Another Rebel Bakehouse pop-up is here. But unlike their previous Manila billings that lasted only a weekend, the latest performance with Yardstick just right off the Greenbelt 3 cinemas sees the Baguio bakehouse taking up substantial space for three whole months.
They have been here before but this time feels different. In some ways, it’s an apt residency that could and should lead to bigger things in the future.
The dream, says entrepreneur and baker Donna Aldana, is “to bake in Manila and sell in Manila.” Together with partner Danica Santos, the two have slowly started laying the groundwork for a Manila outpost with a commissary for croissants in Maginhawa, Quezon City that could also be turned into a retail space with limited seating in the coming months.
The dream, says entrepreneur and baker Donna Aldana, is “to bake in Manila and sell in Manila.”
“That’s probably our gateway to more partnerships here in Manila,” Aldana says.
And rightfully so when their first pop-up at The Curator in July 2023 achieved a milestone: selling out around 1,200 croissants baked in and brought from Baguio in 90 minutes. “‘Yun ‘yung sign namin na Manila might be a good idea for us.”
An open space creates boundless possibilities
On a cloudy Friday afternoon, a day before their official public opening, another radical sign manifested when a crowd of mostly media, influencers, and friends gathered at Rebel and Yardstick’s borderless corner where the pop-up’s openness is a community performance in and of itself.
From a distant perspective, the bare-bones space is already an invitation to eat with our eyes, decorated with pin-sharp prints of Renzo Navarro’s photographs plastered on the white wall with military precision.
The setup features three stations, each with a distinct purpose in quick succession: one to place your order, another to pick up the pastry, and then the coffee before finally finding your way out of the L-shaped flow like a river bend opening into a larger body of water—in this case, some limited seating or, if you’re part of the takeaway crowd, wherever you are headed.
There are a couple of display racks as well as open shelves for retail, including red Rebel boxes popping out alongside bags of Yardstick coffee beans that depict a business in action.
“What’s good about this [pop-up] is its modularity,” says Rebel partner and creative director BJ Abesamis. “We didn’t want to commit to a fixed space but the focus is on custom modules that can be rearranged as needed. It’s like a playground of both brands.”
“What’s good about this [pop-up] is its modularity,” says Rebel partner and creative director BJ Abesamis whose Hatch Coffee brand also provides the beverage requirements of the Baguio bakehouse. “We didn’t want to commit to a fixed space but the focus is on custom modules that can be rearranged as needed. It’s like a playground of both brands.”
It is, in a word, boundless. In its beauty, in its aspiration for collective spirit and emotional connection with food, and even more in its pairing triumphs.
There’s a lot to like from their “perfect pairing” philosophy here where five pretty luscious pastries from Rebel are paired off with Yardstick’s addictive beverages.
The bread winners of the Rebel and Yardstick pop-up
If you’re looking to wade into savory and refreshing territory, the ham and gruyère and lemon and lime soda might just be for you. If you desire an irresistible classic, make a beeline for the light butter croissant and ‘Breakfast of Champions’ made with espresso, oat milk, and peanut butter cream.
There’s also &Soda, a lively coffee or matcha soda that goes well with a simple pain au chocolat, and a twice-baked almond croissant filled with almond cream you can pair with a full-bodied matcha latte.
Aldana also tells me that the space is likely to be an incubator of ideas, of “more flavors outside the usual lineup.”
“Maybe this can also be a playground for us,” Abesamis adds.
Much of their work after all involves changing their croissant menu every three or four months based on the belief that “we can have as many ‘favorites’ as we can,” they write on Instagram. “Having just one ‘favorite’ is a disservice to our tastes, experiences, and future selves.”
Values, advocacies inform collaborations
This ‘rebellious’ dedication to flavor innovation translates to their pop-up exclusive called the Golden Ticket Pain Suisse where the collaboration allowed both brands to shine, deeply intertwine, and approximate the spectrum with which partnerships ideally find the balance.
“Rebel has always functioned through our values so we don’t go into collaborations where our values aren’t aligned, that’s one, and then our advocacies, which is community and [that’s something] Yardstick [also stands for],” says Aldana, who isn’t shy about declaring their admiration for the coffee brand.
This ‘rebellious’ dedication to flavor innovation translates to their pop-up exclusive called the Golden Ticket Pain Suisse where the collaboration allowed both brands to shine, deeply intertwine, and approximate the spectrum with which partnerships ideally find the balance.
The Golden Ticket Pain Suisse’s driving force is Yardstick’s Golden Ticket coffee beans dusted on the bicolor pastry with coffee custard, almond frangipane, and a rich coating of Callebaut milk chocolate at the end.
“The notes of the Golden Ticket are milk chocolate, almonds, and caramel so that’s what we tried to encapsulate with this pastry,” says Aldana.
It makes for a treat that progresses in flavors and feel—soft, flaky, buttery, a hint of crispness then blitzed with a chocolate coating that makes the bite to the end worthwhile. Sips of the suggested latte pairing (or a flat white in my case) reconfigures the experience with a comforting flourish.
This golden ticket of a pastry where you get lost in pleasure amid the environment’s din is a fitting statement of how far collaborations can take you and how fulfilling it is for customers when people-oriented brands like Rebel and Yardstick join forces for a joyful pursuit.
At this rate, we’d be happy to have these Baguio ‘rebels’ create their own pastry state in Manila and put more of their products on the map.