Happy Rooster

 CEBU, Philippines - A vibe of ease and home sweet home is what charms you when you enter the place. Located at The Persimmon Plus (Building 3) along M.J. Cuenco Avenue in Mabolo, Happy Rooster Home Décor Café offers its customers the value of Filipino classic hospitality.

Unlike other home décor stores, Happy Rooster sets up how a condominium unit looks like, giving customers ideas for their own spaces.

You can make yourself feel comfortable in their living room setup, or check out different shapes and sizes of dining tables. There are wide, round tables--- preferably for home spaces with wider areas--- while a minimalist square table is deemed fit for a spot with limited space.

There's also a selection of sofas and benches that would fit perfectly for a relaxation area in one's own home. An array of wooden and cushioned sofas are great options to fit your personality.

On tables and closets, figurines and lamps are eye candies as they add beauty to the spaces --- some were miniature people while others were colored crystals with shapes like that of a butterfly, snowflakes, and etc. They even sell stand-out photo frames and notebooks.

However, the charms that spark off Happy Rooster as a home décor café are the food replicas displayed on side tables and throughout the other furniture. When you check out the living room set up, you'd see a burger and fries on a platter as well as clubhouse sandwiches with cheese oozing at the sides, as well as an oversized ham. Somewhere near the kitchen, you'd see glasses filled with ice cream and chocolate-glazed donuts in a plate. A raw meat - one a pork chop cut -lies on a platter near the dining tables.

These are all very deceiving; if you weren't told you'd believe they were real food. To create these replicas was the artists' genius and it's a statement to how Happy Rooster is one of a kind in Cebu--- a home décor store that also offers great food to its customers.

What adds to its charm is the fact that it whole-heartedly invites its customers to get a feel of the furniture for themselves. Not just look at it and assess from afar it because one is restrained by the 'Thank you for not sitting' sign.

Owner Erlinda Binghay shares that her husband, Ben Binghay, had the idea to coin the name "Happy Rooster," originating from the word "roost" which is a place for rest of birds and fowls.

As to how Happy Rooster is defined by the meaning behind its name, you get the same feel as that of a bird or fowl taking rest in this home décor café. 

To sum up, one gets ideas in space management and home decoration, at the same time one is given the chance of relaxation, of getting comfortable--- taking a break from your regular busy pace.

Interactive pizza-making session

Culinary arts experts from two training schools in Cebu City assisted Mrs. Binghay in presenting an interactive cooking session for the media. Press people were allowed to come up with their pizza variant - either meaty or green-leafy in base ingredients. Instead of just the ordinary, boring question-and-answer stuff that happens in most presscon, culinary students assisted the invited media to experiment on pizza-making, using pesto-based and tomato-based crusts.

The place may look initially intimidating with all those shimmering Platzgraffe dinnerware set (lovely in baby colors), and a bit "cocky" (pun intended) with its seemingly pricey crystals, towels/linens, home accessories, serving ware, and flatware. But in two minutes, you would feel that homey, comfy ambiance. Yes, you can even roll over and stretch on a queen-size bed, without having to worry of a store attendant flipping a lid.

 A glass - oh, make it a pitcher - of Happy Rooster punch will make you crow your way to servings of Giardiniera to go with crackers, Pico de Gallo and Happy Rooster salad.

Happy Rooster punch is a mix of mango strips (the way you present sherbet), calamansi, lemon, and basil leaves. This is very healthy, according to Mrs. Binghay, who claimed that it is an "anti-inflammatory" drink. Giardiniera (pronounced "gar.dee.na.ra") is a flagship menu, so to speak. This Italian pickled food is said to be eaten typically as an antipasto or with salads. At Happy Rooster, it is served as condiment or topping to crackers. It is made up of carrots, cauliflower, onions, celery, zucchini, and pimentos in olive oil.

Pico de Gallo makes good use of greens, sweet corn, red kidney beans (oh! so tasty!), and mustard dressing; while Happy Rooster Salad is a mix of apples, lemon and orange wedges, walnuts, and garbanzos.

So, afterall, Happy Rooster is not just about home decorating and organizing, it is also about a return to healthy, organic lifestyle. - With Maria Eleanor E. Valeros