In the late ’90s, Manila’s food scene was dominated by big-name restaurants. Think Hard Rock Café and Fridays—multi-floor establishments with heavy investments and sprawling menus. But Mariela Cancio, an interior designer by profession, saw something missing: a small, cozy café that served something different.
Mariela and her husband, Tony, both graduates of UP Diliman, were then working as contractors. “We were building all these big restaurants and we would always wonder how much money people were putting into it,” Mariela shares. “At that time, there were no little cafes then.”
But it wasn’t just curiosity that nudged them toward entrepreneurship. When one of their clients defaulted on payment, part of the compensation came in the form of a coffee machine. That twist of fate became the unexpected starting point of Café Breton.
Without formal culinary training, they were faced with a big question: What kind of food could we serve that doesn’t require a chef? That’s when their travel memories clicked.
“It would be hard to get a chef. We’re not chefs… but when we were travelling, we kept coming across crepes,” Mariela recalls. “People were lining up for take-out crepes—in Europe, in Bangkok, even in the States.”
Crepes were not only delicious, but also simple to prepare, cost-effective, and flexible enough to suit both savory and sweet cravings. More importantly, the concept was still unfamiliar to most Filipino diners back then—giving them a unique niche to fill.
The couple’s fascination with crepes deepened during a construction project in Boracay. There, they stumbled upon a small unnamed creperie run by a Frenchman. Though the creperie had no branding, the food was unforgettable. “We were there every week because we were doing construction, and we got to talk to this guy,” Mariela says.
They initially explored franchising the concept but ended up learning the recipes themselves by observing and asking the cooks directly. What began as passive observation turned into hands-on practice. “Tony was writing down everything… and I said, ‘Pwede ba, when I’m here, can you train me? I’ll cook.’”
That scrappy, learn-as-you-go approach led to the launch of Café Breton in Manila—a café built not just on good food, but on global insight and homegrown hustle.
Today, Café Breton is a cult favorite, known for its classic crepes and cozy, French-inspired charm. It’s a testament to how you don’t need to be a chef to succeed in the food business. You just need to spot the right opportunity—and have the courage to flip the script.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
