Now in season: Flowers and comfort food at Designer Blooms Cafe

Flowers and food have a lot more in common than you think. 

 

Plating food is like arranging flowers in a special bouquet, with its harmony of colors, and blend of ingredients. 

 

Catch a whiff or a scent and it fills you with an unexplainable joy. 

 

Name a particularly gloomy day and doubtless, the sights and smells of fresh flowers and good food can brighten it up right then and there.

 

Combine both and it makes for an inspiring and refreshing experience. 

 

Last October 27, members of the press and VIP guests drove up south to take part in the Designer Blooms Café experience during its launch in its flagship store at the Molito Commercial Complex in Alabang.

 

The invite, like most press invites are, left a lot of room for imagination. So during the long drive, I closed my eyes and filled in the blanks.   

A trip to your favorite florist

 

On the way there, I had musings of a salad plate or a soup bowl filled with flowers, vegetables and fruits. Or a red carpet streaming with flower petals. Perhaps a huge flower cake with flower icings and edible flowers. Those scenarios seemed weird to me though.

 

Thankfully, it happened in the most sophisticated, understated way possible.  

 

Walking inside Designer Blooms Café felt like visiting your friendly neighborhood florist, who wouldn’t mind if you just looked around, smelled the flowers, and sat down one of its comfy seats too. 

 

The interiors, dainty and simple, matched the high ceiling, colorful ceramic vases in the shelves, and antique furniture with a subtle grace that didn’t steal the show away from the flowers.  

 

I tried to drown out the music from the loudspeakers and the chatter of guests, and quickly saw the cafe as a peaceful, relaxing place that couples and small families can visit for an intimate quality time. 

 

“Diners can expect to experience good ambiance, coupled with the idea of fresh food. The comment I usually get is ‘wow, ang bango-bango!’ You can smell the flowers and the food the moment you come in,” said Marie Garcia, who owns the café, together with her sister Issa Garcia-Licam. 

 

The sisters took their cue from the ongoing trend of branching out high-end brands into restaurants in the US, such as Armani Ristorante and Guess Café. 

 

“And since Designer Blooms has been in the industry for 20 years, we felt it would be a good time to diversify,” Marie added, emphasizing the opening of their restaurant as the perfect way to celebrate the upscale flower shop’s 20th year in the biz.

 

And just like the flowers, of which the availability depends on the season, the food in Designer Blooms Café changes with the season as well. 

 

“As you see in our blackboard, we don’t have entrees. Because it changes with the season. So the diners can walk in today and there’s a shepherd’s pie and the next week, it’s something else,” Marie said. 

 

Which brought me to ask, so what’s in season? 

 

I was relieved to find out we will not be eating platefuls of flowers and vegetables, for the café, despite its fresh, very organic ambiance, offers a wide range of food—from light ones like salads and sandwiches, to heavy dishes like pasta and meaty skewers.  

Comfort food in a homey place

 

I wouldn’t be able to tell you of the sizes and the prices, since we were given bite sizes of the dishes for a taste test.

 

But what I can tell you is that their mom’s potato salad is to-die-for. It’s been three days since I tasted that dish but I can still imagine the creamy, fluffy, and perfectly seasoned potatoes in my mouth. 

 

Based from my experience, the best dishes are always the ones with heart. So during a quick chat with Marie’s mother Rica Garcia, Designer Blooms’ founder, I found out the dish was actually from a recipe handed down from Rica’s grandmother! It’s comfort food you’ll eat, while reminiscing the good ole days with your dearest grandma. 

 

But if you want the ultimate flower shop café experience, try their Greek salad medley, which actually tasted like music in my mouth (if you can imagine eating musical notes!)—feta cheese, grapes, greens and edible flowers and a drizzle of  yogurt dressing for its final note.  

 

For pasta, Marie recommended the truffle mac n’ cheese (which wasn’t served during the launch) and homemade ravioli, which I wasn’t able to appreciate best, because when it was served, it wasn’t warm anymore. 

 

A lot of lip-smacking action happened on our table when we were served the open-face jalapeno burger sliders (with juicy Angus beef) and the chicken bacon skewers. 

 

We finished our meal off with a mango and chocolate panna cotta and a strawberry cheesecake. 

 

Uncomplicated and organic, Designer Blooms Café doesn’t try too hard. Why should it, when it just seeks to comfort and warm your soul?

 

It may be a long way from home, but there’s a big chance a branch will be in the works in the north or in Fort Bonifacio. 

 

Until then, I will tuck these memories like pressed flowers in my notebook. –KG, GMA News