Mini Red Velvet Cupcake Gift Pack

This is the MINI RED VELVET CUPCAKE GIFT PACK @ Php350

Includes 1 bag of coffee (either Owltonio/Sleepytime/Hardcore) and 12 pcs mini Red Velvet cupcakes.

Also available is the MINI COOKIE GIFT PACK @ Php300. Includes 1 bag of coffee and 10 pcs mini oatmeal cookies.

Christmas Promo for 2014

Christmas Promo: Free 6 pcs of red velvet cupcakes for the first 5 bulk orders!

Click here for our bulk order menu: http://cafeantonioelbi.blogspot.com/2012/11/christmas-menu-for-bulk-orders-and.html

Farmers' Market Every Thursday

Enjoy organically-grown vegetables from Kainos Farm, Calamba  (and other backyard farms in Laguna) every Thursday afternoon at Cafe Antonio! Let's support our organic farmers!

Learn more about Kainos Farm at http://www.organicbackyardthinking.blogspot.com

Typhoon Ruby Advisory

The Will to Survive

New additions to our Post-Glenda menu: Pork Tenderloin Steak and Soy Grilled Chicken

The months of July and August have really been tough for us. First, there was the road-widening project and then there was Typhoon Glenda. We closed for two weeks making us jobless nomads wandering from house to house trying to charge our phones. Our customers were already wondering why we were still closed when the rest of Brgy. Maahas already had electricity. We just told them that we were THAT "special." So we opened the cafe in late July with zero stocks and a very limited Post-Glenda menu. People were disappointed when they saw that the Specialty Dishes were not available. I can only shake my head in dismay. But many thanks to the people who came, talked about life with us, and enjoyed the limited menu that we have. Thanks to those who prayed for us and continued to show optimism in spite of all the adversity. Sanay na sanay ang CAnton sa adversity. haha! :)

Here's my post on FB a couple of days ago regarding our situation. Thanks to all who LIKED the post and empathized with us. 

P.S.

To my students at UPOU, if you are facing a similar situation, it is okay to weep and wail. What's important is that you press on after the grieving. Proceed with life and make use of what you have. This is just a test! 

Slowly Recovering from the Storm

Temporary Parking Space

We're Still Alive!

Sharing leftover stocks with the cafe staff.

Road-widening is in full swing!

The cafe has been closed for more than a week. We're facing two major challenges right now: our lack of electricity and the road-widening in front of us. We can't do anything about the latter but once the power comes back we WILL open and continue with life. Parking will be extremely difficult if not impossible. Please continue praying with us as we wait for Meralco to fix things up. Follow us on Twitter for real-time updates: www.twitter.com/cafeantonioelbi

Thank you for your concern, loyalty, and support!

Road-Widening Day 1 and Post-Glenda Menu

The road-widening project reached the cafe yesterday morning. We are closed because we still don't have electricity. We don't know when it will come back. If ever the power comes back, we will let you know via Twitter (twitter.com/cafeantonioelbi) and open immediately. But the road-widening project will give us lots of problems for parking space. So I guess, we are being encouraged to commute and ride bikes for a few months. 

Our post-Glenda Menu:

PIZZA

- Margherita Pizza

- Pepperoni Pizza

- All-Cheese Pizza

PANINI

- Lemon Chicken Panini

- Bacon and Ham Panini

- Veggie Panini

PASTA

- Tomato Basil Spaghettini

- Pasta Carbonara

- Spicy Tuna Pasta

Post-Glenda Update

Minimal damage suffered by the cafe, thank God! We will resume regular operations on Monday, July 21. Happy Sunday!

Menu Change/Diet Shift

Tofu Nuggets with Sweet Chili Soy Sauce (Php 159) #CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials #CafeAntonio #LuntiangLunes

The Blackeye: Doppio Sleepy Time Blend espresso with 4 oz pourover drip coffee. Ang sarap ng tama! (Php 110) #CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials #Blackeye

Dark Chocolate Apple Mint Shake: Homemade apple sauce blended with fresh spearmint leaves and milk (Php 120)  #CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials

At last, the reality of price hikes have hit us hard. It was bound to happen anyway. Vegetable and meat prices have sky-rocketed while people hide in their homes trying their best to save money. 

If you have noticed, our menu is gradually morphing. The idea has been hovering for a couple of years now but we decided not to make any abrupt changes. Instead we took baby steps leading to a grander plan.

We significantly reduced the number of our flavored and blended beverages. We stopped using food coloring. We started using organic produce. We set up a garden for our veggie supplies. We added a vegetarian menu section. We introduced vegetarian dishes for Luntiang Lunes. We started using malunggay in our dishes. And we will be releasing a line of local and sustainable dishes at the end of every month for our #CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials promo.  And we started planting coffee seedlings (arabica and robusta)

The grand plan is to get all of our food ingredients locally. And it should be organic! And we should know the farmer! Along with this we would like to develop a healthy menu that is more resilient to price hikes.  

It's gonna be a long-term project, no doubt. But it's gonna be a good future to look forward to. And work hard for.

Cafe Antonio's garden at Kainos Farm

Growing sweet basil, lettuce, cherry tomato, cucumber, and other herbs, fruits and vegetables at Kainos Farm

Road-Widening Starts on Monday

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials (July 7 to 13)

Vegetarian Shitake Mushroom Malunggay Burger with Basil and White Cheese (Php 120)

Spearmint and Calamansi Iced Tea (Php 80)

Ethiopia Konga on Aeropress from Craft Coffee Revolution (Php 100)

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials (June 30 - July 6)

Dish: Pureed Malunggay Soup - Php 70

- with potatoes and carrots

- Malunggay leaves from Daang Kalabaw Community Garden, Brgy. San Antonio, Los Banos

Beverage: Honey Turmeric Tea with Milk - Php 80

Coffee: Brazil Yellow Bourbon Cappuccino (roasted by Craft Coffee Revolution) - Php 100

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials (June 23-29)

Pasta El Karne (Php 250)

Raspberry Iced Tea (Php 80)

El Toro Blend (El Salvador + Sumatra) on Aeropress 

(Php 110)

* I didn't get to inform our chef about the Luntiang Lunes thing. So this dish came up a few days ago and it's too delicious (carnivores will celebrate) to pass up. Don't worry vegan and vegetarian friends, there's always next week. Coz here at the cafe, we have a new dish every week! 

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials (June 16-22)

Baked Zucchini Chips with Peppercorn Ranch Dip and Pumpkin Soup 

Php 159

 Dark Chocolate Spearmint Ice Cream

Php 100

Glider Blend (Guatemala + Sumatra) Piccolo Latte

Php 110

It was Truly a Happy Father's Day

Thanks Sir Jason Obrero of UPLB for helping out as waiter and cashier during last night's Father's Day celebration!

 The spirit of CAntoneerism lives on!

Happy Father's Day!

* We're giving away FREE cafe americanos to all father's today. 

Para di antukin sa pag-drive pauwi! 

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials (June 9 to 15)

* Every week we challenge ourselves to come up with dishes and beverages to keep things fresh and exciting. Our personal goal is to use readily available ingredients in the kitchen and also use veggies that we can grow in our backyard gardens. 

* Yesterday was especially fun because I was like, "We have to come up with a dish nowww!" And everyone was reading recipe books, cook books, haha. It was a great. The day before, a new found friend, Fabian, suggested a Quesong Puti Burger. I thought it was a great idea so I told the kitchen staff to make one after lunch. After a few minutes, our head cook came to the office and told me she had an idea. I like it when the staff does that, go Ate Mabel! She was telling me about a vegetarian burger recipe with shitake mushrooms. So I gave her the go signal to try it out. When we were checking the ingredients list we came across "malunggay." "May malunggay pa ba tayo?" I asked. Then our dishwasher, Cathy, said, "Meron sa kapitbahay!" So she and Ate Cel, our assistant cook, went to the neighbor with a "panungkit" and harvested some malunggay next door.

* The dish was done by evening and they served it to me during a meeting. I saw they also put white cheese (from Makiling Hillside Delicacies, riprizint!) on the burger so they really didn't abandon the idea of the quesong puti burger thing! 

* So good job to Ate Mabel and the kitchen crew, kudos kudos. I hope many people would order it this week. Thanks to Fabian for the idea. To OJ for the cheese. Go Meatless Monday!

Dish of the Week

Vegetarian Shitake Mushroom Malunggay Burger 

w/ White Cheese 

 Php 220

Beverage of the week:  

Island Shake 

(Mango, Dalandan and Mint Blended with Vanilla Ice Cream) 

Php 99

Coffee of the week: 

Costa Rica Monte Paso Microlot on Aeropress Php 110

Planting Season Begins!

This is Garden 1 at Kainos Farm in Calamba. We will start planting veggies for the cafe starting next week!

We Did It!: Cafe Removes Artificial Food Coloring from Beverages

* We have been talking about this issue for quite some time now. Removing the artificial food coloring will only bring more good than harm. Probably it will only raise petty issues like "Why is it called Blue Crush if it is not blue?" No big deal really. So why can't we just stop using it? And if you're the cold bar barista, it's really irritating to work with food coloring! 

* We removed the "green" from our Creamy Pineapple ages ago and no one even noticed. Baby steps, baby steps. Welcome to the transition!  

Coffee Unplugged & The Health Walk @ IRRI Sports Fest

* Coffee Unplugged was at IRRI yesterday for a sports fest booth together with Health Walk partners, Ashoka Indian Healthy Cuisine, Satya Graha Cafe and Restaurant, Jus Right, Makiling Hillside Delicacies, and new supporter, Makiling Organics.

* Coffee Unplugged brewed Rwanda Peaberry and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe coffee (roasted by Luca & Tosh Coffee Lab) on pour-over and Aeropress (iced or hot).

* Today, Coffee Unplugged will be brewing again at Ashoka Indian Healthy Cuisine in Umali Subdivision for their monthly eat-all-you-can Indian buffet.

The 2014 Road-Widening Challenge!

View from across the road.

* The road-widening project of DPWH started a few weeks ago in Brgy. Maahas, Los Banos. As we saw our neighbors from across the road close down their businesses temporarily and their front yards demolished, we couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for them to finish and finally reach our side (South-bound) of the highway. 

* Just last week, we saw the sidewalks getting ripped open starting from the Maahas Bridge about a hundred meters away from the cafe. Other cautious entrepreneurs, like our "suking tindahan," already demolished their establishment to make way for a speedy summertime renovation. 

* The road-widening project may reach us this week or next week, we really don't know. But the main concern is how we will be able to operate with this "development" project standing in the way of our business. FYI, the road-widening will cut our parking lot in half and our takeout building will be demolished. 

This will be gone. Goodbye! 

* As of today, we haven't thought of a strategy yet to cope with this dilemma. Do we close the cafe for a month and take a long vacation (if that would happen, I can work at the farm full-time)? Do we close the cafe here and find a vacant spot somewhere else where we can operate for a few weeks for free (is that even possible in this world?); or do we continue to operate and entertain walk-ins, literally, those who come here "walking" since we cannot accommodate the cars (golly, look at the photo again, good luck parking in the middle of the highway)...or do we simply encourage walking, commuting, biking, or even riding a horse? 

* It's a cruel world out there. And this is a new challenge for us. And then again, whatever happens we know that God is in control. 

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials for May 26 to June 1

Dish: Garlic Shrimp Pasta (Php 275)

Beverage: Orange Tarragon Iced Tea (Php 80)

Coffee: Iced Rwanda Peaberry on Aeropress (Php 110)

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials for May 19-24

Dish: Chicken Barbecue Pizza in White Sauce (Php 315)

Beverage: Mandarin Orange Iced Tea (Php 80)

Coffee: Sagada Arabica Pressed Coffee (Php 110)

Coffee Unplugged & The Health Walk @ the 5th Balik Bukid Country Fair

Rick Jason O'Brewer at The Health Walk booth

* Yesterday, Coffee Unplugged and The Health Walk participated in the 5th Balik Bukid country fair for the first time! Everyone had a blast (including my multicab's rear tire)!

* The group has been planning to join this event for quite some time. Through the efforts of Kisig Lopez, owner of Satya Graha Cafe and Restaurant, we were able to join the event. Those who participated were OJ of Makiling Hillside Delicacies; Kisig and Angel of Satya Graha; Jason of Coffee Unplugged; and Maya of Malaya Eco Tours. Ashoka Indian Health Cuisine, Jus Right, Living Life Well, and Kaphe also sent promo materials to give away.

* Kisig, Jason, and I compiled the promo materials and put them in three hundred Health Walk Packs with free Health Walk Discount Cards to give away as part of our Mothers' Day promo. We started at around 12:30 pm on Friday and ended at 2 am the next day! Then we had to wake up at 3:30 am to set up at the fair. Jason and I picked up OJ at their house in Collegeville and then we met Kisig at Crossing. While driving in SLEX, my multicab got a flat (and shredded!) tire because our load was too heavy and I gambled not to put air in the van's tires. We had to wait for the maintenance truck to change the tire because I forgot to bring my toolbox! To add insult to injury, I got lost twice on the way to Sta. Elena which was very weird because I've been there several times! Probably my brain wasn't working anymore.

Photo by Gwyneth Williams

* Finally, we arrived at Sta. Elena Fun Farm, the venue for Balik Bukid, safe and sound. We made a lot of new friends while we were there. We were greeting people with an enthusiastic "Welcome to Los Banos...the Narnia of Laguna!" to those who came to our booth. It was Mothers' Day so my family was there to visit me. Some of my friends and batchmates from high school and college (Jenni and Mon; Gail and Ian), my teachers at UPOU, and permaculture classmates from Cabiokid (Gwyneth, Dhanny, and Django) were there as well along with Charlene Tan of the Good Food Community, a supporter of The Health Walk, and some Cafe Antonio customers who were curious to try our handmade coffees. 

* Much thanks to Jason for helping grind and brew the coffees. He was really putting so much effort grinding the coffee using the manual coffee mill. He even used the Aeropress when I was not in the booth. A true blue, CAntoneer and constant Coffee Unplugged brewer! Actually, it's our first time to serve espresso, cappuccino, and latte for Coffee Unplugged.

* Mucho thanks to the organizers of Balik Bukid for letting us join the event. We hope we can join again in the 6th Balik Bukid! More power to you guys!

* To the Health Walkers, let's volt-in ika nga ni Kisig! Gig lang ng gig!

#CafeAntonioWeeklySpecials

Weekly Specials 

Dish: Garlic Shrimp Pasta (Php 275)

Beverage: Mango-Orange Fruit Shake (Php 120)

Coffee: Iced Ethiopia Yirgacheffe on Aeropress (Php 110)

Balik Bukid: A Country Fair at Sta. Elena Fun Farm

* Coffee Unplugged together with members of The Health Walk (Makiling Hillside Delicacies, Satya Graha, Ashoka) will be joining the Balik Bukid event tomorrow. We will be giving away free Health Walk Packs containing freebies and other fun stuff from member Health Walk destinations in Los Banos. 

* We will setup our booth before 7 am and I guess we will stay there until the event ends in the evening. Hopefully we can make new friends and inspire them to visit Elbi. 

* Happy Mothers' Day!

New Gadgets for Coffee Unplugged

Aeropress from Kevin Fortu of EDSA Beverage Design Studio

Hario Coffee Mill from Jonathan Choi of Magnum Opus Fine Coffees

Portable Gas Stove from South Supermarket (Moka Pot not included, that's my brother-in-law's!)

Portable Solar Lamp from RC Alcazar of UPOU-OA Batch 2

* We will have a coffee brewing booth at Balik Bukid in Sta. Elena Fun Farm, Canlubang on May 11 together with our friends from The Health Walk. See you there!