WHEN you and your family are born foodies from the start, opening up a new resto will flow just naturally.
Indeed that was what 22-year-old Anna Rochelle Uy did. After graduating as a business student in Xavier University, Rochelle immediately took up a crash culinary course at Culinary Institute of Cagayan de Oro (CIC), owing to her passion of food when she was young.
In this interview last Sunday, Rochelle recalled that the family would cook food by themselves and would shy away from caterers during parties. “We really love to cook because we can control the ingredients, the tastes.”
After graduating from the culinary course, an opportunity whipped by. It was the entrepreneurial instinct in Rochelle that clicked when she saw an empty spot at the second level of Cagayan Town Center.
Conveniently located at the corner of Luna and Vicente Roa St., CTC is just the right place for Rochelle’s debut investment. And so Espressini Café was born.
The family was instantly supportive of Rochelle’s endeavors. Her aunt Ann Jeanette joined in the financial side. Then a family friend Chef Edward David Mateo inputted all the interior and decorative suggestions with Rochelle’s approval of course.
By August 21 they were ready. Espressini Café is now open to the public, bringing more clientele to a slowly budding entertainment and dining hole in the city, Cagayan Town Center.
Take a text and visual look at some of their mouthwatering dishes – linguine truffle mushroom pasta coupled with a hint of white truffle mushroom oil, grilled chicken pesto pasta, matcha cheese cake coupled with matcha green tea smoothie, baked rice tomato pork chop topped with melted cheese, affogato coupled with a separate espresso shot, grilled tuyo pasta with sundried tomato and grilled eggplant, pesto bangus, homemade smoked longganisa, apple yogurt blend, homemade hot chocolate, creamy tomato pasta, coffee salted caramel (using fancy sea salt), creamy French toast topped with maple syrup and crispy bacon. Ain’t that gastronomically inspiring?
