The foodservice landscape is constantly evolving. For many businesses, this could mean adapting to consumer shifts, revisiting a successful formula, or banking on the next phase of expansion through design. Three operators navigating the same landscape are doing just that.
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Rabbit Room rethinks its role in the community
Nearly three years ago, Rap Cristobal took a risk with a restaurant hinged on rabbit dishes that eventually became bestsellers. “We didn’t expect it to be a hit,” admits Cristobal in a 2023 interview with F&B Report. “We thought that maybe people would order it once or twice, but we didn’t expect that it would be the thing people would order the most.”
But this year, the isolated nook of Rabbit Room is rebranding (without changing its name) to adapt to the current shifts in how customers eat and, especially, drink today.
“We built this place for people to go out and drink—from dining to drinking in an intimate setting—but the market now hindi na rin umiinom,” says partner Denise Liao, who said that while the concept worked before, the seismic shifts today meant they needed to pivot.
The stocked bar is noticeably gone, reduced to a limited selection of bottles for its seven specialty and classic cocktails, a coffee machine, and a projection of Filipino food videos (at the time of our visit, it was an episode of Featr with Erwan Heussaff) on loop.
The color palette is cleaner. None of the dark navy and deep woods that used to dominate the space exist. The DJ booth also had to go. Outside, high chairs and tables have been replaced by more grounded, low-rise furniture.
Some things have remained, though. There is still rabbit on the menu, of course, but it’s become more attuned to what the San Antonio neighborhood craves—grilled rabbit skewers inasal-style, rabbit mixed with pâté and vegetables in lumpia, rabbit in kaldereta, adobo, and sisig. Just hearty and satisfying servings of its signature meat.
This shift is visible across the menu. Think of Rabbit Room as a Filipino bistro churning out lunch and dinner necessities but also offerings that address community cravings and special occasion demands. The brand refresh also leans on Cristobal’s Purple Yam background, equipping the menu with regional yet casual Filipino dishes that recognize the need to reach a wider market.
Standouts are the warm buttered rolls with whipped kesong puti and tinapa, Cristobal’s homage to Asiong’s pancit pusit in Cavite called Sonny’s En Su Tinta that practically stains your teeth and lips black, and the coconut-braised and fried charcoal chicken with a smoky pamapa itum. His signature binary (steamed sweet corn tamale) is still excellent.
Almost all of the products, save for the value-driven lunchtime specials, are for sharing. And the pricing is an accessible entry point for Rabbit Room’s repositioning, with most plates costing under P500 except for the bakoko inaluban (a whole roasted fish dish from Maranao) that sells for P800.
Amid its search for a new brand identity, Rabbit Room is still the little restaurant that could. It’s always a pleasure to see Cristobal cook familiar dishes that are suited to how consumers dine out today. The industry may be reeling from changing habits and external pressures but this next chapter sees Cristobal periscoping the landscape to find their place again in the neighborhood.
Rabbit Room is located at 8858 Sampaloc St., San Antonio, Makati. Follow @rabbitroom_ on Instagram for updates
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Osteria by Josh Boutwood’s second coming
Call it his second coming but Josh Boutwood seems to be at home in Balmori Suites. So it isn’t a surprise to see him back again with Osteria from May 22 to June 28.
“This return is about bringing people back to that experience,” Josh Boutwood says. “Good food, strong flavors, and a space that feels relaxed and welcoming.”
Following his successful first foray in September 2025, the second coming of Osteria by Josh Boutwood recaptures the Italian joy that had people raving the first time around.
The current menu is a throwback of sorts, bringing back gorgeous plates such as the arancini de ragu and a delicately creamy platter of Chilean mussels cooked with white wine and Calabrian ‘nduja to start. An order of the composed zucchini salad, thinly shaved and swimming in bright lemon vinaigrette and topped with pecorino romano, is an awfully exciting way to convert non-salad persons.
Pastas such as the rigatoni with fennel sausage and mushroom cream, and mains like the massive pork cotoletta and roasted barramundi hint at Boutwood’s Goldilocks approach to Italian cooking. He doesn’t imitate, instead he unpacks its essence then renews and broadens traditional dishes with his own techniques and choice in ingredients.
Which makes sense for a chef of his caliber. Osteria is akin to a marriage between what he does best and the signature flair of Italian cuisine. Though, nostalgic Osteria dishes aren’t the only ones building dialogues with customers. Expect to see a significant menu transformation throughout the month-long residency as Boutwood steadily deploys new dishes that remain anchored in Osteria’s core identity.
Osteria by Josh Boutwood is open until June 28, 2026 at the Chef’s Table at Balmori Suites, Rockwell Center, Makati City. To book a table, call or message +63-999-99999
Key Coffee Kissaten’s new “Ginza Salon” location helps define the benchmark for cafe excellence
What’s the big idea at Key Coffee Kissaten’s new branch in Glorietta? Reimagining their signature cafe concept with a Showa-era retelling seen in the elegant European-inspired interiors designed by Noel Bernardo that once lined Ginza’s cafes. Hence, the name “Ginza Salon” for the brand’s next scaling step.
Also powering Key Coffee Kissaten’s next wave of cafe storytelling is its focus on value, innovation, and experience in the menu led by executive chef Mianne Manguiat. Bento sets composed of various elements such as wagyu yakiniku, grilled cod, and wagyu tartare that are served with rice, miso soup, and assorted okazu (side dishes) capture the demands of discerning consumers looking to get the most out of their budget.
Starters and sides, including the yuzu karaage and konbini tamago, fit squarely with what a segment of Filipino consumers want today—something casual yet elevated enough to meet their travel-driven expectations. And plates that are easy to pair with their drink of choice.
At the Ginza Salon, the beverage program is strong, thanks to its coffee legacy that includes the single-origin Arabica Toarco Toraja, sourced from Key Coffee’s own farm in the highlands of Sulawesi in Indonesia, which was nearly lost after World War II and brought back by the brand in 1978.
There is also a dark roast made from local beans and a coffee bento flight that could become part of the conversation of coffee enthusiasts or curious customers. The lineup and pairing features roasted banana milk brew with banana black seasame millefeuille, raspberry cold brew soda with a canele, and a good morning kape (Arabica beans from T’Boli and Colombia) with a flourless chocolate cake.
What Key Coffee Kissaten’s Ginza Salon branch shows that while design matters in attracting customers, it’s not enough to lean on it alone. Product quality and consistent hospitality are crucial to get them into the door, stay there, and encourage them for repeat visits.
Key Coffee Kissaten – The Ginza Salon is located at G/F, Glorietta 2, Ayala Center, Makati City. Follow @keycoffeekissaten on Instagram for updates
