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During closure, Boracay restaurateur stays afloat with pop-ups in Manila

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Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — When he first heard the news that Boracay will close temporarily for six months, Nowie Potenciano had no time to sit around the powdery white sand and mope.With several restaurants on the island that employ some 100 workers, Potenciano knew he needed to do something quick. And like most Filipinos these days, he took his situation to social media, where he posted a list of how people can help Boracay businessmen such as him during these trying period.Included in his list is temporary space where he can open pop-ups for his acclaimed establishments, which included the all-day breakfast restaurant Sunny Side Cafe at the Sands Hotel and the popular chicken eatery Spicebird at D’Mall.Just weeks after the island’s closure took effect on April 26, Sunny Side Cafe opened a pop-up branch on May 18 at Westgate Center in Alabang, where it will operate daily from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. until June 30.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/tvpatrol/05/24/1.jpg"/><figcaption>Nowie and Odette Potenciano pose for a photo at the Sunny Side Cafe pop-up at Westgate Center, Alabang. Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>He also opened two pop-ups of his ice cream shop Coco Mama — one at the Salcedo Village Saturday Market in Makati for at least two more Saturdays (May 26 and June 2); and a second one at Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel in San Juan, La Union.From June 16 to August 15, Spicebird will have its own pop-up at the hip Hole in the Wall food hall at Makati’s Century City Mall, where it will also offer dishes from Poketo and Fat Rice.“Soon after the announcement was made, we talked to some of our lessors in Boracay and they allowed us not to pay the rent during the closure. So that allowed us to be flexible enough to mount these pop-ups,” Potenciano told ABS-CBN News in an exclusive interview at the Sunny Side Cafe pop-up at Canvas, an events place owned by Potenciano’s friend from college.“She reached out to us and it worked out,” he said. “With regards to Hole in the Wall, the owners, they also felt for our situation, and they were able to make arrangements to accommodate us for a couple of months.”<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/tvpatrol/05/24/2.jpg"/><figcaption>Sunny Side Cafe is known for its all-day breakfast specials such as this Purple Heirloom Rice Champorado, which uses sticky rice from the Mountain Province and topped with Coco Mama coconut ice cream, candied coconut strips and bananas. Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>Like many establishments in Boracay that are dependent on tourism, Potenciano knew they can’t operate during the closure without tourists going to the island.“Actually even before the island closed, in the weeks leading up to it, it was already pretty bad for us. People were already cancelling their flights. People weren’t coming in anymore. April was a bloodbath for us. We weren’t making a lot of money during that time. Some shops were even in the red for April. So we really would not have survived continuing to operate during the closure but luckily again most of our lessors said, ‘OK you don’t have to pay rent.’ Because if we had to pay rent, that would just drain our funds and we wouldn’t be able to mount any of these pop-ups,” he said.<div> From Manila to Boracay</div>Potenciano, who hails from Manila, started doing business in Boracay 13 years ago as a distributor of FIC ice cream.“It was as simple as we wanted an excuse to stay there for a long time. We thought if we have a business there, it would help sustain that. And it worked out,” he said. For nine years, he sold mainly ice cream, but four years ago he and his wife Odette took a big leap and expanded into full restaurants with the Sunny Side Cafe Group, which consists of Sunny Side Cafe, Coco Mama, Spicebird and Supermagic Burgers and Ice Cream.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/tvpatrol/05/24/3.jpg"/><figcaption>Manila foodies can try Sunny Side Cafe’s specials such as this Chorizo Baked Mac and Cheese, which uses four types of cheeses. Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>Just last March, the group opened its latest concept, Popo, a Cantonese restaurant serving mainly dim sum. “Most of our concepts have been oriented towards Westerners. So we thought we should have an offering for Chinese and Koreans. Even Filipinos like it,” he said.The Potencianos are also partners in Streetmarket Boracay, the food hall of the Hue Hotel and Resort. There, he runs several food stalls such as Poketo, Santa Peligrosa, Sugar Cloud, Diavolo, Winner Winner, Little Wave Coffee Co., and Fat Rice.“It’s been good to us,” he said of Boracay.<div> Focus on tourists</div>That is why he doesn’t see himself opening restaurants in Metro Manila beyond the pop-ups. “Our strategy is really to focus on Boracay and more on the tourist market. I don’t think it’s wise for us to simply transplant whatever we have and put them up here permanently,” he explained, adding that the Greek restaurant Cyma, which successfully branched out from Boracay, is more the exception to the rule. “There have been other cases where restaurants in Boracay have ventured into Manila but that didn’t work out. I think the context was missing,” he noted.“So we’re very conscious about that . . . We don’t want to just jump in. Which is why we’re doing the pop-ups also. The pop-ups are just temporary so we’re able to create some excitement for them because we’re not here for a long time.”(La Union, however, is a different story and Potenciano announced that Coco Mama will have its own permanent store in the province. “We feel that Coco Mama will be perfect for that. But not all of our concepts in Boracay will be moved to La Union, that’s for sure,” he said.)<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/tvpatrol/05/24/4.jpg"/><figcaption>The Potencianos are planning to open a permanent Coco Mama store in La Union. Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>They are, however, introducing new menu items in the Manila pop-ups, which they will bring back to Boracay, such as the new Black Sesame and Green Tea Cream Pancake at Sunny Side Cafe in Alabang and a new dish from Spicebird at Hole in the Wall.“Continuous development and continuous improvement of our menu is something that we do anyway. We never really stopped modifying or adding to our menu over the past four years. It’s important for us to keep on moving forward,” he said.<div> Helping the staff</div>For Potenciano, however, the main goal for opening these pop-ups is to provide employment to some of their workers during the closure. Between the Sunny Side Cafe Group and Streetmarket, Potenciano employs around 100 people. By next month when all of his pop-ups are running, he would have around 40 employees in Manila. Potenciano paid for their transportation from Boracay and back, and is also taking care of their accommodations while they’re here in the big city. “It’s a big step for them,” he said, noting that most of the workers in Boracay come from neighboring islands such as Panay, Romblon and Mindoro.“Six months is a long time. So what we’re hoping to do with these pop-ups even for just two or three months, is to provide them with some income. It’s a big help already. That’s our main goal for these pop-ups,” he said, pointing out that opening these pop-ups is not cheap.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/tvpatrol/05/24/5.jpg"/><figcaption>Three of Potenciano’s staff man the Coco Mama stall at Salcedo Saturday Market. ‘So that’s three people with jobs while the island is closed,” he said. Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>In Alabang, for instance, they had to bring in kitchen equipment, small wares and even the bright yellow and white chairs of Sunny Side Cafe. “We had to pack them all up, ship them, unload . . . and ship them back,” he said.As for their other employees, some are still in Boracay just to watch over the restaurants while they are closed, “cleaning and making sure the equipment is still working, turning them on once in a while.” The rest have decided to just go home. Potenciano estimates that it would take them a week or two to get ready for the island’s reopening on October 26 — or even sooner.<div> More cautious</div>And they promise to be up and running when that happens. ”It’s not nice if you go there and several restaurants aren’t open. For the sake of Boracay’s speedy recovery from this, it would be nice if we could be open right away,” he said.“Unfortunately we’re not expecting the tourists to be back right on the first day. We know that for most foreign tourists, they plan their holidays a year in advance. We’re expecting it to be very slow for the first several months.” But despite his commitment to Boracay, Potenciano admits he’s also “a bit cautious” now after everything that happened.“We’ve heard so much conflicting information in the weeks leading up to the closure. We wished that could have been handled better. It does not give us a lot of confidence with regards to when we’re actually going to open again, what the plans are for the reopening, like how are we going to recover,” he said.“We’re really just trying to work with what we have and hope that that would be enough for us to recover.”

Businessman Nowie Potenciano was determined to move his trade to the big city primarily to keep his workforce of about 100 employed.

Businessman Nowie Potenciano was determined to move his trade to the big city primarily to keep his workforce of about 100 employed.

During closure, Boracay restaurateur stays afloat with pop-ups in Manila

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During closure, Boracay restaurateur stays afloat with pop-ups in Manila

Vladimir Bunoan,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 24, 2018 10:53 PM PHT

Read More:

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Nowie Potenciano

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