Home-grown restaurant reopens at The Terraces

Taking advantage of the growing food industry here in Cebu, Ecila, a home-grown restaurant concept will be back again in its original roots at the Ayala Center Cebu with a fresh, new look that aims to stand out amidst the throng of restaurants and cafes clustered at the Terraces.

    Two years after it moved to a different location at the Skyrise building at the Asia Town IT Park in Lahug, Ecila will now establish a better and stronger brand image with Bistro Ecila, a first-of-its kind concept, said Ecila’s operations-in-charge Clarisse Marionne Lao in an interview.

 Ecila started as a tiny café at the lifestyle section of the Fashion Avenue in Ayala way back 2005 which grew to a larger proportion as it started to attract patrons from all ages.

“Patio Ecila if not the first was one of the first restaurants with acoustic performances in town. People love to come back because of its combined garden ambiance and the food. There was no other place like it in Cebu,” recounted Lao of their operations in Ayala.

But during the renovation of Ayala’s lagoon area, Patio Ecila moved to IT Park but it still managed to create a distinct trademark of a homey and relaxing feel that their first branch had, said Lao.

She added that from Ayala to IT Park, Ecila was still able to preserve its client base which varied from youngsters to hippies of the older generation and even foreigners as well as families.

“Our market has not changed since then and it has always been a mixed market because we don’t cater to just a specific segment,” she said.

Patio Ecila also started to venture into catering and up until now it continues to cater to various corporate and family occasions in different kinds and scales.

Ecila has always been a collaboration of the Lao Family as its matriarch and Ecila proprietor Alice Lao takes the call for the restaurant’s over-all direction while her sons Renault and Marlvin head marketing and daughter Clarisse takes charge of the operations.

With Bistro Ecila, the family is looking forward to a different vibe because it aims to differentiate itself from other restaurant concepts in the Terraces.

Lao said that in a competitive playing field such as the food business, the key for success is managing to become different from the rest and provide the quality of food and customer service that is worth the customer’s money.

Bistro Ecila is still currently under construction and it will be grand opened in January 2009 at the third level of the Terraces.

Lao said that the bistro will have a longer bar and will offer jazz to soul music so that it will become a destination for people who want to chill out and unwind after a day’s busy work or meet up with friends and families.

The bistro will cater to an upscale market and currently the family is still developing its distinct menu but it will offer a first in Cebu called steak cooked and eaten cowboy-style.

Despite the strong competition in the Terraces because of presence of Manila-based, international and other home-grown restaurant concepts, Ecila is still optimistic to create a niche that will set them apart from the rest and on top of the competition.

“Cebuanos love good food and they love to go out and they will keep on coming back to the places that they like so we are working on creating a place that they will not forget. We will bring in elements that you don’t normally find in other establishments. We want to be different to stand out and we will be constantly thinking of offering better and unique concepts so that people will keep on coming back,” Lao stressed.

She said that despite the on-going financial crisis, they are still very bullish with their development and their operations noting that Cebuanos are food lovers and they will always recognize and appreciate concepts that give them value of their money.— Rhia de Pablo