Satti now in MH del Pilar in Manila

Satti is here to stay.

Yes! my fellow satti lovers, we are not yielding our post in SM Fairview, win or lose. It's so hard to get into SM because the waiting time is two years, but since they liked our unique food concept, they approved our application in less than three months.

So if SM sees much promise in satti, so do we. Besides the words of encouragement we got from you all emboldened us to give it a go at SM for a year more! So my friends Paul and Arlene Farol, rest assure satti will stay in SM until there are people like you.

Besides, our initial losses came not from the fact that people don't like satti, but it's more because we made some serious mistakes in running the food business, which is alien to me and my wife Ann.

You see I come from the journalism profession and my wife came from the car business (we have used car outlets in EDSA, Quezon City and Zamboanga) and this is our first venture in the food business. But those initial losses in SM are worth it because we learned so much from them. Thus, we have done changes that really improved sales in Satti Grill House in December.

For one, we have hired really world-class cooks who concocted new products that have now become best sellers. They include pusit stuffed with vegetables, hito and many other food items that get people coming back for more.

So inspired are we by these developments that we have put back in place our expansion plans, something we have temporarily shelved after incurring huge loses in SM.

Last November, we opened our second Satti Grill House in MH del Pilar corner Padre Faura, Manila and sales there have been increasing due to strong patronage from people in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga City. The best thing is that place is opened for 24 hours so you could have your boiling-hot satti very early in the morning or very late at night. We also deliver in areas near M.H. del Pilar and you may call up the place at at tel. 3826462 for orders.

So you see, our faith in satti remains strong and this is because of you all.

Again, thanks a lot and Happy New Year!!!

HOME IS SATTI

We really appreciate all the feedbackyou have been giving us by signing up in our Sattisfaction Feddback Form. Your feedback means so much to us, specially since we are new in the food business and we want to make it right with all of you our valued customers and friends.
In fact, we used some of those feedbacks when we contributed an article for the anniversary issue of our very own newspaper Zamboanga Today during its 8th anniversary last Oct. 8
This was the news feature that appeared in the paper then:

SATTI, BIG HIT FOR HOMESICK ZAMBOANGUENOS

People from Zamboanga City, Sulu and Basilan now living in Metro Manila are gravitating towards the Satti Grill House in Shoe Mart (SM) Fairview to savor satti, locot-locot, tamales and other authentic food from Zamboanga City.
Since the Satti Grill House was opened June at the SM Fairview branch along Quirino Avenue, Quezon City, the food outlet has become a meeting place for Chavacanos and Muslims who get together not only to savor satti, but also to renew ties with relatives and old friends.
Those who frequent the place swore that the satti tastes better than the ones sold in Zamboanga City, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Many are only too happy that they can now savor satti even in Metro Manila.
``Masarap kasi mas marami yung karne. Friendly ang mga crew. Masarap balikan,’’ gushed Dendi R. Conception III, a registered nurse who lives in Bulacan.
``Masarap po talaga at sulit,’’ chimed in Lawisa M. Impis who now lives in Novaliches, Quezon City.
Business couple Armand and Annura Nocum, who opened up the Satti Grill House because of their shared love for satti, said that they were happy people are finding satti as a cure for homesickness.
``Actually there is a social aspect in our business – we want to put Zamboanga food in the gastronomic map of the Philippines,’’ said Armand, who recently resigned from the Inquirer to put up the satti business.
``Zamboanga has been left far behind. Until now, people ask me about the Abu Sayyaf whenever I introduce myself as a Zamboangueno. I dream of a time when such kind of introduction will be followed by a remark like ``Oh, you come from the satti country. I love satti,’’ said Armand, who also runs a communications, marketing and used car businesses.
Nocum said that he wants people to associate satti to Zamboanga City, Basilan and Sulu the same way they associate molo and chicken inasal with Iloilo, sisig with Pampanga, tuna with Iligan and Cagayan de Oro; and durian with Davao.
Mr. Nocum had called on all Zamboanguenos, Suluanos and Basilenos to tell their relatives in Manila that there is now a Satti Grill House in SM Fairview and that they should be ones in propagating it to Manile?os.
``Satti lovers unite, let us join forces to show that our place is rich with exotic food that are unique and as delicious as the other delicacies that are now popular in the country. Let us `sattinize’ Metro Manila,’’ Nocum said.
To further propagate the satti and give people from here an Internet portal, Nocum has put up a blog known as ``SATTIsfaction’’ and is reached through www.sattisfaction.blogspot.com.
Please contact the Satti Grill House through Tel. Nos. 9323609 or 4300282 and through cellular phone no. 09175208013. Next week, Satti is now also available at the Razhev’s Favorites branches in Timog Food Plaza (Cor. Timog Ave. and Scout Tuazon), Timog and at IBP Road, Batasan Hills, Quezon City.

We hope you like it and if it makes you feel homesick, I have included here a picture of La Paz, Zamboanga's very own version of Baguio. Please check the place out next time you go to our beloved Zamboanga.
Gracias.

WHY SATTI?

Satti has sting. Satti has class. Satti has soul.

Of all the food that I can bring to Manila, it is SATTI that I am most passionate about in introducing to the ``Metro Palate'' and eventually the whole country. Actually you can call this mission as the ``Sattination’’ of the Philippines and the world.

Satti to me represents what Mindanao is today – chaotic, troubled yet there is something to it that attracts people to its shores, its culture, its food and people. Satti specifically characterizes the spirit of Zamboanga City, Basilan and Sulu where satti can be found.

Think of satti as the forbidden fruit which has the state of being forbidden as its main attraction. It’s like a chocolate cake to a dieter, steak to a vegetarian, a beautiful parishioner to a priest; and needle to a balloon.

Non-Mindanaoans who have tasted satti call it ``pagkaing apoy’’ and therein lies the temptation to taste it. The knowledge that its peanut-based-soup is spiced up with loads of siling labuyo – but which also taste sweet -- is what draws the un-initiated to satti.

What adds mystery to this food is the fact that its recipe is a well-guarded secret handed down by an Indian-Arab to a Chinese-Muslim family in Sulu. Yes, I’ve seen some recipes in the Internet, but I dare you to compare them with the satti in Zamboanga and which we now have at the SM Fairview Food Court in Quezon City

Thus, satti has history and mystery boiling in its red-blood spicy soup.

It also has wide popularity in Southeast Asia where it is known as Satay and Sate. Although the ones in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand also goes with grilled chicken or beef, their peanut sauce are generally served as gravy or a dip and not served as soup as satti is.

Many Asian countries also serve their satay with regular rice, but it is only in the Philippines and Malaysia where the grilled meat and sauce are served with coconut ``puso’’ or rice cooked and served in coconut leaves.

Furthermore, it is only in the Philippines where the rice is dunk in the steaming bowl of satti sauce – Oreo style.

So, on the whole, you have a gastronomic experience not only unique but one taken on the wild side as well.

I have already tasted the different varieties of all the satays in different countries in Asia, the US, Canada and Europe and I tell you the Philippine version tastes the best. Don’t take my word for it, taste satti and compare it with satay and I promise you that you will be hooked. Don’t say I did not warn you.

Go ahead; admit it, what is forbidden almost always taste better ….