Prewar QC bakery habitués lament loss of landmark

The bakery’s two “pugon” (top) or wood-fired brick ovens suffered water damage following the fire while a basket of “pandesal” lies among the ruins. —JHESSET O. ENANO

In 1939, the birth of Quezon City also saw the rise of its first “panaderia” from which came the smell of freshly baked bread that wafted through the streets lined with fragrant kamuning trees.

For 79 years, the “heart” of Kamuning Bakery Cafe were its two wood-fired brick ovens or “pugon” which gave its “pandesal” and other pastries the unique texture and taste that kept people coming.

Last week, however, the iconic bakery met its untimely demise when a postmidnight fire razed it to the ground on Feb. 6. Yet amid the ruins still stood the red-brick ovens, a sign of resilience that gave hope to long-time customers.

Beth Javier Africa, daughter of founders Marcelo Javier Sr. and his wife, Leticia, lamented the loss of the prewar bakery, along with it the dying art of pugon-baking.

“When it was burning, I remembered my mother who single-handedly managed the bakery,” she said in an interview.

In 1945, her father, grandfather and uncle were killed by Japanese forces. Leticia, a lawyer, was left with young children to raise and a bakery to run in a new city.

Six-feet deep crowd

“She would wake up at 4 a.m. to check on the bakers,” said Africa, who was then 5 years old, only a year younger than the bakery. “We had to put up a wooden barrier at our storefront because people would be waiting as early as 5:30 a.m. and the crowd would be five- or six-feet deep, just waiting for the pandesal to come out of the pugon.”

From Presidents to common folk, Kamuning Bakery — located at the corner of K-1st and Judge Jimenez Streets — served generations, keeping its traditional and labor-intensive process even in the face of grocery-bought bread and easy-bake ovens.

Its patrons included the late President Corazon Aquino, writer Nick Joaquin and musician Levi Celerio.

In 2015, it started hosting the weekly “Pandesal Forum” that gathered politicians, artists and newsmakers who talked about the pressing issues of the day.

After learning of the fire, actress-writer Bibeth Orteza Siguion-Reyna, a former Kamuning resident, hurriedly left her house in Makati City and went to the site.

She cried when she saw the bakery’s ruins.

“I remember writing scripts of [the 1970s television show] ‘Iskul Bukol’ and smelling the freshly baked bread just a few houses away,” she recalled. “Can you imagine it survived the war, but not the fire?… I felt like a chapter in my life ended.”

Favorite goodies

Other than the pandesal, a close favorite of the actress and many others was the “pan de suelo,” known for its crusty exterior because it was baked on the oven floor instead of in a pan.

With the dwindling number of pugon in the metropolis, Kamuning Bakery’s pan de suelo was already a rare find.

Poet and journalist Pete Lacaba, meanwhile, said he was introduced to the bakery by the late actress Nida Blanca.

When both were with the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, Blanca often bought bread from the bakery to their meetings, he recalled.

His wife, writer Marra Lanot, loved the pandesal, but he was partial to the “pan de coco.”

In 2014, the bakery received Quezon City’s highest honor, the Gawad Parangal Award, for its achievements and contributions as a “pioneer enterprise.”

The nomination came from Dr. Butch Dalisay, vice president for public affairs of the University of the Philippines.

“It exemplified the best of what a small, community-based business could be,” he told the Inquirer. “The fact that it was as old as Quezon City itself was both symbolically significant and also simply amazing.”

Challenge to rebuild

As messages of regret and consolation poured in, Wilson Lee Flores, who bought the bakery in 2013, acknowledged that it would be a challenge to rebuild the historical landmark.

Still, it would be a worthwhile undertaking, he said.

“I have to take care of the bakers and staff who are now displaced for the coming months…. There are also steep financial losses from this fire and high costs of any rebuilding,” he added.

The city fire department reported damage from the fire at less than P1 million. But Flores estimated his losses at over P10 million as antique baking equipment and newly purchased tools were burned.

“I want to rebuild with more emphasis on the restoration… and rehabilitate the two antique wood-fired brick ovens,” he said.

For the bakery’s loyal clientele, the memory of the taste of pugon-baked goods would have to do for now. Siguion-Reyna is hopeful that the loss of the bakery would only be a “hiatus.” “I sincerely hope that it will be rebuilt from the ashes,” Dalisay said.