IN A bid to make fresh and organic food more accessible to the public, Balay Verde has recently opened its doors to Dabawenyos.
"Balay Verde is a shop and dine (concept). We are into natural and organic farming; so we, the owners, provide most of the products here from our farm," said Jean-Michel Desreumaux, one of the founders of the restaurant and also the owner, together with his partner, Francis Eric Tam, of La Fermette in Tacunan.
Also the founders of the restaurant are Gerardo E. Suelo and wife, Michelle Suelo, of Gems Farm in Tacunan; and Louella Garcia and her daughter Mavic Abisisit of Huni Farm in Wangan.
The restaurant offers a range of salads (P240 to P270) with vegetables fresh from their farms. They also offer lunch, merienda, and dinner buffets offering different dishes every day. The lunch and dinner buffet is at P299 per person while the meirenda is at P199 per person.
Balay Verde also sells cakes, pastries, French baguettes, healthy snacks, fresh milk, plain yogurt, kefir yogurt, butter, cheese, among others. The dairy products are produced by La Fermette. There are also herbs being sold at the restaurant.
They also invited other organic farmers to sell their produce here.
Desreumaux said customers can be assured that they will only get the freshest organic ingredients here. If one or two ingredients are not available in their farm or in other organic farmers, the product will also not be available since they do not want to compromise its quality.
"We cook the food ourselves. We process from the farm to the table. We care about our products. We care about the process," he said.
Desreumaux said Balay Verde goes beyond simply offering organic food and products to their customers.
"Our aim is also to educate our customers because some of them doesn't know what organic, natural, or pesticide-free product means. We also educate them about [the harms of] plastic waste," he said, adding that they have encountered customers asking them about the food they offer.
Desreumaux said Balay Verde is also a place where people can come together to chat and spend quality time.
Visit Balay Verde at the second floor of the Abreeza Corporate Center, in front of Anytime Fitness.
Like their Facebook page (facebook.com/balayverdeph/) and follow them of Instagram.(@balayverde_dvo).