Umami Hambaagu House to close

MANILA – The Japanese burger steak restaurant Umami Hambaagu House is set to close its doors to the public next month.

On its Facebook page, Umami announced that it will only serve customers until May 15 as they “make way for another restaurant.”

Umami, which was initially marketed as a “secret” restaurant, is located at The Grove by Rockwell near the Tiendesitas shopping area.

“It’s been our pleasure serving you authentic Japanese burger steaks for the past two years. But unfortunately, nothing lasts forever,” Umami said in a Facebook post.

“Thanks to everyone who have dined and we hope you support our next restaurant concept. We will update you all if we ever decide to rebuild Umami Hambaagu House in a different location,” it added.

A number of restaurants in Metro Manila closed in 2013, among them the well-loved dining spots Lolo Dad’s Café in Malate and Italian chain Capricciosa in Greenbelt 3, Makati.

Chef and lifestyle columnist Stephanie Zubiri closed her restaurant Atelier 317 in Makati barely a year since it opened, citing “deliriously high rent” and her “identity crisis” as the reasons behind her decision.

Makati Shangri-La also closed two food and beverage establishments – Red and Conway’s – to make way for a new concept called Sage.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Starbucks founder visits award-winning PH store

MANILA, Philippines - Starbucks founder and chief executive officer Howard Schultz visited the coffee chain's store at The Grove by Rockwell in Pasig City, Thursday morning.

Schultz did a quick tour of the store, which recently won Starbucks' "Best New Core Store Design in Asia" in 2013. The Starbucks store at The Grove beat out designs submitted by 111 Starbucks outlets around Asia.

The Starbucks shop has a uniquely Philippine resort theme that matches the aesthetics of The Grove by Rockwell. Located along C5, the 5.4 hectare The Grove property will feature six residential towers.

Schultz, who is in Manila only for a day, said this was his second visit to the Philippines. He chatted with the store manager and baristas, and posed for photos with some customers.

He also attended the opening of the new Starbucks store with drive-thru in Libis.

Rustan Coffee Corp., local franchise holder of Starbucks and a member of the Rustan Group of Companies, opened the first store in the Philippines at 6750 Ayala Avenue in December 1997.

At that time, the Philippines was only the third market to open outside North America. According to the Starbucks Philippines website, to date there are 195 Starbucks branches throughout the country.

The coffee chain now has 18,000 outlets around the world, with revenues of $13.3 billion in 2012. Starbucks has seen strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China where it has more than 800 stores and Japan where it has 975 stores as of end 2012.

source: abs-cbnnews.com