MANILA, Philippines - In Osaka, we meet Pablo CEO and founder Masamitsu Sakimoto, who arrives in an elegant bespoke plaid suit made by a Japanese designer. He loves fashion, dessert and — we will find out later on — table tennis.
Sakimoto’s Pablo is a cheese tart specialty shop, yes, but what makes it different is that it treats cheese like steak: customers can choose between rare (gooey and creamy) or medium (where the inside is firmly baked) “degrees of doneness.” Sakimoto talks about a cheese cake revolution of sorts, the way Pablo Picasso (who the cheese atelier was named after) revolutionized visual art. Based on the long queues that the shops normally generate, the revolution is a tasty, very cheesy one.
“The idea is to make new sweets, new surprises for everyone,” Sakimoto explains his business philosophy. “I like to create new things, things that haven’t existed before. I take what’s popular right now and combine it with things that are not yet in the market.”
But this guy is not all business. When he visited the Philippines, Sakimoto was shocked at how kids were sleeping on the streets and knocking on car doors begging for food. He decided to make a donation to the children in Payatas. Last December, Sakimoto received a Christmas card from the grateful kids. The card is proudly displayed in the Pablo headquarters in Osaka.
“I was very happy when I got the letter,” he says. “They also sent photos of the kids.”
We get to Pablo’s Shinsaibashi main branch and the day is just about to get better and, by God, there will be dancing.
It’s cool how this Bench Japan food trip covers all parts of a day: breakfast (St. Marc Café), lunch or dinner (Maisen and Marugame) and dessert (Pablo). In between, there will be crate-digging adventures at RecoFan vinyl store in rainy Shibuya (finally, the Dead Kennedys!); a “flowing on” of sake and Suntory Premium Malt and never-ending kampais (with newfound friend Kazu); torch songs by a woman from North Carolina in a lounge with a view of Tokyo and its night of a thousand eyes; trysts here (E.S.) and Tinder there (Lou and her love interest, “Bilbil Murray”), so many things happening in Murakami country at the tail end of winter — that’s Japan for you.
Ben Chan makes a point: “The croissant is French, the breaded porkchop is European in origin, and the cheesecake is from New York. The Japanese do what they have always been doing. Perfect it; take it to the next level; make it the best in the world — even better than the original. That’s the Japanese way! Very admirable.”
Even eating is exploratory.
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Suyen Corporation headed by Ben Chan brings these three Japanese food establishments to the Philippines. After the first one at Mega Fashion Hall and second one at Greenbelt 3, St. Marc Café will open this year at UP Town Center, Bonifacio High Street and SM North EDSA. Maisen will open at SM Megamall in the third quarter of 2015, Greenbelt and SM North EDSA in July. Pablo will open at Robinsons Manila in July, Bonifacio High Street in August, Greenbelt 5 in September, UP Town Center in October, to be followed by a branch in TriNoma.
Marugame Seimen udon house is also coming to Manila courtesy of Suyen Corporation.