DEAN & DELUCA, Edades Tower, Rockwell, Manila, Philippines

Location: Ground Floor Edades Tower and Garden Villas, 18 Amorsolo Drive, Rockwell Center Makati City; List of Stores Worldwide
Telephone Number: 02-958-3644
Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday 8:00am to 8:00pm (Soft Opening Hours); 6:00am to 12:00 midnight (Regular Operating Hours); Breakfast Hours 8:00am to 10:30am
Official Website: www.deananddeluca.com
Twitter: @deananddeluca
Facebook: Dean & DeLuca

Dean & DeLuca Manila Menu

Dean & DeLuca Manila Breakfast Menu

DEAN & DELUCA, Edades Tower, Rockwell, Manila, Philippines

Dean & DeLuca needs no further introduction. Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca’s powerhouse of upscale grocery stores embodies the perfect notion of living in SoHo. Dean & DeLuca is under our skin. There isn’t a single film since the 90’s that didn’t attempt to lure us into living like a native New Yorker through D&D. Hannibal Lecter eats foie gras out of a travel pack from Dean & DeLuca. Nate brings home a pack of strawberries worth $5 each to Andi in The Devil Wears Prada. Blair Waldorf isn’t a stranger to drinking a cup of coffee at Dean & DeLuca. Admit it. Each one of you has imagined living in SoHo, and drinking a cup of coffee at Dean & DeLuca.

The opening of Dean & DeLuca needs no marketing arm to make itself widespread. There aren’t any flashy Facebook promotions in your feed to uphold the brand’s image. Situating its very first branch at Edades Tower is extremely strategic being in front, making its opening highly anticipated for many people. For someone who came from a tough, masculine industry, Caroline Tanchay, CEO of Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc., delivers a strong brand in Manila shores with poise. Tanchay doesn’t try too hard and shares the passion in the art of making bread, one that’s needed in order to succeed in a cutthroat restaurant business.

The 100 seater restaurant slash delicatessen is barely a month old, but it is appearing to be a regular hangout place for residents in the area. One could easily forget Refinery, as they offer a wide variety of dishes, however it all boils down to personal preferences. Beware, Dean & DeLuca is also a specialty coffee shop to add to your list of third wave coffee places to visit in Metro Manila.

I could barely feel New York as I stepped inside the restaurant. The attempt to SoHo-fy the area of Rockwell is amiss. The interiors created an alternate universe for a city that people once went crazy for: Singapore.

Cafe Americano – P115

Cafe Latte – P140

Dean & DeLuca’s coffee selection, in my opinion, is standard. There’s little room for error in the coffee industry today and by the looks of it, Dean & DeLuca went for the safe position, offering Hazelnut Chocolate Latte and Matcha Green Tea Latte to those who are looking to beat the summer heat. While it is indeed a specialty coffee shop, it retains simplicity that people don’t want to be bothered by how their coffee is being made, but only to enjoy a cup of coffee as a commodity, yet maintaining quality. (Dean & DeLuca needs to work on consistency. There are times when the coffee is not good at all.)

Trivia: Todd Carmichael once crossed the impossible, dangerous paths in Uganda just to get the most exotic coffee bean for Dean & DeLuca distribution.

Margherita Mozza – P550

Another curve ball ~ Dean & DeLuca cooks their pizza in brick oven style, a no-brainer considering its hometown is well-known in cultivating pizza brands like Grimaldi’s. The open kitchen (yet another strategy to ride the hype) boasts flames coming from the brick oven and the excitement of serving dishes is a theatrical sight orchestrated by a supervising Chef, ala Hells Kitchen.

Pizza is another fad that’s tricky to penetrate, but at Dean & DeLuca Manila, the Margherita Mozza is selling like hotcakes. Ultimately, the dough will speak for itself, and Dean & DeLuca seems to have reached that level of bubbling texture that brick oven pizzas are supposed to have. Ingredients are said to have flown in from France, but without mastery and the right environmental temperature, things could go wrong. We don’t exactly have the perfect climate to work in. This “might” just work.

Classic Lasagne – P480

What I liked about Dean & DeLuca’s lasagna is how delicate the pasta layers were. It was neither too thick for the robust meat nor too thin for it to drown in melted mozzarella cheese. Compared to Wildflour, this won my preference.

Dean & DeLuca Manila also serves breakfast to a market that once went crazy for All Day Breakfast restaurants. (Yes, they serve pancakes.) Add to that a specialty coffee shop, brick oven pizzeria, and puffed pastries, bagels and croissants, and we’ve got the likes of Commune, Eric Kayser and Motorino crying for a lost supply of customers.

No matter how flawed the service is at Dean & DeLuca and how “bitter” that chocolate was, as customers rant its over-hyped state through social media, one cannot bring down the level of this brand so easily. Dean & DeLuca is established globally that permeates the minds of the people who will easily praise its successes and forgive any misses. The verdict? Manila’s version is well thought of, strategic and expected from the skilled business hands of a ruthless mining mogul, but not hard to achieve for local restaurateurs. When can we see our homegrown brands take the world globally?

My Second Visit: Breakfast at Dean & DeLuca

Empiricism is such a steoreotypical ideology but indeed, to see is to believe. And to experience one’s belief is even more meaningful, particularly when one’s stomach is concerned. Poor customer service was something I encountered during my second visit at Dean & DeLuca. Hear hear, to all those who are complaining for their lack of training… I finally experienced it myself.

Cafe Mocha – P160

Watered down. Tasted like Starbucks. I took one look at it and knew it wasn’t a good cup. No longer the desired temperature for coffee, which is a bit lower than the recommended. Dean & DeLuca’s staff graciously provided us a second cup of latte on the house to commiserate their shortcomings.

Cast Iron Breakfast – P490

While the sourdough bread slices were wonderful, the bacon and sausages were burnt. I had to scrape off the carcinogenic edges. Although the Cast Iron Breakfast is the bestseller according to their staff, I wouldn’t dare get this on my next visit.

Ham & Cheese Omelette – P350

Dean & DeLuca’s Ham & Cheese Omelette is nothing out of the ordinary.

French Toast – P360

This Brioche stuffed jam & baked pain perdu should brighten my morning, but it was drowning in all that creme fraiche. Diced mangoes and strawberries were sour. This looked like it has been left out in the open for too long.

In fact, most of the dishes coming out of the open kitchen were sitting out in the open for too long, which they have to be extremely careful as it’s beside the entrance of the restaurant. Dishes could easily catch germs, especially those sunny side eggs! Servers were hustling and bustling, not knowing what to do first. One should wait for a couple more months before dining at Dean & DeLuca. Though polite, service during breakfast was a complete disaster.

It wasn’t just our table that had a lot of complaints, but a couple of tables were downright frustrated for the customer service. “This is the effect of your success,” A customer remarked who appears to be a regular at the newly minted store. “And the challenge now is how to be consistent.”

And then there is the magic word once again: Consistency.

Have you tried Dean & DeLuca here in Manila? How does it compare to other stores worldwide, in your opinion? Share your thoughts on Candid Cuisine!