Micah Shi is disarmingly clear about what she’s building: The Grand Hausse—a fashion house, a café-restaurant, and now a bar—shaped by intention. She even designed the menu herself, down to small touches like tissues that ask, “What are you grateful for today?”
The Grand Hausse, which in French translates to “the grand awakening” or “the greatest awakening,” is more than just a new bar in town. It’s an experiment in how spaces can heal, inspire, and bring people together. Behind its doors, cocktails are infused with herbs meant to soothe, names carry stories of restoration, and every detail captures a desire to offer more than a typical night out.
The 33-year-old entrepreneur is steadily bringing her vision to life. Her goal is nothing less than “awakening to your truest and best self.”
Shi talks as easily about clothes and cocktails as she does about energy. She calls herself an energy healer. “I don’t really heal you,” she said. “I activate your own ability to heal yourself.” That idea threads through the space: art on the walls, color choices, and even dish names are meant to uplift.
The Grand Hausse’s concept is maximalist by design—“life is never meant to be ordinary”—and it invites guests to celebrate everyday life, not just special occasions.
The bar completes her triad. It launched on an “8-8 portal” day tied to her theme of flow and abundance, with plans to open every Friday and Saturday and extend hours on those nights. She’s clear it’s not the usual party scene.
“You’re gonna sip with purpose, with intention,” she said. The list includes Awakening Cocktails and Sip With Purpose Mocktails, with names like I Release What No Longer Serves, In Flow With the Divine, Empowerment Elixir, and Golden Abundance—drinks she says are built with ingredients chosen for their “healing properties” and “frequency” to help guests align with a positive state.
Even the bar experience comes with a small ritual. On certain nights—she calls it “manifesto night”—guests can draw a “message from the universe” card with their drink, a prompt that many find strangely on point.
Shi’s path here wasn’t linear. The Grand Hausse was intended to be a furniture store—hence “Hausse.” A misdelivered mannequin sparked a turn. While sourcing accessories in China, she found a clothing manufacturer willing to produce in small runs, an offer that surprised her. The pivot stuck. She revised the floor plan, kept the signage, and says the permits and construction suddenly moved smoothly. That was the moment, she said, she learned that “your deepest passions are actually intimately connected to your higher purpose.”
She builds meaning into the visuals. Blue and red stand for masculine and feminine, water and fire; the black-and-white floor is about balance. Food follows the same logic: designer pastas (which she describes as a first in the Philippines), steaks with a distinct flavor profile, and desserts that feel new “but not trying hard.”
She avoids processed ingredients like iodized salt and leans on “superfoods” and naturally vivid elements—beetroot, blue pea, and nuts among them. There’s Solar Tuna Tartare, and yes, there’s pistachio curry kare-kare, her idea of leveling up a Filipino favorite. A Beef Wellington appears via preorder and joins the menu when it clicks with guests.
Before fashion, Micah worked in male-dominated fields—generator sets and car accessories—and still owns the generator business. Her first big break came early. Fresh out of college, she flew to China to look for suppliers, secured a 30-day open account on a 40-foot container of gensets, and shipped it home. Then Typhoon Glenda hit. “In three days,” she said, the container sold out. She credits “divine timing,” but anchors it in action.
Ask Micah how she keeps going and the answer is simple: cleanse, meditate, write a gratitude list. The same stance shapes her view of business and spirituality. She believes in energy exchange—that accepting success and wealth isn’t a contradiction when your intention is good.
Location-wise, she admits Quezon Avenue is challenging. Foot traffic isn’t easy. But the spot also came from the project’s original plan as a furniture showroom, and she chooses to trust why it led her there. Whether guests arrive for clothes, dinner, or a quiet Friday drink, she hopes they leave lighter than they came. As she puts it, The Grand Hausse is more than just a brand or a room, but “a frequency you can tune in to.”
