CACAO DE Davao, a homegrown bean-to-bar brand, continues to elevate the city’s cacao industry by forging another partnership with a local restaurant, “Hey Monday!” on Wednesday, July 1, at the Poblacion Market Center to feature a chocolate-based menu.
The collaboration held a “From Kitchen to Cacao: A Celebration of Bold Flavors,” offering guests an experience to try Hey Monday!’s hearty comfort foods infused with pure local cacao.
The menu starts off with “Mole de Beef Ribs”, a main dish that contains braised beef ribs with mole rojo (a rich, traditional Mexican sauce) along with pickled onions, and is paired with a grilled cheese sandwich.
For dessert, the restaurant readied the “Mixed Berry Granita” served in a small bowl topped with ingredients, namely white chocolate yogurt and candied dark chocolate.
This was also prepared together with the “White Chocolate Margarita” cocktail mixed with Cointreau, Grand Marnier, 1800 Reposado, lemon juice, and white chocolate as well.
In an interview with chef and owner Marie Louise Plasencia, their first time partnering with Cacao de Davao helped them come up with interesting cuisines in Davao City, and also challenged them to create new dishes with chocolate.
“The complex flavors of chocolate can be so much. It’s sweet, it’s bitter, and that alone is a very big challenge, but it has been fun trying to make something and show what we can do with the Davao chocolate as well,” she said.
Cacao de Davao CEO Ethan Kyle Lim said the event helps to come up with unique recipes, enhance the city’s culinary scene, and attract visitors to experience the local homegrown dishes.
