Roasting more coffee this Yule season

Tomorrow, it will be time for the yearly holiday ritual known as the Simbang Gabi, and the usual food stalls selling bibingka and puto bumbong will spring up around churches and places of worship, luring food-loving Pinoys into sampling their wares.

It was precisely this scenario that got Pia Caluag and Joby Tanjuatco into their business venture, a resto-bar and café called Roast Cafe. Located along Katipunan Ave. in St. Ignatius Village, Quezon City, Roast Cafe has a homey atmosphere that makes you feel you’re in someone’s living room or some such place. Most of the furniture is made of repurposed wood, and the interiors smell of coffee blends and all things warm and sweet, perfect for the colder holiday weather. The place opened in July 2014 and has since been drawing a regular, good-sized crowd.

“We did the bibingka and puto bumbong during the Simbang Gabi at the Church of the Gesu inside the Ateneo campus for about 15 years. That’s when we got the idea to put a coffee shop,” say the two.

Pia and Joby, who are a real-life couple, also happen to be coffee lovers. They came up with their own blend to serve at the cafe, but in the midst of planning, realized that they still needed something to complete the picture. So they started pitching ideas to each other. That’s when they came up with the idea of building their menu around bibingka. “We were thinking of a good pairing for coffee, something that was unique, and a novelty. And since we did bibingka, we thought, why not? We were bent on doing it the traditional way: Kalan, palayok, bamboo steamers and charcoal — the works.”

Aside from their freshly-roasted coffee, they also serve breakfast food, pasta and sandwiches, all items that fall under the category of comfort food. But because of client demands, Roast Cafe has since evolved to an evening destination that offers Beer Below Zero and a few bar chow items. House specialties include their Crispy Adobo Flakes, Garlic Longganisa, Negrense Chorizo Pasta with Kesong Puti, and of course, their bibingka and puto bumbong that started the whole thing in the first place.

Pia and Joby started with a literally small space, and it just grew from there. “We started with a 12-seater, 22-square-meter space with an extra 20-seating balcony fronting Katipunan Ave. After a year, we took the space next door, a 30-square-meter space that can accommodate about 24 people,” they recall.

Client response since then has been very promising. “We get a lot of positive feedback, and we have quite a number of return customers,” say the two.

House specialties include Crispy Adobo Flakes, Garlic Longganisa, Negrense Chorizo Pasta with Kesong Puti and Bibingka and Puto Bumbong

Pia is in charge of the kitchen, and does the product development and food ideas. Asked to explain their offerings, Pia says that basically, it’s home cooking with certain twists and variations. Most of what they serve can be classified as Pinoy favorites. “Recipes are dishes we cook at home, simple, comfort food with a local twist using tinapa, a lot of Kesong Puti, and variations of Bulacan and Negros Longganisa,” she says. 

Joby is behind the coffee bar. He develops the different blends and coffee ideas. Their coffee variations have become quite popular with the college and working crowd, making Roast Cafe a go-to place for many of them. Some go there to study, talk or simply hang out.

Pia and Joby are grateful for what they’ve achieved so far with Roast Cafe, but hope more people will come and try it in the near future. They’re looking forward to roasting more cups of coffee, and serving their delicious bibingka to both new and old patrons this holiday season — and for them at Roast Cafe, this Christmas and New Year are as good a time to celebrate as any. So go have that cup of coffee and that slice of bibingka.