How about starting off your year with some brand new carbs?
New food concepts Baker & Cook and Plank Sourdough Pizza open today, January 11, at S Maison in Conrad Manila. Both brands are the brainchild of global baker Dean Brettschneider, a Kiwi celebrity entrepreneur, TV host, and author. Brettschneider is both owner and founder of the two brands which first opened in Singapore, including Brettschneider's Baking & Cooking School. Together with The Bistro Group team, he now opens his first outlets in Manila that showcases his signature artisan bread, cakes, pastries, and hand-crafted sourdough pizzas.
The two restaurants next to each other open to the public today, ready to delight every hungry carb lover — Baker & Cook opens as early as 7am daily for breakfast, while Plank opens 11am. Brettschneider's 'new world baking' is the highlight for both establishments, his food not limited to a certain cuisine but highly inspired by his travels, their modern approach still rooted in an authentic and artisanal baking (everything is made by hand).
"I came here three and a half years ago to look at the market and I don't think it was right three and a half years ago; I don't think it was right even two years ago," shares Dean Brettschneider. "Now, it's right, because people are traveling. The younger generation, they don't really want to eat the same stuff that their grandmother's… But saying that, your mother and grandmother, they didn't have the opportunities then. What they had were the local food and the local influences. And so now the younger generation has so much more of these wonderful opportunities and they want to experience it. Traveling more and Googling, Instagramming more — now it's right, as opposed to even two years ago."
Aside from Baker & Cook's freshly baked artisan breads, pastries, and cakes, the restaurant also serves soups and salad, savory pairings of quiche, tart, pie, or roll served with a salad, and all-day breakfast items featuring classics like scrambled eggs served with bacon or salmon, pancakes in assorted flavors, french toast, eggs benedict, and tartines.
Next door is Plank, where their pizza base is sourdough, using the same long fermentation process as the popular sourdough bread at Bake & Cook. Pizza here is also handmade and not pressed out with rolling pins. There are currently six flavors of pizza to choose from, with roast chicken and ribs serving as meaty entree companions to freshly baked chewy pizza pies.
The dining experience is also a big part of bringing in these two brands from Singapore, and gathering family over good food is what they are all about. "In Asia, and the Philippines is no different, families are important to the Asian cultures and the dining experience that brings together family," Brettschneider shares. "So, what you'll find when you come here, is that you come and bring your mom and dad. In my business in Singapore, you've got your grandmother, you've got mom and dad, and you've got an eighteen-year-old–three generations coming in and they're all enjoying it."
Baker & Cook and Plank Sourdough Pizza are now open, located next to each other at the ground floor of S Maison Mall, Conrad Manila. Baker & Cook is open daily from 7am to 10pm, and Plank is open daily from 11am to 10pm. Follow Baker & Cook on Facebook and Instagram (@BakerandCookPH).
