Buzzworthy brands on how to stand out and reach new diners
How do you continue to stand out in a crowded category? For the likes of Watami, Goldilocks, Ayà, and The Westin Manila’s Cantabria, long-term success and growth are founded not just on building customer loyalty and sustaining consistent food and service quality but also in differentiating yourself in your category.
Whether through premium upgrades in core offerings or underscoring unique experiences via one-off collaborations, these brands, among others, double down on their strengths amid geopolitical uncertainty affecting the industry today.
Elevated rebranding for growth
There’s a lot to be said about Watami Grill and Sushi Bar since it first opened in 2012. Built on the backbone of The Bistro Group’s proven infrastructure, Watami arrived at a point when appreciation for Japanese culture and cuisine remained popular—particularly specialized concepts.
It capitalized on a market that demanded authentic food they experienced in Japan and cemented its position as one of the go-to places for reasonably priced and delicious casual dining. With 23 locations across the country, Watami’s appeal also lies in understanding the ebbs and flows of the market and that includes competitors catching up, such as major international chains specializing in tonkatsu, udon, tempura, and ramen, as well as multi-concept restaurants attracting the same mall-based customers.
This makes Watami’s identity evolution a welcome change for one of the pioneers in Japanese casual dining. Led by chef Masaaki Ishikawa, Watami’s reinvention is twofold, but both are rooted in simple luxury.
The first is investing in new dishes classified under the new category Smoked Series, which features smoked crispy fish, smoked salmon nigiri, and smoked omurice with hamburg steak, among others, in hopes of driving a different experience that could potentially lead to repeat visits and loyalty.
The second strategy in the Watami playbook is curating a selection of hero dishes and elevating the presentation aesthetics, which can be consistently executed at scale. There’s the salmon taco aburi that’s stacked on a sushi ladder; their trademark golden katsu that creates a strong impression with chicken, curry, and cheesy menchi options; and the high-heat, high-impact tableside charm of the restaurant’s stone pot dishes.
With this little evolution and exploration, Watami builds on its foundation to win over more consumers looking to have a taste of value-for-money Japanese cuisine. And they are doing it in the best Watami way possible.
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Innovate with new signatures to address customer craving
You don’t become one of the largest Filipino bakeshop chains without having a clear understanding of the business of cake and pastry. That’s what Goldilocks has done in 60 years, achieving dominance in the celebration cakes category as well as the pasalubong and snacks segment.
Cakes are at the heart of Goldilocks’ cultural identity, and that includes its Signature line of premium cakes. First with its Signature Chocolate launched in late 2025, and now its Signature Tiramisu, a luxurious, crave-worthy, time-tested treat that, perhaps unintentionally, offers a little indulgence and escapism from economic and global anxieties.
Goldilocks’ Signature Tiramisu embraces decadent fantasy with gusto. It’s grounded by four layers of soft vanilla and mocha cakes, soaked in rich coffee to bring out earthy, subtly sweet flavors. In between tiers, a satisfying spread of whipped cream, and on top, silky cream and cocoa powder dusting to finish off the beautiful confection.
Every bite is saturating on the palate, enough to perk up consumers for their daily grind. But if you take your time and really savor the tiramisu, you can taste it uplifting you.
The Goldilocks Signature Tiramisu is offered at an introductory price of P799 in-store (prices may vary depending on location and delivery platform). It is available in Goldilocks stores nationwide and through major delivery partners such as GrabFood, Foodpanda, SM Malls Online, and the Goldilocks Delivery website.
Collaborate to retain cultural relevance
Collaborations have immense presence in Manila to the point that they seem to have a chokehold on local brands. But these inescapable, limited-time partnerships are beneficial for good reason. It expands customer reach, builds community, and fosters creativity in the kitchen.
That said, not all are successful, but when collaborations click, they stick. Like in the case of Xin Chào, Little Bear—a two-night, four-hands event between Ayà and Ho Chi Minh City’s Little Bear Wine Bar.
The first in 2026 in its ongoing Inayà Series, Kevin Navoa and Thirdy Dolatre gave a glimpse of their “more playful and open” side with 27-year-old chef Nhat Duy Ngyuen, one of the youngest recipients of the Michelin Guide Young Chef Award.
“Duy and I first connected online, talking about food, culture, and wine, and the conversation just kept flowing,” says Dolatre. The physical collaboration was the next natural step.
Immediately, on Feb. 27 and 28, the results of their collaboration stood out. Across 11 dishes segmented into snacks, small and bigger plates, and desserts, “Xin Chào, Little Bear” spawned an impressive menu after scouring local markets, which included plenty of seasonal fruits that became the main components of the night’s bold highlights. Mangoes, pineapples, watermelons, strawberries, and green apples covered in pickled radish and a jus of preserved radish liquid and a sprinkle of pine nuts for crunch.
Duy’s simple salad was not about nostalgia; it’s a reaffirmation of his contemporary approach to Vietnamese cuisine where tradition is reworked, not abandoned, and where the goal of cooking “in as many places as possible and learn from different cultures along the way” informs their continues to inform their decision to hold collaborations.
On subsequent dishes, the direction shifts into more explosive territory—bagaybay (fish sperm) mousse on a collaborative banh mi, there’s a spiced shrimp tartare with peanut butter, a noticeably Ayà take on inasal using mushroom, and an off-kilter goi cuon and lumpia mash presented taco-style with Margra lamb and a pig brain sauce that packs quite the punch. Elsewhere, grilled river prawns are resurrected on the table with green chili butter sauce purpose-made for savoring the crustacean from head to tail.
At the end of the night, Xin Chào, Little Bear is a potent reminder of the high points of collaborations.
And they’re not alone in this approach. From March 24 to 26, Michelin Guide Selected restaurants Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez and Dip Nikkei, both Marriott-managed hotels, come together for an Entre Costas y Sierra night that also merges Spanish and Peruvian-Peruvian Japanese cuisines.
“Of course, our main base is Peruvian flavors and ingredients with Japanese technique, but we’ve also started incorporating local produce and other contemporary techniques as well, since Nikkei cuisine is not just a ‘fusion’ of Peruvian and Japanese food to me,” says Dip Nikkei chef de cuisine Rodrigo Serrano.
“Chef Rodrigo Serrano and I come from different parts of the world,” adds Cantabria chef de cuisine Àlvaro Romero Abreu-raya. “But for this collaboration, we turned to what we shared with each other, the nexus of our cuisines, and we found that it is the sea and the mountains.”
Expect the two to shine a light on seafood. “There will be ceviches, tiraditos, escabeche, also a lot of intense yet refreshing and balanced flavors that showcase the best of both Cantabrian and Nikkei cuisines,” says Romero Abreu-raya.
But the benefits of this collaboration go deeper than just creating fantastic food. “Collaborations play a significant role in the growth and the success of any restaurant,” says award-winning chef Chele Gonzalez, creative culinary director and consultant of Cantabria.
“This is an exceptional opportunity for everyone—for diners to encounter something unique, a curated degustation that blends different cultures and styles, and for us chefs to get out of our comfort zones, to share experiences and learnings from our respective culinary journeys. It’s the culmination of our bests.”
Entre Costas y Sierras (Between Cliffs and Tides) will be offered for lunch and dinner at Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez at The Westin Manila from March 24 to 26 only. Advance reservation is required via https://qrco.de/EntreCostasYSierras.
