At this ‘grocerant,’ you can drink and drive (a shopping cart)

Being able to drink and drive (a shopping cart) isn’t something I ever thought I wanted or needed, but there is something about having a glass of energy-boosting liquid in my hand while leisurely perusing the choice array of munchies, fresh produce and kitchen staples that makes me feel a little bit spoiled, a little more excited and a lot more relaxed.On paper, Joel’s Place seems like a tall order: a supermarket, a specialty store, a deli, a café and a bakery, even a juicery and a wine bar—which is probably why it took four years for the idea to take concrete shape, and it’s still evolving.

President and CEO Donnie Tantoco describes the “grocerant” (a portmanteau of “grocery” and “restaurant”) as a gastronomic gallery, and that’s exactly how it feels. According to him, the seed of the idea came from his family’s love of walking around the neighborhoods in Europe, but they wanted it to be Filipino.

“We wanted this to feel like you’re walking around Le Marais in Paris, and there’s always the experience of art even though you’re in a world of food,” he said.

Indulgence and self-discovery

The new lifestyle food concept, located on the ground floor of The Proscenium retail row in Rockwell, Makati City, which opened yesterday, Dec. 8, may yet prove to be a strange and fresh idea for local consumers, but Donnie doesn’t really want to dictate how people experience it. Instead, he wants the place to reveal itself to each customer—very much like art, wherein the experience is molded not just by its creator, but by the relationship the audience has formed with it.“Our shopping mission for each customer when we built the customer journey was indulgence and self-discovery. So when you shop, you really make it your own,” added consultant Christian Tantoco, Donnie’s son.

The grocerant is divided into several sections, including The Juicer, where customers can get smoothies, power shots and mocktails; The Sommelier, which offers a range of wines and cocktails, as well as charcuterie; and The Deli, which is essentially a modern-day, high-end carinderia offering ready-to-eat healthy, preservative-free dishes such as a variety of salads, vegetable lasagna, adlai mushroom risotto, slow-roasted Angus beef and lechon belly.

Christian admitted that they cannot claim to offer “healthy-healthy” food, but they do have healthier options.

“You can get the food in The Deli at a considerable speed, almost as fast as fast food, but there’s no preservative. Everything is very thoughtful; it’s healthy; it’s a full meal. You can get your vegetables, your meats and your grains,” he said.

Donnie said they deliberately chose not to tap famous chefs for their kitchen because they prefer to work with artisans who “just love what they do and want an opportunity to channel that in something that’s innovative and interesting like Joel’s Place.”

After this first month, the menu will change on a weekly rotation, which will keep customers from getting tired of the dishes.Customers may also have their purchased fresh imported meat and seafood from The Butcher and The Fishmonger, respectively, cooked in-house a la dampa. (They can even have jamon Iberico cut the Asian way if the customer wants it for hot pot.)

People can line up for The Barista’s fresh coffee and some freshly baked breads and pastries at a window that opens as early as 7 a.m., even as the rest of the place won’t be in business until 9 a.m.

The supermarket area features locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables from small farms and independent operators, as well as grocery items from local and international brands.

Transparency and mindful decisions

“We’re working with a lot of local producers. There’s a big, big push here to make sure that what we provide in the produce section are the types of fruits that you could really go to the local market to buy,” said Christian, revealing that they source produce from farms around Luzon and the Visayas.

At the same time, the shelves are stocked with a mix of local and international brands, so there might be a bit of Google translating necessary for some items. “We have imported, but we have local. It’s showing that local can stand next to imported and both are great options,” he said.

One interesting aspect about shopping at Joel’s Place is the info cards littered around the store. These give details about particular items and brands, including history and sustainability efforts, to help customers make mindful decisions. For Christian, a big part of Joel’s Place’s identity is storytelling and narratives, with an emphasis on transparency.

Joel’s Place fresh produce, grocery, and other offerings

From these cards, we learn, for example, that the Living Lettuce, which is harvested to include the root ball so as to let it flourish for up to 18 days or longer, is grown at a prospering agritourism farm in Lucban, Quezon, that is committed to sustainable farming.

We also learn that a Filipino-French couple drew inspiration from French culinary culture to create The Fruit Garden brand in their desire to make jams out of the freshest and richest fruits in the Philippines. And the Martiko brand holds certificates in animal welfare practices and their products feature total traceability, including the foie gras, which comes from ducks that live on a diet of maize, soya and wheat cereals which the company grows itself.

Lastly, perfect for the holiday season, there is also a gifting station where customers can pick for themselves from the store the contents of their own gift hampers.

Joel’s Place is able to take all these elements and package it into a tastefully decorated, spaciously laid out and easily navigable bundle that effectively transforms grocery shopping into feeling less of an errand and more of an experience. INQ