A mural depicting the facade of a Parisian cafe is one of the highlights of the new look of French Baker. (Photo by NOEL B. PABALATE)

Many foodies have favorite and fond memories of French Baker restaurant. After all, the brand has been around for more than 20 years, serving up freshly baked specialty breads (Baguettes! Danish! Muffins! Croissants!).

Founder and CEO Johnlu Koa, however, has decided it was high time to give the French Baker a whole new look. “We noticed that people these days are looking for areas where they could lounge, while spending time with friends or working on their laptops. They go to places such as coffeehouses to do these. But then, there is nothing really to eat there,” he says. So, with the help of interior designer Anna de Leon-Marcelo, Koa gave the bakery-cum-brasserie a cozier, cushier look.

Diners at the SM Megamall branch can now experience this relaxing ambience, where they could opt to seat themselves on genuine leather couches and avail of  the free wi-fi. To go really high-tech, orders are also timed and color-coded on a screen, with orders that are taking longer than 15 minutes lighting up as bright red, to alert the staff that they are lagging behind.

Again, it does not end there. The whole restaurant is given a polished, "French-ified" look and feel. The aura is now a relaxing warm orange and brown, with a bit of metalica thrown in. De leon-Marcelo, who also designed the interiors of the French-inspired Koa home, hung up what looked like Filipino native wicker screens on the ceilings, which she explained were actually the old basket weave receptacles the bakery used to cool their bread with. The tables are topped with quartz, and are set exactly four inches apart, so table sharing is not going to be a problem among the patrons. Koa explains, “here, they can share a table, but the gap affords the diners a bit of privacy, where they can claim ‘you can sit there, but this is my space!’”

This is important, as space is quite a rare commodity in eating areas, where restaurateurs would try to cram in as many tables as they can to rake in more profits. “The Megamall restaurant can accommodate up to 80 people comfortably. Johnlu did not want to sacrifice the aesthetics of the store and its ambience in order to fit in more tables,” De Leon-Marcelo shares.

Artful images also abound: A mural, a replica of a French scenery painting with the French Baker logo proudly imprinted on it, dominates a wall. Backlit laser-cut figures of croissants and baguettes also decorate the store.

And then it boils down to the nitty-gritties. Attention to detail is one of the attributes the helmsman Koa uses to steer his business to success. And it was clearly illustrated when he whipped out an old-school folding ruler (“I don’t think they make these anymore!” he proudly exclaimed) whilst on the MB interview to see whether a fourth slab can be used to divide the tables even further, without sacrificing comfort.

“We pay attention to details,” he explains. “For instance, we use plastic containers for our drinks, but we make sure there is still a difference. Water is served in carafes, instead of pitchers, and our drinks are served in glasses with two straws! Our placemats are also designed exclusively for us, and we replace them for each season of the year.”

Moving on to the essentials, the shared men’s and ladies’ room is small, but clean and well-equipped. “We even use quality, good smelling soap for our lavatory,” Koa adds. “We also have hooks that ladies can use to hang their bags on. The problem is, the hooks are so nice that they get stolen!” he exclaims.

De Leon-Marcelo and Koa say that all the French Baker branches will be sporting this new look soon.