'Ber' months steak party? Restaurant launches 'micro-catering' for small 'mañanita'

MANILA, Philippines — As the “ber” months come, many have been asking if the holidays this year should be celebrated given the coronavirus pandemic.

Chef Chris Oronce is among those who noticed that many celebrated special occasions even during lockdown. 

“Even at our times right now, special occasions should be celebrated,” he vouched.

According to him, the pandemic posed big challenges for their business, most especially, in aging their signature USDA Prime Black Angus Meats, from which their Wolfgang’s Steakhouse restaurant chain from New York owes 70 to 80% of its success.

To maintain their meats’ freshness and quality, and for customers who cannot come to the chain’s Resorts World Manila, The Podium in Ortigas and Bonifacio Global City branches, the restaurant chain built its own mobile kitchen.

The kitchen truck aims to bring the restaurant experience to homes with its own restaurant-standard equipment, including broilers that go up to 1800 Fahrenheit, to achieve the same hot-off-the-grill steaks and quality cuisine that can be expected from the restaurant. 

Thanks to the truck, the restaurant can now also just park in a garage and bring “skeletal” catering services to a small group of people celebrating an anniversary, a birthday or even a business meeting. 

Oronce, along with Wolfgang’s Steakhouse Philippines Managing Partner Leina Bolinas, called such new concept as “micro-catering.” 

Designed as a full but a less contact service for intimate gatherings of two to 10 people, micro-catering allows customers to choose from the a la carte menu or have a set menu created to fit their budget and catering needs, said Bolinas.

Starting at P25,000 for an anniversary set and at P30,000 for four diners, the restaurant’s micro-catering packages include a complete meal from appetizer to dessert, with options for wine, floral arrangement, tableware, chairs, tables, and personal service from a chef and a server. The restaurant can even provide a playlist to complete the ambience. Other special requests are also welcome, said Bolinas.

She assured Philstar.com and other media outlets at the restaurant’s recent virtual launch that micro-catering is safe for both customers and their kitchen staff since under such setup, the chefs cook in your own home and the staff gets the tables ready without any contact from the diners. Although the restaurant sanitizes its equipment daily, customers have the option to use their own dinnerware and furniture for hygiene.

Likewise, Bolinas said their personnel are regularly tested and screened by doctors. 

According to Oronce, even if the pandemic ends, they are planning to make the mobile kitchen and the micro-catering a part of their “new normal” way in making special occasions truly memorable.