Cebu City, Philippines–Locked up at home, finding creative ways to stay busy. This is the new normal.
Perhaps kids are doing online schooling, or parents and adults working from home, but whatever the case, you are learning to take on the pandemic and its subsequent isolation in stride.
But that’s not all you are doing. In all the craziness at hand, chances are, you’re learning new skills along the way.
For Joan Zanoria, marketing manager of Pillows Hotel, her interest in Japanese Food from watching Samurai Gourmet on Netflix inspired her to create a new offer for the hotel, which is becoming a new staple for Cebuanos during this quarantine period–sushi bowls.
“I’ve been watching Netflix’s Samurai Gourmet every night, and I got inspired how they made the food,” said Zanoria.
“I like the details, the culture,” she added.
Online Recipes
Samurai Gourmet is a 2017 web television series on Netflix based on Masayuki Kusimi’s essay and the manga of the same title.
Joan Zanoria, Marketing Manager of Pillows Hotel shares her inspiration in creating Sushi Bowl by Pillows Hotel. Sushi Bowl became the hotel’s bestselling and highest contributor to their hotel and restaurant revenue.
Motivated, she began searching and followed recipes on YouTube and served them as a family snack during one of their movie nights.
“The kids love it so much and requested for more, I thought of improving the recipe and sent the recipe to my team at the hotel to try,” she said.
“That’s where it all started, my home project became the hotel’s bestselling and highest contributor to our hotel and restaurant revenue,” Zanoria Added.
According to Zanoria, they were able to sell 500 sushi bowls in less than seven days since their launching on June 12, 2020.
“The team was so inspired to see that we were getting busy from a ghost town since the ECQ, to a busy kitchen,” Zanoria said.
Starting from 10 AM to 12Nn, third-party delivery services would flock the hotel’s curbside to pick up orders made from their customers.
“100 percent of our orders came from online,” Zanoria said.
Sushi Bowls by Pillows Hotel started with two flavors- Cheesy Kani and Spicy Tuna, and expanded its menu to seven with California Sushi Bowl, Spicy Volcano; including Sushi X2, their original creations called the Bull’s Eye, and Sushi Burgers.
“All ingredients used for this are made with Japanese ingredients,” she added.
With the increasing demand for their orders, Zanoria shared they have already sourced their ingredients to cater to ambush orders.
Sushi Bowl by Pillows Hotel’s Cheesy Kani; a mix of Crab Sticks, Cream Chese, Mayo, Seaweed Nori and Japanese Rice available for you to order.
“Most sushi makers require pre-orders. We at Pillows Hotel cater can cater orders by demand anytime between 10AM-9PM daily. Just call us at least 30 minutes before arrival,” she said.
As to food sanitation, they serve their Sushi’s in bowls rather than trays, to limit food sharing among their customers.
With her creation becoming the highest contributor to their revenue, Zanoria said they are “foreseeing a possible food cart and reseller opportunities in the future.”
Once this pandemic ends, Sushi Bowl also plans to serve a wider market by making them accessible to local food junkies at food hubs like Sugbo Merkado.
“At the end of the day, your success is not measured by how much money you have raised but by how many people got benefited,” Zanoria said. /bmjo
For orders, message their facebook page at: The Sushi Bowl by Pillows Hotel on Facebook or call (0942 366 6756). Make sure to call at least 30 minutes before you pick up your order.
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