That Cookie Stall That Went Viral Now Has a Full-Fledged Restaurant in Pasig City
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Young couple Chad and Alisxandre Ayson weren’t happy with the commercially available cornbreads in the local market so they decided to develop their own version that they felt was worth sharing and, well, selling. That’s how The Manila Baker basically started—from a simple craving.
It was in 2018, just a few months after they got married in December, when they started selling their goods in Instagram as a side hustle. He was a corporate chef at the time while she was working in events. But seeing the interest and demand, they kept their new venture going.
Chad and Alisxandre Ayson
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Eventually, the couple added more to their line and introduced cookies, apple pie and the single item that had the brand—and their home—kitchen in an overdrive, the Burnt Basque Cheesecake. They were ahead of the trend on that last one; among the first ones to do a decadent iteration of the Spanish hit. They got to try the original version in La Viña in San Sebastian and thought that many Filipinos would appreciate and like it. Their hunch proved to be correct and before long, orders kept coming in, especially when the pandemic hit.
Prawn Squid Ink spaghetti
The Aysons were busy churning products from their tiny home kitchen every single day. “We would wake up, bake the whole day then at night, we would buy the ingredients and do our prep. It became a routine,” says Alisxandre. “The only space we had in our home was our bedroom. Everything else was used for baking.”
Steak Frites Denver cut with salsa verde burnt onion butter
In July 2023, after getting a small commissary, which consequently allowed them to open five stalls inside shopping malls, they got another surge of fandom due to an unfortunate circumstance that went viral. A customer got two boxes of cookies from The Manila Baker's unmanned stall and messaged them online that they would just course the payment via Gcash. The incident not only showered the Aysons some support and love but it also resulted to a lot of cookie orders. “Some customers said that they were trying to ‘gatekeep’ their cookies (like a best-kept secret) but because of what happened, it was inevitable,” claims Chad.
Angus Corned Beef
This opportunity to open a bistro cafe came last year when the company that was supposed to take over the space they’re currently in backed out from the agreement. Consequently, it was offered to them. The couple said that having a restaurant has always been in the plan, but further off into the future. The lucky chance expedited their dream.
Manila Clams
The Manila Baker Brew and Bistro officially opened last February 9. And in line with their bestselling cakes like the Kohi Sesame Brittle cake and Kyiv cake, the couple released a menu that had the same mix of originality and familiarity.
Milk + TMB Cookies
There’s angus corned beef and omelette with hollandaise sauce for breakfast; Caesar salad with cornbread crumbs; and a curiousity-inducing ube and stracciatella mozzarella with pistachio olive oil, roasted tomatoes, and toast to scoop them all up.
Prosciutto Straciatella Mozarella Sandwich
“We’re very proud of our pastas,” says Chad who handles the kitchen operations. His wife takes care of the branding, marketing, and front-of-house. “We do fresh ones and artisanal extruded varieties too. And we incorporate different kinds of ingredients to them like salmon confit with crab fat. The bolognese is very popular. We cook it for a lot of hours and add brown butter to it. The pasta choice is intentional. The mafaldine passes through a copper mold and creates microscopic indents in the pasta that helps the sauce cling.”
Quick Roasted Prawns
Mains are composed of satisfying heavy hitters such as buttermilk fried chicken and gravy, roasted pork T-bone, half roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and a range of steaks, from wagyu bavette to black angus bone-in ribeye.
For those who are late in the game, there’s no need to worry as the OG item—cornbread—is still there, as well as their cookies, which they serve with fresh milk. And, oh yes, this time, the store is always manned.
The Manila Baker is located at the ground floor, Imperium Capitol Commons Park, Estancia, Pasig. It is open from 10am-10pm daily. Contact info: 0967-1187931, @themanilabaker (IG)
