My Little Buttercup is a new café located on the second floor of SM BF Paranaque.
Former hoteliers Victor and Ros Gelano, the couple behind the café, both studied hotel management in Les Roches in Switzerland and Ros continued with another degree in restaurant management from Le Cordon Bleu, said to be the world’s largest educational institution for hospitality management.
“We were traveling for a long time for my work, for Hilton [Hotels], around Asia, and we came back [to Manila] about 4 years ago,” shares Victor. Aside from My Little Buttercup, he is also into other restaurant ventures and is partners with Chef Rob Pengson.
From baking cakes at home for friends, Ros eventually became the exclusive cupcake supplier at the Manila Polo Club. Regular orders started coming in and it was then that they decided to open a kiosk. Their first one opened in May last year at Alabang Town Center, which was soon followed by a second one at South Supermarket in Filinvest. By November, the full café and bakery was opened.
The café’s name might remind of that very popular song (the one about building you up just to let you down and mess you around) but it’s actually from a different one. “My Little Buttercup is something sentimental to my wife. It’s a song from Steve Martin’s movie, Tres Amigos, and she used to dance to it back in grade school. That’s what she also called our kids,” shares Victor.
The café’s interiors are done in a mix of pastels and earth tones – girly meets industrial – something that would appeal to both men and women. The menu offers an array of classic dishes for the kids and adults. “I think one driving force for this restaurant is because we want to be family-friendly and price-friendly,” says Victor. They have all-day Filipino breakfast dishes like Beef Tapa and Pork Tocino and also serve one of my favorite breakfast pairings, pancakes and bacon. You can also order customized cakes from them.
For drinks, they have smoothies, iced teas, and lemonades. They also have 100% Arabica coffee (hot and iced) and Harney and Sons teas. Our choice was a pitcher of their Pink Lemonade (P115).
Their Cream of Mushroom (P124) soup is infused with parmesan, which makes it extra flavorful.
One of their salads, the Mango, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad (P224) is a bowl of candied walnuts, homemade herb croutons and Blue cheese crumble on greens drizzled with mango dressing, which has a nectar-like consistency to it. Try getting a piece of everything in one forkful and see how all the salty and sweet flavors go well together.
For pasta, there’s the Parmesan Pesto (P224) that’s made with penne pasta in extra virgin olive oil pesto sauce topped with parmesan cheese. The kids may want something on the sweet side and you can order the Kiddy Meat Sauce for them.
A plate of their Slow Roasted Ribs (P345) – slow-roasted Hickory baby back ribs smothered in barbecue sauce and served with a side of buttered vegetables and choice of garlic rice, steamed rice or seasoned fries – is perfect for the mad hungry male.
Burgers with 100% USDA flame-grilled beef patties are also on the menu such as The Classic (P285). If you want more of that flame-grilled goodness, get the Double Double. All burgers are served with a pail of seasoned fries, ketchup and extra sauce.
Aside from cupcakes (flavors include Chocolate Velvet, Carrot and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup), the café has other dessert options like the Cookie Dough (P240) – warm cookie dough brownie topped with vanilla ice cream.
You can also have a cup of fine Monbana Hot Chocolate (P125), a gourmet French brand that’s thick and smooth, with a marshmallow slowly melting in it that makes it pure sin and oh-so-divine. I was in chocolate heaven (and probably looked like Chocolate Boy from Hey! Arnold as I consumed it).
Whether you’re with family or just hanging out with friends, My Little Buttercup has something for your inner child.
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Like My Little Buttercup’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MLButtercup and follow them on Instagram (@mylittlebuttercupmnl).
