Café Laguna turns 21

 CEBU, Philippines - "This is the real food."

Ms. Jill Viado, franchise director of Café Laguna, heard this overwhelming remark from a group of foreigners who dined recently. "Nakakataba talaga ng puso because aside from our solid Filipino clientele, we consider the support of a foreign group as an affirmation that we have not only served well, but excellently in over two decades," she said.

Today (September 28), Café Laguna turns 21 years old.

Though the Urbina family hails from Laguna, they have made Cebu their niche. The evolution of their food business – from offering fine dining to catered food, and lately becoming an express food locator at the Oakridge Pavilion in Mandaue City - proves how much was achieved in all these years. And there's no relaxing yet, because today you are all invited to partake of new product developments - from main dish to dessert.

As of this writing, Ms. Viado declined from divulging specific details on such developments. However, she said that these would certainly be part of the buffet station.

"No, hindi ko na muna sasabihin kung ano talaga. Patrons have to check them out," she said.

Today will be Thanksgiving Day for the solid support of the Cebu community. "We're going on strong because of the unwavering trust of the Cebuano community, so we have to give back by making sure that today we would be there to interact with our clients, so personally we would acknowledge how much they've given us in all these 21 years," Viado added.

"As for the buffet table, hindi mawawala ang signature dish na lechon. This is in honor of tradition," she further said.

Viado also encouraged clients to scan their menus thoroughly. "Soon we will be considering touch-screen menus para ma-engganyo ang mga customers na basahing maigi. Kasi we actually have a wide range of food items. Ang nakasanayan na lang kasi ang laging ino-order. But if they would take time to read the menus, malalaman nila we have paella, cocido, and laksa (ginataang puso ng saging). If they would check our picture menu, they would be drawn to guinomis (fresh buko juice with tapioca)."

As for those in the Mandaue area, the Oakridge outlet is up with healthy set meals and other items which can be shared for a larger group. "All are reasonably priced naman, so dapat they should not be intimidated with the ambiance na parang mahal tingnan."

"What we would want to underline there is that even the C and D market has this place where they can eat healthy and decently, far from a depressing environment, at a reasonable price."

She also pointed out that arroz caldo (porridge) and sandwiches, tapsilog (tapa, sinangag at itlog) and tuna omelet are very convenient food items or "food to go" for those in a hurry. In fact, they have free delivery services within the area for the real busy bodies who can't take a beeline to the outlet. "It's really a surprise to us that we still have our identified market even in A.S. Fortuna; we initially have this impression we would be able to touch base with the BPO or the yuppies," she shared.

Café Laguna is very strong in its catering service. In fact, it recently served AboitizLand's intimate launch party for its Pristina North Residences presentation in Talamban.

According to Viado, "that is also one of the highlights of our two decades, since we figured strongly in the high-end market."

Soon, Café Laguna will be carving a name in the Socsksargen (South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos City) area with a franchise in GenSan. "Abangan nila yan, kasi sa dami nga ng applications, ang GenSan ang isa sa pinaka-promising na lugar na pwedeng-pwede ang Café Laguna," Viado announced in concluding this interview.  (FREEMAN)