Butterfly Blue Bar opened in 1999 in Quezon City, after its original location in Makati closed down. Our group–Ramon Tan, Gary Garcia, Joel Esguerra, Dr.Rene Gahol and I–were all Quezon City residents and we thought of having a bar in the Tomas Morato area to while away our time on weekends and still be near our homes. Thus, Butterfly Blue Bar was born, Butterfly for short.
People from the TV stations nearby would drop in at Butterfly for a nightcap.
On some nights, Ces Drilon, after doing “TV Patrol,” or Janice de Belen and Gretchen Barretto, after their tapings, would go to Butterfly and spend time like long-lost friends. Sometimes, Philip Lazaro would do an impromptu show.
Soon, Ino Manalo, Patrick Reyno, Adjie Lizares and Raul Manzano were frequenting Butterfly. There were times when we couldn’t accommodate everyone due to lack of space.
Visual artists RM de Leon, Jonathan Olazo, Trek Valdizno,Ronald Achacoso and Bernard Pacquing held art exhibits at Butterfly. Rogy Panganiban also a bead show, and I myself held a Votiveholder show.
Ramon Acoymo, who was then the dean of the University of the Philippines College of Music, held a benefit concert at Butterfly for a child stricken with cancer.
Raymund Isaac and Raul Teehankee held their own exhibits of photographs of men in dishabille.
Now, after two decades of fun and good times, the same Butterfly is now run by a new set of owners, namely: Ram Ngayaan, Jay Villanueva, Arvin David, Ramir Alcantara and Charles Galicia.
On June 29, it celebrated its 20th anniversary.
‘Ube,’ ‘panocha,’ ‘lambanog,’ banana cue ganache—the rise of local artisan chocolates
