Goodbye kiss: UP’s Chocolate Kiss Cafe closing after 23 years
UP Diliman’s beloved bakeshop is closing for good. Its remaining branch on Republic Ave. in Fairview, Quezon City will be selling cakes until June 22.
Famous for its dayap cake, sans rival and many other cakes, Chocolate Kiss permanently closed its branch at Bahay ng Alumni in UP Diliman last year, Aug. 24.
The bakeshop and café was founded in 1997 by owner Flores Pahati’s mother Maline. “We’re winding things down,” the cake shop said in its Facebook page. “The Chocolate Kiss cakes were born in a home kitchen. Baking and selling them started out as a hobby for its founders, which became a modest side-business come Christmas time. No one planned for this ‘side-line’ to build its own commissary, nor grow into a 23-year-old café. How far it has come; how much we’ve experienced! Now the ride is almost over, and we’re counting down to our last day of selling cakes on June 22.”
Chocolate Kiss will be selling its regular selection of cakes until the last day and may eve whip up a few limited-edition and seasonal goodies to finish their ingredients.
“We’ve built so many good memories over the years, and we only want to leave you with happy thoughts.”
Pahati was a grade schooler when Chocolate Kiss Café first opened. She wrote on the website, “From going home directly after school (or work for my elder sister), our family suddenly had this point of convergence, an unplanned extension of our home. “It became a hangout of sorts, though everyone in the family pitched in in ways we could. We taste-tested and critiqued what would be put on the menu (best job yet!) My siblings, who are both from the UP College of Fine Arts, got involved in some design aspects of the business, such as the interiors, product packaging, and posters. I learned how to work the cash register machine and do cash counts. Little did I know that I would eventually oversee the café’s operations full time.”
She added, “My mom and aunt, founders of the Café and both UP alumni, decided to take the leap with their home-based cake business with the humble intention of giving the UP community a new dining experience, and an alternative to college canteens.”
No one came when they first opened, she said, until they played the soundtrack of Sleepless in Seattle on a CD player. Then UP students started to trickle in and the rest is Diliman and cake history.
Chocolate Kiss is taking orders until two days before the closure, which means you can order on their website or call them at 89628269 or 09088831396 until June 20.
