It was a 3 in 1 event at the Le Bistro Cafe for I was there with my blogger people to attend a Coffee 101 and Barista Workshop that is conducted by Pacita Juan of the Philippine Coffee Board. But before we proceed to the workshop, the group decided to hang out for a while and wait for the others inside Le Bistro, it is a new sparkling venue at the Fraser Place in Valero St. Makati City, just beside HV Dela Costa st.
I finally discovered a new venue to buy Philippine coffee with free WIFI, good food and pasta, coffee and pastries. (read more below)
Le Bistro
The location of the cafe is outside the Fraser Place and the view from a far is very nice as you will walk up on a stair on head to the elevated cafe on top. After entering there's this giant colorful collage artwork on the wall with a vintage feel and friendly aura when you stare at it. We tried this pasta food set ( which I forgot what it was called) and a nice presentation of it in our table. Its like a putanesca carbonara, I began to guess the name of the pasta after tasting some anchovies, and we have a chicken sandwich and a soup. They also sell cakes and pastries and you can get your order by visiting the display fridge nearby. If we talk about their coffee, all of the coffee that will be served to us is all original Philippine Coffee, they have a sign on the black board that says "Sustainable Coffee", I think they refer to the process they have for the coffee since it came from our soil, and a campaign for the right harvest of the red coffee cherry fruit and leave the green ones behind and wait it to go ripe and red. They provide the coffee demand without jeopardizing the needs of the future, means that we should not waste harvesting the green cherry fruit coffee because it is not the right time and will be good for the future. Wasting the unripe fruit is not good for the coffee industry as it is harvested without care after getting the red cherry.
It is a good venue to hold meetings and Christmas parties at Le Bistro, and because they have free wifi and comfy interiors they also have conference room upstairs were you can host your meeting, presentation or launchings.
Coffee 101 and barista workshop
This is a workshop for all those who want to learn more about coffee, the production, the history and how to mix the right coffee and act as a barista. Pacita Juan spearheaded the workshop and seminar for us and I remember back in college in FEU on the year 2006 (it is in my blog hhaah) I attended her talk about leadership and success for entrepreneurs and it was very good experience to learn about her success in Figaro and now the campaign they have to promote Philippine coffee. If you want to know more and attend the workshop, just visit their webpage of the Philippine Coffee Board.
I just learned that coffees are a good stimulant and it was used in the old age as a medicine and food before it was used as a beverage, and then it was discovered in the 15th century and have the very first coffee shop. Then coffee was brought here by the dutch that are close in Borneo and then in 1740, Franciscan friars brought 3 gantas coffee beans and planeted it here. We have four kinds of coffee that grows here, they are Robusta, Excelsa, Arabica and Liberica (which we know as Barako).
We learned on how to blend and mix coffee, at the bar, Barista Anjo taught us on how to use the coffee espresso machine, and also how to froth the milk in the right way. I asked him why I always get an upset stomach after drinking cappuccino, and he said that the frothing the milk became too much and burn the sugar away, that's why it reacts to my stomach becomes acidic. That's why for now on I'm loving and enjoying drinking latte and avoided cappuccino on some cafes, but I tried Anjo's mix of cappuccino and it tasted nice and I never get an upset stomach after it.
The bloggers enjoyed the hands on workshop and me,.. enjoyed drinking near it ehhehe. I didn't tried mixing it, but everything already answered my questions and I'm very satisfied. I have attended so many coffee talks and this one is very special.. not only we learn more about the coffee but also we tried mixing it and be a barista for a day.
Buy Christmas gift baskets at Echo Store
They also have this all natural personal care product that doesnt contain any chemicals, with a nice recyclable material packaging and a support for the Echo hope fund which benefits holistic health programs of women from marginalized communities that includes livelihood projects, hygiene, education, program for cancer prevention, nutritional care, mental, physical and women empowerment.
they have
here are more photos from Le Bistro and the workshop
more photos in my album at Coffee 101 workshop and the Echostore @ Le Bistro Cafe, Valero st. Makati City
