River shrimp thermidore made with carabao’s milk and garnished with a corn furikake. Native chicken roulade accompanied by guava puree, toasted malunggay and tinigib corn bread. A bread pudding composed of honey toasted Virgie’s argellanas, keso cream mousse and molasses sauce—these dishes sound like they are made by a kitchen brigade garbed in crisp, white uniforms, with components built and shaped by tech savvy equipment. Surprisingly, it’s far from that scene.
Producing this impressive spread is Don Colmenares, clothed comfortably for the outdoors, cooking in an open kitchen equipped simply by a grill and a stove. The venue? Behind their family home lodged inside a farm in the middle of Hinigaran in Negros Occidental.
A shot in the dark
Sauma, his farm-to-table concept, was actually Don’s pandemic pivot. “Ever since we closed Berbeza Bistro located in the city, we really studied as much as we could on what have to do differently the next time we would open a restaurant,” he said. “Our family has another property in the city. We were expecting to put up our next restaurant there. It was just a compound. There’s like a warehouse and may structure na.” Even if they had a place at their convenient disposal, he and his wife Kim and I talked and decided that they might be better off operating at their house, located 60 kilometers south of Bacolod City, since most of their ingredients would come from it.
“We were really afraid that the locals wouldn’t catch up to it. I was super hesitant but my wife was the one who pushed me to be confident enough to say that, alright this is our concept, we’re doing it at the farm. If we fail, it’s fine because it’s our location anyway. It wouldn’t be that big of an investment. At the end of the day, the most practical option for us was in the farm. It was cost-efficient.”
Sauma: the very definition of a dining destination
Majority of their guests flew in from the capital when they started. It started mostly with family and friends, who then helped spread the word, consequently widening their market to include their relations from Cebu, Iloilo and Metro Manila. There were hardly any locals.
But just as they were about to hit their second year of operations, when they suddenly got noticed and featured by online sites and major publications, then the Negrenses started inquiring and coming—by the crowd.
“When we started, Sauma was scheduled only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And then we were only doing one booking of 15 people a day,” recalls Colmenares. “Now, were almost six days a week in operation and we have an estimated 15-25 groups in a day. I’m just amazed with what we’ve achieved in the past two years. I get super surprised that we’ve been having a very consistent guest reservations.”
The bait is the location. The dining area—an open cabana—sits inside the farm. “You’re passing through dirt roads. You’re passing the boonies and you end up literally in a small village community in the province,” he says. “You don’t hear the honking of the cars, just the chickens clucking, birds chirping and the insect humming.”
Another come-on is the monthly menu changes. It helps that he has plenty of ingredients to play sourced within the confines of his province, from Montenegro beef from Bais to the freshest uni harvested by the fisherfolk of Sipalay. With this, loyal guests always have something to look forward to sooner than later. “There was even a guest who dined [with us] four times in two months!”
As it turns out, being remote never posed to be a problem. What Sauma is offering—the “out-of-restaurant” farm-to-table experience and a strong menu hinged on local produce—is strong enough to lure people who appreciate good food hailing even from the farthest of places.
Sauma Farm, Bar and Kitchen is located at Brgy. Tuguis, Hinigaran, Negros Occidental.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sauma is a farm-to-table dining concept created by chef Don Colmenares, located on his family farm in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental.
Sauma is situated behind the Colmenares family home on a farm in Hinigaran, around 60 kilometers south of Bacolod City in Negros Occidental.
Sauma is led by Don Colmenares, who prepares elevated dishes in a simple open-air kitchen using a grill and stove.
Sauma serves creative farm-to-table cuisine using local ingredients, such as river shrimp thermidore, native chicken roulade, and bread pudding made with regional products.
