Hotties only: New exclusive club seeks Manila’s ‘greatest catches’

On a Monday night in the heart of bustling Makati Central Business District, a confused A_Space Manila administrator directed me to the secret event that had the building we were in pulsing with life.

“I think they’re in the kitchen,” he said as he led me two floors down to a brightly lit room with a bar, a sink, a stove, and a handful of guests cooking up something that wasn’t necessarily edible.

I stepped over an open guitar case with a sign that read “Hoochie Coochie Mikkie” taped inside. In the corner was a small table on which stood little bottles of different colored liquors. A chalk sign read, “From down the road: The Bonbon Club.”

A cheerful British lady greeted me as if we were old friends. After introducing herself as “Deanna,” she pulled me into the room, put a drink in my hand, introduced me to the circle of people congregating in the center, and commanded us to “mingle.”

The lady, as I later found out, was Deanna Rubiano, one half of the partnership behind Catch 88, a new members-only club that also advertises itself as a place where you can get a date who is as great a catch as yourself.

In its official press release, Catch 88 says that “[e]very hand-picked member wants a unique and exciting experience, and we design those experiences.” It also vows discretion, promising prospective members that their profiles will be hidden. “[T]he whole office doesn't have to know you're on the prowl,” it said.

You have to be a catch to get in on this kind of fun. Photos: Jica Lapeña

“We decided to put this up out of frustration for a lot of friends of ours who are always saying, ‘I can't meet anyone in Manila,’” Rubiano said.

“So we were like, okay, if the only way to meet guys right now is a) to go to a bar, or b) to go on Tinder...”

She trailed off and gestured toward the room filled with an eclectic mix of personalities, including British-Filipina singer Deborah Eastwood, DJ and Third Culture Music co-founder Mikhail Schemmand, and Razorback drummer Brian Velasco.

Sensational self-taught blues musician Mikki Gozon played heartily in one corner while at the other end of the room, Robuchon-trained chef Miko Calo served guests truffle-infused pasta she had cooked on the spot. On the bar tables in the center, two models painted head-to-toe in chalky white offered their skin to guests trying their hand at body painting.

“We need to create a vibe that's going to try and make people jibe or…meet people that are like-minded,” continued Rubiano.

“If you're working, you want a guy that's working. You want a guy that understands you on every intellectual level. So what we're gonna do is pre-screen every single member, and there's only gonna be 100 founding members. After there are a hundred, you can only get recommended by a member."

Who gets in?

“The criteria's basically when you talk to us, you have: a) an intellectual level, you have b) a good job…creativity, open-mindedness. You have to be good-looking. You have to pass our good-looking kind of like screen test,” Rubiano said.

She, together with her partner Anku Chibb, could not stress enough the importance of exclusivity in forming the right community.

“You could be an artist, you could be a banker, you could be… anything, as long as you have something different to contribute and you know how to work together,” said Chibb.

Rubiano and Chibb will personally scout and pre-screen the first 100 members. Succeeding additions to the community can then get in only by referral from the founding group. Chibb explained that a points system will be in place to monitor the quality of the members and their referrals.

“For example, if you refer someone and you have five stars in the community but if that someone misperforms or does something, your points get deducted so you're in charge of actually bringing the right person in,” she said.

“We don't care about the socialites, the celebs, whatever,” Rubiano added. “If they want in, great, but they must be able to contribute to the community and really like bring something new. Like, we want people to have fun.”

On finding their first hundred members by their April target deadline, Rubiano laughed and said half-jokingly, “Every single day, when we see a good-looking girl or good-looking guy we're stopping them and going,‘Hi! So we're Catch 88…’ and then we have to get to know them like it's very personal and then we like go out with them... It's a hundred people... We can meet like, uh, 50/50 people, in one month. Like we're very, very sociable.”

“Easy,” added Chibb, with confidence.

Rubiano and Chibb, who have backgrounds in marketing, PR and retail, transferred to Manila from the UK around 3 years ago. The pair enthusiastically defended the local scene, explaining that they created Catch 88 to “elevate the Manila experience” (Chibb) and make the Philippines a place “that you wanna come to and live and have fun" (Rubiano).

“You know what my biggest hate is? When you go away in like Europe and everyone's like, ‘Oh you're living in the Philippines—why?’ I'm like, ‘Why not? Have you been?’” Rubiano said.

“So, let's put it together. Let's create a scene that people are gonna be like abroad, going, ‘Oh my god, I've seen an amazing event, it's in the Philippines, let's go.’”

Rubiano adds that the club benefits the members who are single and ready to mingle.

“It takes away the awkwardness of like you going on a one-on-one date,” she said.

“We create these events where you know that everyone is gonna be really good-looking, have a very good job, have an intellectual level that you guys can talk, and then once you're thrown in here it's up to you to find the guy that you're like, ‘yeah, that's who I want to meet.’”

The founders add that more than being about dating, Catch 88 is ultimately about community.

“If you're single, it's for you. If you're gay, it's for you. If you're a couple it's for you. It's for everyone,” said Chibb.

“It's also a platform for up and coming artists. They're so good at what they do, so rather than them putting everything together, we do it for them… [it’s] a scene for artists... it's everything that you wanna be a part of.” — BM, GMA News