Posted by Alexander Sawit in News & Events.
By Alex Sawit
25 May 2012
It’s been said that, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result each time.” This is popularly but mistakenly attributed to Albert Einstein, who as a scientific genius probably would have agreed with the saying anyway.
Time has a way of sliding by unnoticed. It’s been more than a year since I’ve posted anything new on this blog and I’ve had more than enough time to think about the last seven years that Cyrano has been around as “your favorite little neighborhood wine shop.”
Yeah, seven years. It’s been that long.
Folks who’ve been coming to the shop since the beginning are the ones most caught unaware. Even newcomers are surprised but for a different reason.
“But we’ve been driving down this street for years,” they usually say in astonishment, “and we thought you just opened!”
So we at the shop did a lot of thinking about what we’ve been doing and what we haven’t been doing. And we came to the conclusion that we had to evolve.
That’s why I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge KPT, one of our most loyal Cyrano friends. She’s the engine behind the evolving direction of our shop in it’s seventh year, which started with awesome acoustic nights with Lee Grane and is set to continue with more great things to come.
On behalf of Ric, Joco and myself, thank you KPT.
And cheers to Cyrano Wine Shop “Evo VII” version (with apologies to the Mitsubishi Lancer).
Or, in the words of a very happy Junji Arias:
”Saaakehhh!!!”
Posted by Alexander Sawit in News & Events.
By Alex Sawit
31 October 2009
It’s been a fun October at the shop thanks to the amazing voice (or voices) of our favorite YouTube™ sensation, Nick Pitera. I’ve been showing his videos to unsuspecting visitors all month long and I still haven’t gotten tired of audience reactions to his jaw-dropping renditions of A Whole New World (his version of Brad King and Lea Salonga singing from Disney’s Aladdin) and Don’t Stop Believin’ (his duet version of the Glee cover of the Journey song). He’s a very good male vocalist but everybody agrees that his crossover voice is even better. A lot of women would kill to sing this good.
I guess it’s fitting that we were playing these two songs night after night for guests even if only for their gag value. This was a month of big change at our little neighborhood wine shop. In a cheesy but endearing way, these songs happily expressed our outlook on a whole new world of business opportunities that we now want to pursue.
When we opened Cyrano five years ago on October 23, 2004, we had a clear idea of what we wanted to be. But while we succeeded in creating a selling concept that would later become the “Cyrano friends” experience, for lack of resources we fell short of our final vision. The whole concept was sound but the execution needed a new spark of life. If we were ever going to achieve that vision then we had to get the people we needed to make it happen.
So we did. Allow me to officially introduce you to Cyrano’s new partners: Ric Dizon, Jonathan “Joco” Co and Cecile Mauricio.
Most Cyrano friends already know Ric and Joco as two of their own. We met Ric years ago after we opened shop and discovered 1) that he owned a spa across the street and 2) that he had recently visited Napa Valley and picked up a liking for wine. Though he gave up his stake in the spa not long afterward, Ric remained a believer in Cyrano. He’s a street smart guy with a fertile entrepreneurial mind, but more than that he has also become a dear friend, one whom I praise for his generosity of spirit and whom I admire for his faith in the goodness of others.
Joco? He’s been a believer in Cyrano since, well, forever. Equally adept at discussing the product benefits of using polyethylene terephthalate as he is at making a tour guide pitch about the Quail’s Gate vineyard estate in British Columbia, Joco brings both a discriminating wine palate and a process-oriented way of thinking to the business. Plus he instantly improves the view from our window every time he parks his red Porsche 911 out front.
Then there’s my longtime friend Cecile. One of the classiest ladies I’ve ever met, she speaks impeccable French, is an excellent bread maker and is now a devoted martial artist (good luck trying to take her away from her kendo practice). But that’s gravy. Cecile is an influential food & wine writer and is a much sought after consultant in the industry (she recently designed the training course for wine at La Salle Bacolod and regularly conducts wine classes at Asian Culinary Institute for her friend Chef Gene Gonzales). I’m glad that she’s already made a difference in rebuilding our wine inventory and in refocusing our operational efforts.
Together with my sister and me, we’re the re-booted Cyrano team. And we’re pretty excited about our wine shop’s future (to give you a sneak preview, expect to find more than one Cyrano Wine Shop by next year).
All together now (chorus): “Don’t stop believin’…”
Posted by Alexander Sawit in News & Events.
By Alex Sawit
01 August 2009
When Warren Buffet was the featured guest on a business show a few years ago, the investment wizard who once topped Bill Gates as the world’s richest man candidly listed his golden rules for investor success:
Rule # 1: Don’t lose the money.
Rule # 2: Don’t forget Rule No. 1.
Rule # 3: Look for unique companies.
Rule # 4: Do what you know.
That these were words of wisdom from arguably the most respected businessman on the planet was good enough. But there was something else, something far less quantifiable, that Buffet said that I found more compelling. He explained that, after all the number crunching is done, his decision to invest still relies on whether or not he gets a special feeling about it – that rush in the blood, that tingling sensation that happens when he finds a business he really likes and can even personally believe in. That’s how he knows he’s got a winner.
I love that. Warren Buffet I’m not, but I appreciate the notion that a business offer shouldn’t be just about the thrill of making money. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve got to have a special feeling about it too.
That’s why I just recently rejected two different business offers from groups that were interested in Cyrano. One group wanted to transform the place into an upscale, cocktail-serving piano lounge (yawn). The other… well, they actually just wanted to kick us out and set up a gourmet chocolate shop (yeah, sweet, but how the heck am I supposed to sell wine?).
Most Cyrano friends are still unaware that our neighborhood wine shop has long been receiving business offers from all sorts of folk who take notice of our little operation on the street. They generally covet us for our location, but most are also interested in tapping those savvy, convivial and cosmopolitan people who always seem to gravitate to our place (which is just about any typical group of Cyrano friends, right?).
Just to give you an idea, here are a few of the noteworthy offers from folks who approached us over the years:
- Galileo Enoteca. Galileo’s Italian proprietor, Gaetano Vitrano, wanted to take over Cyrano so he could turn it into Galileo’s Makati branch. Bye-bye Gaetano!
- Mickey’s Delicatessen. A business associate approached me with a proposal but, after I pointed the limitations, they settled down on Jupiter Street instead.
- Mr. Hideaki Takeda. A reasonably successful Japanese businessman and “semi-estranged acquaintance” of our famous neighborhood buddy Mr. Shimizu, Mr. Takeda wanted to convert the backroom into a cocktail lounge with bubbly hostesses speaking in halting Japanese and serving drinks to men twice their age. I must have told him politely a million times, “Uh, let me think about it some more.”
- Forth & Tay. The country’s first single malt whisky & cigar bar needed a replacement showroom. I offered the Cyrano backroom; they asked for our frontage.
- Attivo Café. The nice young ladies who own this establishment across the park from us offered what seemed to be a great deal for both parties, where they would operate Cyrano as a café during the day and I would take over at night. But after watching them handle the place for a trial run, I realized that the chemistry was badly wrong.
Looking back at all the offers I’ve turned down, especially the ones that would have been financially rewarding, it’s even clearer now that they all would have changed everything about our little place. So I have no regrets. In the end, none of them gave me that rush in the blood, that tingling sensation that happens when I know I’ve found a winner.
Come to think of it, Cyrano friends already have a winner. And I ain’t gonna to fix what ain’t broke.
Posted by Alexander Sawit in News & Events.
By Sam Alapan
05 January 2009
[EDITOR’S NOTE: It seems like it is becoming a tradition for a certain bunch of Cyrano friends to spend the night of New Year’s Eve at their favorite wine shop (it also seems like it's becoming a tradition for me to stay away from this happy establishment on this very night in favor of staying home and catching a lot of sleep). So I thought it only fitting to ask Sam, just as I did last year, to write about the New Year’s celebration at Cyrano for our blog. Might as well make this a tradition too, right Sam? –Alex Sawit]
Work and other extra-curricular activities gobbled up my schedule and distracted me from my regular visits to Cyrano. The extra-long weekend was a well-deserved vacation – probably too long for some people, right Alex? Nevertheless, it gave me time to inject some red in my veins.
Our soft-speaking angry madman and Cyrano friend, Sam
The New Year celebrations may just have started a bit too early for me, though. A good friend of mine and her husband returned to the Philippines after a very long absence. The holidays are like that, I suppose: meeting old friends and family, sharing stories that would either embarrass the storyteller or make the ones hearing them laugh out loud. It was a good thing that the couple I was with were wine lovers and Cyrano, as always, was a good recommendation.
After a few hours talking about the new Filipino sound hitting the airwaves over two good bottles of Pinot, Mae and Glenn Lanoza had become new Cyrano friends. I know there’s an official list out there that someone’s keeping and the roster of names just keeps on growing.
However, other people popped-out of the woodwork as the real New Year’s celebration began. I was in good company with Janet, Pat, Cris and Joco as we met an hour or two after the fireworks. I was hoping to get a good view of the display coming from in and around the city from my condo, being in the 17th floor, but the drizzle was a party-pooper. On the other hand, it wasn’t really the kind of celebration I was looking out for.
The start of the year wouldn’t be without stories on how the year went, most of them a few months old and some are just like the firecracker you lit that didn’t go off and then explodes without you noticing it. I’m speaking rather vaguely, right, Cris? But Janet will always be the main event, I guess it goes with the territory and the fact that her fiery and passionate take on life cannot be missed.
The rest of us, Pat, Joco and I included were just revelers on one side, watching the fireworks – no, let me rephrase that, the interesting discussion on New Year’s Day. I know in some part of the city, many people are celebrating as well, maybe louder than our own get together but among friends this is the kind I would hope for.
My good friend, Mae, corrected herself after meeting some of the Cyrano friends. Quaint was rather a shallow adjective to describe Cyrano, and she soon discovered how intimate people can get within the narrow walls. Of course, it helped when she learned how close she and Cris were related.
It’s always hard to describe what kind of people go to Cyrano, some don’t necessarily have anything in common with each other. And saying that we’re all wine lovers doesn’t really cut it after all. But in all the years (and they’ve just been a few) I’ve managed to find people who are open to express themselves without fear of judgement. Just the kind of people who I want to spend the first day of the year.
I missed them all in the last few months I was away. It’s easy to find wine and everything that goes with it, but good company will be hard to find. At least I know where to find them on New Year’s Eve and every evening thereafter.
Posted by Alexander Sawit in News & Events.
By Sam Alapan
03 January 2007
Home is now fifteen minutes away from where I used to live. I am exaggerating, of course, because this only happens when it’s way past three in the morning. But after the first hour of the New Year, I get ready to celebrate the first holiday of the year with friends I’ve been rewarded with during the year that was. Fifteen minutes is nothing compared to the hours I will be spending with Cyrano Friends.
My arrival is greeted by an ensemble of explosive instruments playing a five-minute long composition in the key of G. As in Gago. Because the culprits left their instruments of chaos and mayhem right behind Alex’s vehicle after lighting it and running away like a bunch of rock stars being chased by hundreds of girls.
Sinturon ni Judas! That’s what the blazing idiots lit and they had to do it after the rest of the fireworks were done because it was the type of fireworks that could never compete with the expertly crafted fireworks display that lit up the Ayala triangle and the whole metro for that matter.
The arrival of the lively ladies of Cyrano; Cris, Jam and Janet; and the soon-to-be-married-within-the-year Leo was more than enough to compensate for my loss of experiencing the fireworks spectacle in any of the major areas of interest.
Leo, in his half-drunk state because he started much earlier with several shots of absinth, talked about how awkward the past weekend was for him when he and his family met with the family of his betrothed.
Janet also spent New Year’s Eve with her own family, but instead of spending it traditionally within the comforts of home, they dragged their parents outside, for the first time, under the stars smiling on Makati Avenue. She was smiling at the time, counting down to the New Year with the most significant man in her life. There was a major fireworks display reported on the street below challenging the ones happening in the Makati skyline.
Cris had her share of fireworks even before the weekend began. There’s more to come, we say. The New Year was about to begin and there are 365 days left, every night would be lit with all sorts of pyrotechnics and what not – better prepare yourself, Cris. Besides, you were the one who said, “Bring it on!”
Jam was bouncing and energetic, eyes wide full of excitement and all sentences an exclamation when she speaks, keeping the night vivid and cheerful, even after all the fireworks had stopped.
The exchange of stories, highlights of the year and things that couldn’t be helped but had to bring up kept us awake for hours. Seven hours and four wine bottles after, we were ready call it a day. I was just as surprised to see daylight creeping into the bar as Alex vigilantly stayed behind the counter while reminding me to write about the New Year in Cyrano.
And what was I going to contribute to celebrations, you might want to ask, other than the usual one-liners and the more obvious witness to the day’s revelry? Well, nothing, really. I was there as a recipient of what the Cyrano Friends could offer and if I had to offer anything, it would only be an extra smile, adding loudness to a healthy drum of laughs, an additional quote or page full of stories to fill the dark corners of Cyrano.
At 7:30 in the morning, we left each other’s company. And as I went back to Parañaque, I realized that the New Year couldn’t have been complete without spending it with the people who inhabit my home away from home. But whoever said that the New Year celebrations had to end so early in the day?
That, my Cyrano Friends, is a another story waiting to be told.
Posted by Alexander Sawit in News & Events.
By Alex Sawit
25 December 2007
“This is like the bar in Star Wars with all the aliens.”
That was Bochok talking, a glass tumbler in hand and a single malt whisky-induced grin on his face, calling my attention to the strange characters going about their merry business that Friday night (December 21). Such a happy way to describe the ensemble cast at the Cyrano Christmas party, don’t you think? Even though I prefer to liken our little establishment to Rick’s café in Casablanca, on this particular occasion Bochok was succinctly right. Like that sci-fi saloon in a galaxy far, far away, our place had turned into a rendezvous point for a motley collection of fascinating beings.
Wine was flowing, food was plentiful and we found intelligent life. We even had all three of our regular Friday night Jedi masters in session (our sincere thanks to [NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST] for providing not just one but two blissfully flavorful, delicious orders of air-freighted Cebu lechon).
And the Force continues to be with us. Long live Cyrano, friends!
What intelligent life? This is a conspiracy I tell you!
Conspira-SEEEEEEE… !
Blah, blah, blah… you Jedi masters talk too much.
Sith Lords rule, baby!
Jedi master? Yoda say join me and my padwans in buffet room.
Begun this Christmas Party has!
We know mind control too, Yoda man.
Aaarggghhh, mind control strong… walls melting… losing control…
hey wait, gimme that mango chiffon from Conti’s!!!
Huh… umaga na bord?
