Tuesday, October 10, 2007 Pastry pit-stop By Jigs Arquiza
STUDENTS from UP Cebu no longer need to look for an affordable place to hang out near their school in the afternoons. With the opening of a pastry shop in the immediate vicinity of both UP high school and college campuses, lovers of cakes and pastries among the student population have only to take a few steps to get their fill of Beth Sanoria’s delicious creations.
Of course, Marc & Mattheau’s doesn’t cater to just UP students. Passersby looking for a quick bite to eat, parents looking for something to take home to the kids, hosts and hostesses trying to find the perfect dessert for their parties—all of them and more come to this shop at the corner of Gorordo and Molave Streets. Beth explains: “I guess people do find our stuff delicious, because we have customers coming all the way from Mandaue and Guadalupe for our cakes and pastries. Besides, our items are very affordable; we have items, like choco cheese bread, mocha twist and ensaimada, which cost only P5 apiece. Our macaroons are only three pesos each, well within the budget of the students who come in here all the time.”
Beth explains how they got into the business, “It all started around eight years ago, when I started accepting special orders for my supermoist chocolate cake. One particular Christmas season, I received orders amounting to several hundred cakes. When that happened, my husband and I seriously considered opening a catering business and pastry shop.”
Open a pastry shop they did, and it is now fast becoming a favorite hangout for people in the neighborhood. With the addition of a couple of tables and chairs on the sidewalk beside the store, regulars can imagine themselves chilling out in a European-style café, sipping coffee or a cold drink, and taking a bite or two of a sweet roll as strollers and cars go by.
The shop’s bestseller is probably Beth’s supermoist chocolate cake, although her blueberry cheesecake comes at a close second. As chocolate cakes go, Beth’s supermoist, as the name goes, is a step up from most commercial cakes. It’s full of flavor and very sticky and moist, unlike the powdery or crumbly cakes one can find at the mall or supermarket. On the other hand, Beth’s fantastic cheesecake tastes just right, not too sweet, not too bland, and definitely not spongy. Other items are available, like the meringue-based Mango Tango, the Mango Five, with five layers of chiffon, mango and butter cream, and the Apple Walnut brownie containing real apple chunks and walnuts. A variety of hot and cold drinks are also available.
While you can find bakeries at practically every other corner here in Cebu, very few pastry shops seem to make their mark on the Cebuanos. Marc & Mattheau’s doesn’t claim to have the best pastries in Cebu; but what Beth Sanoria says sums it all up: “Cooking and baking is a passion for me, and when I do cook and bake, you can be sure that I’ve done my best!”
