■ FULFILLING SWEET CRAVINGS AT CHEF’S TABLE
Named after a culinary term usually associated with serving the best of what one can offer for the day to guests, Chef’s Table lives up to its name by using only top-of-the-line ingredients for its classic cakes. The 18-seat dessert place is reminiscent of how it started as a home-based takeaway shop in 2014.
Chef’s Table and its unassuming beginning of being a homebased business in 2014 flourished into what it is now. The overwhelming response from its customers back then and the increasing demand for cake orders led the owners to open a physical shop to answer last-minute cake needs and cater to consumer requests.
With all these in mind, Chef’s Table officially opened on April 2 this year offering its usual cakes, pastries and bakery items. Named after a term in culinary school usually associated with serving the best of what one can offer for the day to guests, Chef’s Table lives up to its name by using only top of the line ingredients for its classic cakes to make the taste stand out. The 18-seater dessert place on A.S Fortuna St., Mandaue City, Cebu, despite being this small, is still reminiscent of how it started back in the day as a home-based takeaway style. The setup in the physical shop today is basically the same where customers buy and go. But what remains the same is its Mango Chiffon cake where it all started. Customers also grew liking its shortcakes made with fresh fruits, but the Mango cake—according to one of the owners—will always be the bestseller all-year round.
“The Seasonal Green-tea Mango Avocado cake, however, is a popular choice even when the avocado season is already over since customers still call and ask for its availability,” Raphael Wong of Chef’s Table remarked. He also mentioned that aside from the seasonal cakes, a new lineup of cakes is being developed and will be released soon. One of the newer items in the menu is the Mangofee Cheesecake, which according to Raphael, defines the flavors of Cebu since it uses crushed otap for the crust and fresh sliced mangoes for the topping.
While Chef’s Table is mainly a dessert place, it’s slowly releasing bakery items too like Ube Ensaymada, Pandesal, soft rolls, Tuna Bun, and corned beef pandesal. The shop also offers coffee, espresso, Cafe Americano, Capuccino, Cafe Latte; both hot and cold to complement the cakes.
Chef’s Table has come a long way with new and old customers alike who continue to sing its praise because of the quality of its cake and the very minimal level of sweetness. When asked about opening a branch some time in the future, Raphael replied that they have plans but not very soon. “Maintaining the quality of our products is the focus now; quantity should follow. Cebuanos are very particular with taste,” Raphael claimed. Chef’s Table is indeed leveling the game in the cakes and pastries department with its quality desserts that are worth coming back to.