Soderno at Molito weekend market: my Sunday home

Tomorrow will be the third week that I will be selling my Chicken Delish at the Soderno @ Molito lifestyle market in Alabang. Because there’s a lot of preparation involved, my weekends are no longer “leisurely.” The good news is that I am slowly getting the hang of things, gaining friends and being able to serve people with my food is giving me an adrenaline high.

As you know, am selling my fried chicken wings & drummettes in a variety of sauces. Am proud of my recipe which I’ve been serving my family even before the bonchon craze swept the metro. I made good sales on my first week and last Sunday when it was raining the whole day, almost all the stalls were relatively quiet. Mostly am having fun watching the celebrities arrive and analyzing customer behavior and preferences. Some like it hot, some like it sweet, some like it with no sauce at all! One time, a bading customer even barked at me “ang tagal tagal naman!” like I was his muchacha 🙂 but am taking it all in stride since am treating Soderno as a playground for a business idea.

And now for the people who light up Soderno. My very first (and regular) customer was Ray Aaron Raines, the Australian husband of Tina Raines who most people look up to as the greatest pie maker in Manila! Hubby and I always queue to buy Tina’s yummy & filling savory pies since they come in limited quantities.Good news for people in the South: Soderno is the only weekend market where Tina is selling her pies at the moment.

My neighbor Shiela of Cebu Balamban Liempo was thrilled to have her picture taken with Ryan Eigenmann and (not in photo) Judy Ann Santos. The good thing with being in the market the whole day is that you get a lot of celebrity sightings…. labelled ‘Good for Facebook!’ 🙂

We always see host, actor and author RJ Ledesma since he’s also the organizer of Soderno. He’s shown here with his daughter Fortune.I haven’t dared offering him our food since he’s an ovo-lacto vegetarian and my chicken wings are sinful. Ouch.

Chef Kevin Mize is a recent Manila settler who’s partnered with businessman Albert Sotelo for FoodLab. Their incubator kitchen for rent in Fort Bonifacio should be of interest to bakers and cooks who lack facilities in their own home.A must-try in Food Lab is their dark beer and hoisin cheesecake. Also their oatmeal raisin cookies.

Ronette Valdecantos of Mama Cakes is a baker straight out of BF Homes Paranaque who is making these deliciously-decorated cupcakes and pastries.Check out her monkey bars, secret kisses and dark fruitcakes.

I discovered Inutak in Our Awesome Planet’s Ultimate Taste Test 7.0 and since then, I’ve been a convert. It’s the modern take on kakanin with all that melt-in-your-mouth, almost sticky goodness. At only P120 for a small pack, there’s no doubt a lot of people will be bringing this home for Christmas. Don’t forget, it’s also good with ice cream.

Odyang’s Okoy from Calamba, Laguna has the most affordable food I found in Molito and nothing more screams comfort food! I love munching on their okoy which has shrimp & veggies and their goto con lechon looks appetizing too.

I hope to see more food purveyors from the South join this bazaar, especially my favorites like Raaz Mahal Punjabi Cuisine, Mama Lou’s or even Daniele’s Italian food, and JP’s Thai Cuisine. I would be glad to see this market exemplify “the best of what the South has to offer” and becoming a melting pot of foodies in our area.

More food finds as I go along….. 🙂