from hereon, silofen cafe will be known as blumentritt cafe. so it is written, so it shall be done.

ive always wanted to open a cafe. ive always wanted some open space cafe that invites free souls and spirited travelers from all walks of life. artists who want to hang their lives on canvasses up on my walls. musicians who wish to fill the room with their souls. filmmakers who paint their images on my screens.

when my sister tina and cousin maylin decide to venture into the food business and opened may’s dos in 2000 (an extension to my mom and maylin’s mom’s original eatery, may’s best foods, which has been open since the 80s), i was thrilled with the potential of the place. we painted the walls red and during summers i brought the tv from home and played movies in the afternoons to cultivate a culture.

my cousin tonio and ace also enjoyed their run of the parent’s resto mandex bar (named after my tito jun otherwise called mandex). in the morning it caters to the lunch crowd, evenings are for the night owls.

i always thought if i were based in cdo, i would have used the may’s location in the evenings for the cafe. but im not based in cdo so this never went anywhere.

my friend from fine arts jetro opened his doors to strangers early this year with his cafe-resto van gogh is bipolar, which we all know became a huge hit. carlo and i were one of the first few diners and we were equally excited with jetro’s venture. we even inquired on renting out the 2nd floor space in his building for our cafe/office/bodega/living quarters. i knew we weren’t ready for it yet so i said, let’s not rush it, let’s pray about it and maybe next year we can plot out a more feasible plan for the cafe+design studio we wanted.

during my second trip to van gogh is bipolar, i realize now, jetro’s mix of organic tea always pushes me to self-evaluate my dreams and goals. and we always go back to the cafe idea.

carlo and i created this mock cafe, silofen, to satisfy our desire for the cafe. we put up our menu online in the hopes that the universe will soon listen. and i think it did.

right now carlo and i got to discuss the cafe again. we eventually decided to name it blumentritt (after the original street name where may’s best foods and mandex bar are located in cagayan de oro) but this will be in manila. cafe+design studio+gallery+tea house+screening room+etc. wohoo! crazy combination but we believe it will attract our market.

im writing this down because we need to put it out in the universe. i truly believe God listens to prayers written in blogs. and if this isnt a prayer and a wish, i dont know what is. see you at the opening of blumentritt cafe!