(Bretto’s Executive Chef Eling Rune slices the Pata Negra while restaurant owner Bernard Bensimon looks on during the opening of the store over the weekend. Photos by Ashley Manabat)
CLARK FREEPORT — Bretto’s Deli has been around for many years. It has become the go-to deli of the locals for imported cheese and cold cuts at its main branch along Don Juico Ave. in Angeles City.
But over the weekend, Bretto’s finally opened another branch at the Pavillion in this freeport having its own steak house adjacent to the Deli and Coffee Shop which houses great wines and liquors, a selection of cheeses and cold cuts, and some hard to find imported canned goods and condiments. On its opening day, choices of breads, beer, wine and charcuterie platters were on display at the Deli while Bretto’s Norwegian executive chef Erling Rune laid out slices of the “Pata Negra” — regarded as the most expensive cured pork ham costing nearly P40,000 apiece from the Iberian breed of black pigs in Spain – a prized pig for its “jamon” which undergoes a lengthy process and has a distinctive flavor.
Bernard Bensimon, Bretto’s French-Israeli owner, described his restaurant as more than a steakhouse and the deli more of a bistro.
“We add more things here. We have solely imported products,” Bensimon said.
“We have Wagyu and all of our meat is of the best quality,” he said.
Bensimon said Bretto’s supplies most of the hotels in the Philippines in Boracay, Palawan, Subic and Metro Manila. “They buy from us including hotels here in Clark like Midori, Royce and ABC hotels,” he said.
Bensimon said Bretto’s moved to Clark “because it is a nice place to be and also you can import and having the quality that you want.”
For the budget conscious, there is the nearby Food Avenue which caters to mostly call center agents and has in the menu entries as low as P69 and have a variety of pizzas, burgers and Filipino dishes like rice and noodles, Bensimon said.
The Deli and Coffee Shop is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the Steakhouse is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
