When entrepreneurial youngsters John Tian Seng and Erik Cua decided to put up their own watering hole in Eastwood City Walk in late 2001, all they wanted was just a place to unwind — to have nice desserts and coffee after a hard day’s work.
Little did they know that they will be reinventing, so to speak, the dessert café concept with the introduction of Jack’s Loft Dessert Bar.
“The idea of Jack’s Loft originated from the house loft of our cousin-in-law Jack Johnston in Vancouver, Canada where we would hang around to have good food and nice clean fun with friends. So when we put up a restaurant in the Philippines, we decided to transplant the concept of the loft of Jack here,” explains Tian Seng, managing partner of the dessert bar.
With the transplant of the tell-tale “loft” in Manila, they have duplicated the party concept — but this time with more pomp and circumstance.
“We started with the traditional café concept with coffee and pastries, and light meals, and did not open until 6:00 pm. But with our growing patronage, we soon expanded our daily fare and our operating hours,” he enthused.
As a result, he added, patrons can dine from breakfast until late night in some of their outlets.
Jack’s Loft’s current menu includes paninis (grilled Italian sandwiches), sandwiches and wraps, Indian-style butter chicken with rice, English shepherd’s pie, and Hong Kong-style baked pork chop, pastas, risotti (Italian rice meals), stir-fried rice, and a wide array of hot meals.
For drinks, it has alcopops, liqueur, beer, fruit shakes, and its popular house blend—Jack’s Ice Tea served in fish bowl.
Not to be missed is the signature to-die-for Jack’s cheesecake—in mango, blueberry or strawberry topping, and a slew of specialty desserts such as cakes which made the restaurant a mecca of foodies with sweet tooth.
Aside from its sought-after desserts, Jack’s Loft is also reputed for coming up with unique interiors of its outlets which Tian Seng and Cua designed themselves.
Its first store in Eastwood City is an imposing post-modern crimson red edifice in the nocturnal colony in Libis.
The second branch at Wilson St. in Greenhills is a ritzy spacious bar which provides logistical support to the other stores.
Meanwhile, the third outlet at the Robinson’s Galleria Mall is a three-in-one, two-layer circular dining and entertainment enclave sans high walls, ceilings and doors to give diners a sense of freedom.
The other half of the store includes Pho Hoa Vietnamese restaurant, while the outer rim has a Compass Internet station. It also has an enclosed play pen where young children can play while their parents are dining.
Its latest store at The Block of SM North Edsa in Quezon City is the simplest in design and most compact, but similarly cozy.
“Our patrons are always on the wait not only for new desserts we will roll out, but also avant-garde designs and concepts we will unveil,” Tian Seng proudly beams.
To cater to their growing legion of followers in the metropolis, he disclosed that there are plans to open branches at the Ayala TriNoMa Mall and the new wing of Robinson’s Place Manila before the year ends.
Asked on the secret ingredients of the success of Jack’s Loft, Tian Seng says, “great food, a lot of hard work, excellent location and a little stroke of luck.”