MANILA — Actress Andi Eigenmann said her Siargao café, Happy Islanders, will expand next month with a move to a beachfront location.
Eigenmann shared the update in Karen Davila's latest vlog, where she gave viewers a tour of the café she co-owns with her partner, professional surfer Philmar Alipayo. Happy Islanders offers healthy food and drinks and was put up three years ago.
"I was just enjoying my semi-retirement life," Eigenmann told Davila about how she started the business. "But eventually, when we were talking about putting up a business, Philmar has always wanted to put up his own surf club and obviously renting a place that's not going to be enough kasi the proceeds of that go to all the local boys. Sabi niya, you're so passionate about preparing healthy, wholesome meals, why not just share and let's do a cafe together?"
Eigenmann said she created every item on the menu, using "wholesome ingredients," fresh produce from local markets and superfood powders whenever possible.
"I just whipped up some different creative recipes that are enjoyable for those who want to eat healthy, but are still beginners," she added.
Eigenmann said the bestsellers of Happy Islanders are the smoothie bowls and slushies. "I just use pure fruit for it, and it's like frozen and blended, so it's like ice cream. It's perfect for here," she said.
Apart from the healthy menu, Happy Islanders also offers surfing lessons.
"Usually we have mostly foreigners that come for surf lessons, because since Philmar is one of the coaches of the national team, we also have the top national surfers of the Philippines as our instructors. So usually it's the foreigners that really want to up their surfing, they come here and they book we also offer to be beginners," Eigenmann said.
The former child star said her passion for nutrition extends beyond the café, revealing that she is currently studying to become a certified holistic nutritionist.