Papakape Opens Makati Coffee Shop Inspired by PICC, CCP

(SPOT.ph) After establishing outposts in important cultural landmarks in the city—Intramuros, Rizal Park, and the National Museum of Fine Arts— pandemic-born coffee shop Papakape channels the lobbies of iconic 1970s buildings in its latest kapihan. The new Papakape, officially on soft opening June 26, is housed in an old Makati building along Legazpi Street and is stately and groovy at the same time, designed to give this generation of coffee-guzzling Pinoys a taste of what it’s like to hang out in the lobbies their folks used to frequent.

“It’s a love letter to the Makati of my parents,” Manu Reyes, who founded the Papakape business with his dad Rex (who is now happily retired) tells Spot. “It’s inspired by the Leandro Locsin buildings like the Mandarin Oriental of 1976 where my parents first worked and fell in love.”

The 70s nostalgia begins as soon as one steps into the 75-sqm space, what with its wall-to-wall lipstick-red carpeting, the assemblage of midcentury modern furniture Manu helped put together with his friends from Studio Yakal (the vintage lamp is a gift from artist Tess Celdran, a frequent visitor to the Luneta cafe), and the gorgeous capiz shell lamps which you’ll be surprised to know were made in Pampanga and were procured from the native craft stores in Quiapo. Perhaps the most obvious wink to the Cultural Center lobby is a curved seating section that looks like the ones that lead to CCP escalators.

The signature coffee drinks are also a bit of a throwback, inspired as they are by four Makati landmarks no longer with us. One of them is the dramatic and brooding Kapitan (P280), a smooth latte laced with rum, mandarin orange, and raisins, taking its name from the famed Captain’s Bar of the old and dismantled Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The Papakape in Legazpi will also be the first to carry his frozen leche flans, from a Suman Ala Mode (P420) to Langka Parfait (P370) to Halo-Halo Sandwich (P480).

Manu is definitely serving more than brews in his establishments. He has always been into design and likes to collect pieces that spark both memories and conversation, from the vintage wrought iron outdoor chairs he installed in the Intramuros cafe that reminded him of his grandmother, to the four-numbered rotary phones that inspired quizzical looks from his young guests in Luneta. The young-looking 40-something has always been fascinated with how space and design impact how people move and behave, and how old objects connect people with each other, as well as connect them to the past.

Papakape is located in Manila Prosperity Bankers Tower, Legazpi Street, Makati City.