot and cold concoctions to numerous well-known clients and celebrities that include prominent politicians, businessman, basketball players and the like.

Noticeably, there are also a lot of foreigners enjoying their cup of coffee together with their friends and family.

Right in front of Café Volere is another sister company, Oven-Fresh by Kate, a bakeshop that sells all kinds of breads but also concentrates on Artisan Specialty breads on weekends like Sourdough, Polish Baguette, Rye Bread, Whole Wheat, French Bread, Bagels, Rosemary, Foccaccia and many more.

What started as a small, home-based entrepreneurship way back in the late 2000, their first venture in the baking industry, Baker Bob became a hit among bread connoisseur. Regular, day to day hot breads are sold out fast as soon as it comes out fresh from the oven.

From one branch, it ventured into six more branches within Cebu City that includes Robinson's (Fuente Osmena), Robinson's (Mactan), Robinson's (Talisay), Banilad Town Center, Rustan's Banilad and Basement of Rustan's (Ayala Center) in a short span of time.

Soon after, there was a clamor for more "specialty and health" breads, which prompted the owners to start and venture into the more complex but "good for the body" type of baked products.

Hence, Oven-Fresh by Kate was born. And it didn't take long for the consumer to realize that these types of breads are now available and can be bought in their several branches within the city.

Katherine Go-Ching, the lady behind the success of these establishments, is a graduate of several prominent baking schools in Thailand and other well-known institutions here and abroad. She really has the passion in making the best bread, cakes and pastries.

Ably assisted by her husband, brothers and parents, these family-owned establishments are already making waves not only in Cebu City but nearby towns and cities as people crave for more of her baked goodies.

So, when in Cebu City, try to visit one of their branches and enjoy what Baker Bob, Oven -Fresh by Kate and Café Volere had to offer. Relax and enjoy!

(Email add: potsnpans1976@yahoo.com; website: www.potsnpans1976.weebly.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on June 30, 2011.

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