The inspiration of the Hatter's Group started from tea, not strictly from the tea plant, and the seemingly unlimited varieties and applications there are in existence. We wanted a venue to showcase our own creativity of its use, and also to feature our selection of assorted teas and teaware and their origins to our patrons. It was a great idea since Filipinos still have limited knowledge and appreciation of tea, and the market for it still hasn't matured enough in comparison to other non-tea drinking nations. One of the founders however has already been an advocate of the Biopunk Movement and DIY tech, and exposed to several Maker events and Hackerspaces. Another founder wanted to incorporate a training centre into the space. After just a short while the list of projects and experiments expanded, and we found ourselves trying to create a theme and style for the venue that will accommodate a particular identity that we want to project. We found this task to be very tiring and conflicting. And since our common objective is to showcase innovation and creativity, there was just no end to the designs that would come with its corresponding inspiration. Meeting other culinary & beverage artists along the way who had their own bright F&B concepts got us thinking of featuring their work & raw ideas to test if they can be applied in the real world, get public appreciation, and be commercially feasible. Admittedly, we are just a bunch of curious people and we thrive on a dynamic environment and a steady flow of questions to get our hands dirty with. So to indulge our passion to explore & experiment, and most importantly to be honest with ourselves, we've decided to end this business of thinking up a menu that would fit a brand identity or theme and vice-versa. Both the menu and theme of the venue would be dynamic and dependent on the project or experiment that is being featured either by the Hatter's Group itself or other invited innovators & collaborators. And more than just inviting artists, The Hatter's Group would not be confined to a single space but will extend from many different places & ideas, and foster an environment that bring about the innovative spirit in F&B and beyond.
