At this Quezon City café, you can find a cup of coffee served with a little prayer and a slice of Catholic history

Just another coffee shop

The man behind it, Vic Alcuaz, the acknowledged "Godfather" of hoteliers in the Philippines, was at first reluctant to take the offer of the Sto. Domingo Church priests to put up and run a café inside the complex, formally known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila, one of the most venerated Marian images in the Philippines. 

“I am a hotelier,” said Alcuaz in an interview. “I train and help people to put up hotels, but I am not a chef.”

But the priests wanted him precisely because of his background in the hospitality industry. And of course, because Alcuaz is a Thomasian, a UST alumnus, and an ex-seminarian. 

Some 24/7 convenience stores had offered to take that precise little spot, thinking of a captured market after the Holy Mass, but the priests could not imagine the compound where condoms, liquors, and cigarettes would be for sale, made available even to minors. That was a sight probably horrible enough for the conservative priests to make the sign of the cross and ask heaven for forgiveness. 

The café was once run by a group known for its culinary academy and chain of restaurants. But it was just another coffee shop, and coffee shops in this part of the metropolis are a dime a dozen, a phenomenon seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, not unlike the sprouting of little stalls selling “litsong manok” at every conceivable nook and cranny several years back.

The Filipino public, young and old—well, especially the youth—has embraced a caffeine-rich lifestyle, served hot or cold, most of them not even knowing which one of the four coffee beans (Robusta, Excelsa, Arabica, and Liberica, or known locally as Barako) is their favorite. Well, it is probably not the beans, but the resulting flavor after the brewing, milk and sugar included, and of course, being seen, being there, being part of the café community. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing bad about that, after all. 

Café Inggo 1587 was born

When he finally gave in after a few weeks of meetings, Alcuaz knew his would-be coffee shop should be different. It was going to be repackaged; the menu and the interiors had to be overhauled. He wanted the coffee shop to be aligned with the church.

On Aug. 8, 2018, the Feast of St. Dominic, Café Inggo 1587 was born, in memory of the great Spanish priest and the year the Dominicans founded the Sto. Domingo Church in 1587.

After the mass on the night of the feast, about 100 people came, according to a report by the UST campus paper, The Varsitarian.

So many had to wait for their turn. The café then had a capacity of 30 individuals, good enough for a 100-square-meter lot, framed by thick, solid pillars and walls, and high ceilings.

The Dominicans’ taste

Inside, one is served a really freshly brewed coffee, done by professionals, not just by amateur baristas, thanks to Alcuaz’s hotel network.

And coffee is served by young staff dressed in white hooded shirts, like real members of the Dominican, a Roman Catholic mendicant order preaching for the salvation of souls, who live in the community, rather than cloistered monks. (The Franciscans, like Padre Pio, commonly wear a brown, hooded robe designed to reflect a life of poverty, simplicity, and, historically, to show solidarity with the 13th-century peasants.)

What’s on the menu? Not just coffee, they serve real food, its cuisine a showcase of Spanish and Filipino meals. One would find a variety of choices, beginning with four sets of Spanish meals from soup and appetizers to main courses to desserts available at any time of day.

And here, one would find some humor, as he would see a list of saints and priests, then and now, reading like a Who’s Who in the Dominican Order, their names mixed with the names of the viands on the menu. Samples include Saint Dominic’s Spanish Sardines, Binagoongan ni Geronimo OP, Lechon Kawali ni Fray Mike, Bulalo ni Joemar OP, Okoy ni Ojoy OP, Molo Soup ni Mother Rosario OP, Saint Catherine Cheese Omellettes, Champorado ni Ogie OP, and Arrozcaldo ni Oscar OP.

One of the specialties of the house is Longganisa ni Felimon OP, a homemade, garlic-rich pork longganisa known for using roughly chopped pork loin rather than finely ground meat. It is named after Fr. Filemon Dela Cruz, Jr., OP, the father provincial of the Dominican Province of the Philippines.

Also on the menu is the name of the chef, Willy Domingo, another Thomasian named after St. Dominic. He has a distinguished career as an international chef, having worked as a sous chef and Executive Chef of the Hyatt International in the US and Shangri-La International in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, among others.

Food comes in generous servings. An order of okoy is good for three. Do priests love to eat? When he came to Manila in January 2015, according to a GMA News report, quoting a Catholic radio station, Pope Francis had emptied his plate, with great gusto. 

There is another Church-inspired, always-packed restaurant in Intramuros, but its customers find it very difficult to look for a parking space. The Sto. Domingo churchyard offers the luxury of space.

Of saints and prayers

While waiting for your order, a guest may find so many rare books and images of the Dominican saints, churches, and priests, all part of Alcuaz’s collections.

“When people come here,” said Alcuaz, “I would like to tell them a story that is related to the Dominicans.” 

That story begins through the creatively designed menu and art pieces, showing different scenes of the La Naval de Manila processions. It begins with the story of Fr. Dominic, born in 1170 in Old Castile in Spain. 

There is a huge portrait of St. Dominic hanging on the wall—so huge, you wouldn’t miss it. There is the porcelain bust of the Spanish priest given by the treasurer of the Dominican Order in the Philippines, Fr. Boyd Sulpico, O.P., located across the cashier. Its face was molded when his body was reportedly exhumed in 1946. The art piece is titled “Vero Volto,” or true face. 

There are messages and prayers for peace and salvation on the walls and booklets, among them:

“May God the Father bless us,
may God the Son heal us,
may God the Holy Spirit
enlighten us and give us eyes to see
with, ears to hear with,
hands to do the work of god with,
a mouth to preach the word of salvation with,
and the angel of peace to watch over
us and lead us at last, by our Lord’s gift,
to the kingdom.” Amen.

“We clearly state our philosophies and values as we deal with all our guests,” said Alcuaz.

Of priests and churches

There are the images of saints, the blessed, and the Dominican churches across the country. 

Next to Father Dominic, prominent are images of Virgen La Naval, in all her glory, which are a replica of the bigger one at one of the altars of Sto. Domingo Church. Where we once spotted Admiral Ronnie Gil L. Gavan, commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, perhaps in one of those tumultuous days when his people had to endure troubles in the West Philippine Sea. Gavan, we were told by his friend, human rights lawyer Carlos Serapio, is a faithful believer, like him, though Serapio has had a Jesuit education. 

Artist Alex Uy’s framed illustrations of several Dominican churches in the Philippines are on display.

There is the famous Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, commonly known as Manaoag Church in Pangasinan, arguably the most popular, the most-visited church in the Philippines.

There are rare books, annuals chronicling the lives of great Thomasians, so rare that one may not find some of these in the UST Library.

Before you know it, you would hear music, the café plays Gregorian chants sung by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos from four till six in the morning, for the Dominicans who will be sipping their early-morning coffee.

Who was it who said pairing prayer with morning coffee acts as a daily ritual that blends physical refreshment with spiritual grounding, often creating a moment of intentionality, gratitude, and peace to start the day?

The food, the coffee, its aroma, the warmth of the place, and Sto. Domingo’s rich history are good reasons to slow down and make some spiritual reflections.

Even in the wake of today’s political turbulence, the Sto. Domingo Church hosted the mammoth wakes of slain former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983 and action movie king Fernando Poe Jr. in 2015.

We were once upon a time a sacristan and a catechist, and it was there in the imposing Sto. Domingo church complex that we learned how dried palms blessed by Catholic priests in previous year’s Palm Sunday are burned to ash for the blessings of the faithful in the commemoration of Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

From ash to ash until the commemoration culminates in the death and the resurrection of Christ, the sum and substance of the Catholic faith. One gets to celebrate and remember the passion of Christ in the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist in the church.

Coffee is great after a full meal, even of the spiritual kind. And where do you find a cup of coffee served with a little prayer, and a taste of Catholic history?

Café Inggo 1587 is located at San Pio V Bldg. Sto. Domingo Church Compound, Biak-na-Bato corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. It's open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.