November 28, 2024 | 12:00am
A bakery going by the moniker M is now open at the upscale Opus Mall in Bridgetowne. This is a mixed township and real estate park tucked away on a side street from E. Rodriguez Sr., near Ortigas Avenue Extension. Bridgetowne must be based on the nearby bridge that will take you to Cainta and beyond. It’s a bit of a surprise to come across this nicely developed area.
The Opus itself is a marvel, a beautifully designed mall that feels cozy despite its size. The establishments that are already open include the interesting concept store Spatio, Marketplace, restaurants and food outlets like M Bakery.
From the other M Bakery branches in Rockwell, Megamall, One Bonifacio in BGC and Mitsukoshi, you know that M stands for the famed bakery that first opened in New York. That shop opened in the West Village in 1996, a charming area that my daughter Hannah and I enjoyed visiting. So she came with me to see the fifth and latest branch of this bakery cafe in Manila.
M Bakery was frequented by cupcake-loving New Yorkers even before Carrie Bradshaw famously bit into a vanilla cupcake in front of the original store on Bleeker Street. It was already well known to Filipinos traveling to the US. That’s what made Stewart Ong, managing partner of Phil Jacobe Ventures Inc., franchise this dessert chain and bring it to the Philippines.
Erick Larrios, M Bakery vice president for franchise operations, described the new and unique offerings of the Opus branch with such appetizing detail that we couldn’t wait to sink our teeth into the individualized dessert skillets, the gelato flavors, mini cupcakes and cookies, and magic bars.
Of the dessert skillets, the apple-flavored one was our favorite, while the ruby chocolate ice cream, made from a pinkish colored cacao bean, was divine. The magic bars, which sandwiched chocolate and butterscotch chips between a graham cracker crust and flaked coconut, were such chewy delights.
Chef Kiran Shetty, corporate chef of M Bakery, happily incorporated ube, calamansi and even Chocnut into the bakery items to give them a local spin. After sourcing the ube from Bukidnon, they spend hours, or as needed, to make the haleya themselves. Mihn Quyen Ngo, director for franchise training (we thought she was Filipino) had an easy time training the Filipino staff.
“No need to teach them about customer service,” she said. “Filipinos are so warm!”
Using no instant fixes or mixes, pre-packaged items or unhealthy additives, you can taste that moist freshness as you bite into a vanilla cupcake iced with pink buttercream — that was the choice of Jessica Parker’s character in Sex in the City. All the other flavors are crowd pleasers, too, but unadulterated vanilla best tests a cupcake store’s mettle.
Speaking of cupcakes, what do M Bakery customers go for globally — is it the cupcakes or their unctuous banana pudding?
“They’re neck to neck,” Eric replies, and we’re not surprised. Even non-banana lovers are hooked on the layers of creamy pudding, soft biscuits and sweet fruit. It’s what I opt to ask more of before I leave the store. M Bakery is constantly developing new pudding flavors to cater to all kinds of tastes and even dietary restrictions.
This bakery cafe is still a dessert destination, so if you need something solid to cushion all that sugar, there’s a Manam restaurant right across the corridor. There’s also Breakfast by Antonio’s with its inevitable queue.
But when you’re ready for dessert, there are enough cupcakes, icebox bars, ice cream concoctions, cookies and bars at M Bakery to satisfy even the sweetest tooth.
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