Bright sunshiny yellow double doors, flower artworks and rolling pins on the wall, and a display case containing beautiful pastries are some of the things that will greet customers upon entering Flour Pot Bistro, a new café in Bonifacio Global City.

Located at the ground floor of Verve Tower in Taguig's central business district, the bistro is the newest addition to the growing number of eateries in the metro. Calling itself as a “premium bakery dedicated to serving classic and modern dishes”, the bistro is years in the making, thanks to the vision of its owner and chef, Rhea Sycip.

“It started with a dream. It started with a vision that I had so I can help farmers, which at that time, I didn't have the avenue to do so. I said that maybe by [making] a cake that I could eat and that I could share [with] family and friends, that is something we could talk about at the dinner table. Lo and behold now, this our first flagship store,” she shared with guests during the bistro's launch in December 2025.

Chef Rhea Sycip, owner of Flour Pot Bistro (Source: Flour Pot Bistro)

The brand started small called Flour Pot Manila, with chef Rhea selling baked goods including her famous rum cake and strawberry donuts. In 2021, she started selling these gourmet donuts—whole strawberries with inipit custard sandwiched in a premium brioche donut.

During that time, local farmers had a hard time selling their products including strawberries. Rhea was one of the chefs and home cooks who helped these farmers by buying their products and making pastries, desserts, and other food. The donut became one of the food trends at that time with multiple bakeries making the same confection, which helped local farmers.

This is the type of food chef Rhea serves at her first flagship store, baked goods and hot food that not only taste good but also tell stories.

“The brand is all about sharing, is all about family, is all about friends, is all about flavors. We are doing Flour Pot not only to give joy but of course to share stories of each and every cake and each and every food. Each cake represents a certain farmer. Each cake represents a certain artisan. We are sharing our vision, our dream through the food,” she explained.

From left: “Patxi” Elizalde, Chef Rhea Sycip, Bea Elizalde, and Chef JJ Sycip (Flour Pot Bistro)

Lamb lasagna, strawberry donuts, and more

The bistro is a breath of fresh air among moody cafes and restaurants in the city. Its modern yet cozy atmosphere adds to its charm.

The bistro sells chef Rhea's famous rum cake that uses local butter and rum, and of course the strawberry donuts. Aside from these favorites, chef Rhea highlighted her carrot and bourbon cake. It's a layered naked carrot cake with a bourbon cream cheese frosting, delicately decorated with flowers.

The carrot cake uses carrots from Benguet and instead of walnuts, chef Rhea uses pili nuts in the cake, which adds a creamier flavor to the dessert.

From left: rum cake, strawberry brioche donuts, and carrot and bourbon cake.(Flour Pot Bistro)

Chef Rhea also shared that while these are desserts, her cakes are not too sweet because she likes her cakes with the right amount of sweetness and not cloyingly sweet.

“I started developing these (cakes) in 2017 and during the pandemic, that was the most creative time for me and I was able to churn out a lot of flavors. I put my heart out in all the cakes I've made since we started. I have a sweet tooth but not that sweet in terms of cakes. I make sure that the cakes that I prepare are something that you could have second helpings,” she shared.

She also explained that she uses only free range eggs in her cakes. She uses local butter in her rum cake and also artisanal local rum.

The bistro also offers hot meals including Lambsagne or lamb lasagna made with slow-roasted lamb shoulder and bechamel. There's also the river prawns and ikura pasta, which is a spaghetti pasta dish with river prawns or ulang from Bulacan tossed in a miso sauce with edamame and ikura or salted salmon roe.

Another signature dish is the roast chicken curry, which uses organic chicken with housemade curry sauce. The dish also has lychee to balance the spice-forward sauce.

From left: Lambsagne, river prawns and ikura pasta, and roast chicken curry. (Flour Pot Bistro)

She also highlighted the baked seabass, which uses sustainably farmed apahap or seabass sourced from Saravia, Negros Occidental. The dish also has kiniing or heirloom smoked pork from Benguet.

“Our food tells the stories of the farmers who grow it. Supporting them by sourcing locally is one of the most meaningful parts of what we do at Flour Pot,” chef Rhea said.

MEANWHILE, LOOK BACK ON THE PANDEMIC FOOD TRENDS OF 2021

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