THE food industry is tough but the success is sweet. You have to find your niche, appeal to your market’s taste, be consistent in delivering high-quality products and constantly innovate to keep up with everyone’s ever-changing lifestyle.
There had been no greater spurt in food-centered businesses than during the last four to five months. The pandemic certainly has brought out the passion in entrepreneurs and given them the opportunity to step up and meet the demands for new concepts and most importantly, accessibility.
Ticking all the right boxes is The Mobile Banquet, run and owned by the Cantal-Bacaltos family. The concept was the brainchild of executive chef Coke Semblante and the management of Salt and Pepper Culinary Institute. As the name suggests, The Mobile Banquet was meant to bring the five-star banquet experience to companies’ board rooms or families’ homes.
Due to the unprecedented health crisis, and the family’s desire to help talented cooks who lost their jobs, they developed a menu and tweaked the first concept to something that would still capture that hotel experience and quality they wanted to bring to offices and homes, but at the same time, make it affordable, accessible and available not just to big groups but individuals as well. The answer? Food delivery service.
“We are not a five-star hotel but we are not a typical caterer or meal provider either. We are somewhere in between. It is a category we want to call our own. The taste of this segment of the market is a bit discriminating with some sensitivity to cost. To keep ourselves relevant, we maintain a discipline of keenness, of listening to our customers and continually innovating our menu and services from the information we gather,” one of the owners shared.
A sister company of the Salt and Pepper Culinary Institute in Jamestown Center, Mandaue City, The Mobile Banquet’s a la carte kitchen has a formidable team helmed by chef Coke Semblante, a national winner with a background in five-star hotels.
Two must-try dishes for first-time customers are the Indian butter chicken and the cauliflower taco. The former uses fresh tomatoes, garam masala and whole spices bundled together in a bouquet garni. The latter is made of their signature handmade soft shell taco, Sriracha barbecue cauliflower nuggets, served with vegetables, salsa and ranch dressing, all made in-house.
Customers can look forward to The Mobile Banquet’s “Flavors of the World” menu and more Indian dishes and vegetarian-vegan dishes soon.
The Mobile Banquet delivers to Cebu, Mandaue, Consolacion, Lapu-Lapu and Liloan. To place your order, message its Facebook or Instagram accounts (@themobilebanquet).