The Bacchus experience

MANILA, Philippines - Food is central to any relationship. But do you know how to whip up magic in the kitchen?

Not a chef but want to cook like one? It all boils down to the best ingredients one puts together for a meal of a lifetime or simply for every day.

Alex Lichaytoo, owner of Bacchus Epicerie, believes that ordinary individuals can make fantastic dishes with the right ingredients.

“The ingredients don’t even have to be expensive, it only needs to be the best in its category,” Alex explains while in the Bacchus test kitchen in Makati City. “If an ingredient will increase the cost of your dish by a few pesos, is it not worth using it just to make your clients or family happier?”

Bacchus started with wines from Bordeaux in 1996; then introduced great wines from Italy, Argentina and the rest of the world. 

“What was important also was that we were obsessed with proper temperature-controlled storage in the warehouse and the stores. This made the wines more enjoyable and taste the way they were supposed to,” Alex says.

In 2001, Alex and his brother Clifford decided to venture into the food business that brought life to the store’s epicerie concept — similar to the ubiquitous dry goods markets found all over France.

The Bacchus Epicerie started with the world’s finest coffee from Torino, Italy — Lavazza. Eventually, Bacchus offered five-star hotels, resorts and restaurants and started serving Lavazza coffee all over the Philippines.

The expansion of the store did not stop there. It began selling De Cecco — the best pasta brand in Europe — to the manila market. Then came in Compangnie Coloniale, the superlative loose-leaf teas from France; and the unsurpassed Venchi chocolates. Oh, let’s not forget the USDA Prime beef from Wisconsin — among the best steaks in the world.

But despite the premium quality of the products, Alex emphasizes that Bacchus’ commitment is to bring in the best but not necessarily the most expensive.

“Every year, we taste all the wines we import whether an inexpensive everyday table wine at P400 or a gold medal winner as every vintage is unique and a completely different wine,” Alex says. “If the wine costs P500, we will assure you that it is the best P500 wine you will find,” he adds.

Excited already where to find Bacchus? The company recently opened its third store — Bacchus Epicerie-Ortigas located at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. It is 1,493.2 square feet of culinary heaven for food, wine, cheese and tea enthusiasts.

In the Ortigas store, one will find fine cabinets containing some of the best selection of cheeses and canisters of the finest teas. A few steps away is the temperature-controlled wine room. To date, Bacchus has 500 different wines sitting in a room — at 16 to 18 degrees Celsius. In the middle of the store are tall, red canisters of loose-leaf tea sold per 100 grams.

Bacchus Epicerie is a place of experience, wonder and excitement for non-cooks and culinary experts alike. The store sells cookware that no other store in the country carries  like skillets, griddles, pans, Dutch ovens, braisers, roasters and cookware accessories from Le Creuset.

One will also see an entire wall of Riedel wine glasses from Austria, grape-specific glasses for every kind of wine. Using the right glass enhances the entire wine experience. Use the wrong wine glass and your good wines will never taste at their best.

Then there’s De Cecco Pasta, made from a selection of the best durum wheat through a slow drying process. It is a brand known for its premium quality. Choosing the right sauce for this top-of-the-line pasta brand would be a walk in the park once inside the store as it also carries  more than 50 different Sacla and Dega ready-to-heat pasta sauces.

For chocolate lovers, there’s Venchi, the Turin-based chocolate maker known to be one of the best in all of Europe, which is sold by 100 grams. These chocolate treats are kept within the temperature-controlled wine room.

Bacchus Epicerie also offers sugar- and gluten-free selections.

“As we build more shops, it is getting more exciting and fun to be part of a community,  our new Ortigas store, some say, is our best one to date but others say our Alabang store at Commerce Center has the most character and best selection,” Alex says.

 And he adds with a wry smile, “I guess it all depends on where you live!”

So, come to Bacchus and be your own chef.