The Manila Times

Mama’s love

Café in Quirino province immortalizes a mother’s legacy of warmth, care and good food

BY HILDA AUSTRIA

LEONORA’S Cakes and Pastries in Maddela town in Quirino province serves unique and flavorful offerings, along with a palpable warmth and care in its service that had customers coming back for more.

But more than just a coffee shop with good food and excellent service, Leonora’s serves as a reminder of a mother’s warmth and love, and a channel for a grieving family to cope with the loss of a beloved matriarch.

The business was established during a difficult phase in the life of the Gabay family who lost their beloved mother to cancer.

Leonora’s was started by the couple Gwyneth Gabay-Puda and Mark Louie Puda in Bolinao town, Pangasinan in 2020. But due to the condition of Gwyneth’s mother, Leonora, they eventually moved their business to Nagtipunan town in Quirino.

The business was later named Leonora after she died.

“Sobrang painful sa amin ang pagkamatay ni mama. Gusto namin fresh lagi alaala niya at hindi namin siya makalimutan (The death of our mom was too painful for us. That’s why we wanted her memory to be always with us so we won’t forget her),” said Gwyneth, the registered owner of Leonora’s.

Gwyneth said they wanted their customers to feel the warmth and care they have experienced from their late mother through their customized cakes and pastries as well as through their unique food, drinks and services.

“Sobrang warm ni mama na parang naipaparamdam pa rin namin (Our mother was so warm that we wanted our customers to experience it) through our coffee shop,” she added.

Mother’s Day gift

Gwyneth narrated that when they first started the business in Nagtipunan, their first venture was baking and selling cream puff which was funded by a P1,000 Mother’s Day gift.

“Luckily, Louie has the equipment, which he was able to acquire when he was running a school canteen in Bolinao. But when we moved to Nagtipunan, we could not carry this equipment, so we used our aunts’ ovens instead,” she said.

Aside from cream puff, they also began accepting orders for customized cakes which made their business boom.

“Due to the lockdown, people were not able to buy from other towns, so they opted to try us. And they liked our products so much that most of our orders are repeat orders,” she said.

“But the very first cake we made in Quirino was for my mom’s birthday,” Gwyneth said.

She admitted that it was not an easy journey for all of them.

“I have plans for the future like going to Canada to work and study culinary arts, and eventually move our family there. But God has other plans. At first, I was really frustrated, but little by little I came to understand that God has a purpose in all these,” Gwyneth said.

“It was our Mom’s last request that we stay together. Leonora’s made us fulfill her wish. The business binds us together,” she said.

Aside from her husband, her younger sister Kyrvy Kate is also helping them run the business. Even their eldest, Wensten Lovely, and their dad, Feliciano, are involved in the business.

Besides going through the challenges of building up and making their coffee shop known, the Gabays are enjoying creating a new line of products, as well as integrating themselves in the culture and building friendships along the way.

“We are using local ingredients in our products but with international standards in taste,” said Gwyneth, who used to work as a barista in an international coffee shop chain.

Her husband, Louie, on the other

It was our Mom’s last request that we stay together. Leonora’s made us fulfill her wish. The business binds us together.”

hand, had worked for a popular destination restaurant in Baguio City.

Their unique and flavorful offerings are made with their very own smoked bacon and ham, and their black garlic added to the breakfast menu, pasta and even to coffee.

“The smoking process we use is the traditional smoking process of the Bugkalot tribe of Quirino,” Gwyneth said.

Community support

The Gabay-Puda family acknowledged that as they moved on from the passing of their beloved matriarch, there were people, including extended family members as well as people whom they just met, who have been instrumental in establishing Leonora’s as a coffee shop.

One of them was Lampel Alonzo, a former overseas worker, entrepreneur and owner of El Sur Place in Maddela.

Alonzo’s old house, which was built in the 1970s, used to be a hangout area for residents.

“I went home before the onset of the pandemic, and I got bored, so I wanted a place where young people and young adults could hang out, so we renovated the place,” Alonzo said.

The interior is reminiscent of a welcoming home filled with “Instagrammable” nooks and corners. Most of the structures, old Narra plank walls and floor woods were retained. Some materials lying around the house were upcycled.

The goal of the project is to keep the old house, as it is one of the few old houses in the neighborhood left intact.

Later on, the Gabay family was offered to operate Leonora’s as a coffee shop at El Sur Place.

Gwyneth said they also got the support of the local government unit of Nagtipunan, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which recognized their talents and skills.

“DTI supported us with online training and seminars, and even involved us in competitions,” she said, adding that she was also a product of the Kapatid Mentor Me Program of the DTI.

Team Leonora’s was awarded as champion during the Panagdadapun 2022: Agro-Industrial and Tourism Fair.

The products that landed them the award were Leonora’s black sandwich, bignay wine with homemade ginger ale and blue ternate, latte, cappuccino, and the black garlic mocha coffee.

A coffee-tourism project is also underway for the team together with the local government and the DTI.

Later this year will also be the opening of Leonora’s second branch at Ponggo, Nagtipunan in Quirino.

And all of these started from the warmth and care of a loving mother who became her family’s guiding light.

Business Times

en-ph

2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281797108369896

The Manila Times