YOU can never run out of one-bowl combinations at HeyBo, the Singapore-based restaurant under the SaladStop Group which specializes in grain bowls, breakfast baos, and poke bowls. There are, apparently, well over 5 million possible ingredient combinations.
After HeyBo opened in Central Square BGC in August last year, it opened a second branch in Makati’s One Ayala last week.
During a preview the day before its Sept. 18 opening, guests were treated to its new offerings (dairy-free ice cream, kombucha, and baos), but also the Build-Your-Bo! option, where guests can mix up their own bowl with a base, a protein, three sides, a garnish, a dip, and a sauce. One can also add on or subtract items from a bowl. All of this leads to an immense number of possible combinations.
“We actually did the math: you can do 5.7 million different combinations with our different ingredients,” said Erika Segundo, Marketing Manager for HeyBo in the Philippines.
The new store boasts indoor seating for 42 guests, complemented by an alfresco dining area.
“From the onset, when we opened HeyBo in BGC, there was a lot of clamor for it,” said Joan Aquino, General Manager for SFRI (Specialty Food Retailers, Inc., the food arm of the Tantoco-founded SSI group), about the second branch’s opening. “Those who’d tried it and live far from BGC were asking when we’re going to open another spot,” she said. “From our socials, there were a lot of questions on when we were opening the second store.
The first branch is popular: “When we talk to our team in BGC, we do have regular customers coming in… like clockwork. Twice a week, or three times a week, even.”
She added, “We’re looking at the Ortigas area. I think that’s one pocket where our market is, and we’d like to be more accessible to the people in the Pasig-Mandaluyong-Ortigas area as well.”
HeyBo is a sister brand of SaladStop, also a healthy-eating joint. On the surface, they both seem the same: healthy food served in bowls and in hefty proportions. Asked about their actual difference, Ms. Aquino said, “I think the main difference is more on the process of cooking. HeyBo is more on the cooked side, more protein-based. SaladStop is more on salad-fresh vegetables.
“The play on flavors in HeyBo is more hefty; there’s more depth in the combination of flavors. With SaladStop, it’s more serious — if you’re serious about your diet and all that,” she said.
In Singapore, the SaladStop Group has two more concepts: Wooshi, featuring Maki and Poke Bowls, and freshkitchen, a catering venture. Asked about the possibility of bringing them here, Ms. Aquino said about Wooshi in particular: “We’re seriously considering that. Hopefully, we’ll share the news soon, but we’re still in the exploratory stage.”
In the SaladStop Group’s website, the different countries that their concepts have reached are marked with flags. Interestingly, Wooshi is already marked with a Philippine flag.
As for other developments in the SFRI group (which includes Shake Shack), Ms. Aquino said Italian chocolatier Venchi will be opening “soon.” Venchi’s opening was first announced in June of this year.
“Soon, we might be able to bring in more brands that resonate to our market.”
HeyBo One Ayala is located at the mall’s second floor al fresco area. — Joseph L. Garcia