Hidden Restaurant in Makati Philippines (Celera)

- When I was young,
I had this conversation

in my head floating—
if I'm good enough.

Am I good enough as a son?

Am I good enough as a grandson?

Am I good enough
as a human being?

One day, my friend
in college brought me

to this leadership seminar,
and I took it,

and it opened my eyes
to my blind spots.

I started becoming present
to what I had.

What I have are strong,
deep memories of food

with people I love.

Having my team experience
the same thing.

I guess for me,
it's a constant recreating

of moments back in time,
and then applying it

to the cooking and into
the dining experience now.

This is my make or break.

This is it.

- It's happening now. All right.

So our supplier, J Vasco, is...

They're cutting the ficem board
because we want

the top of the table
to be cement.

The griller came.

Are there specific materials
for cleaning?

- That’s all, ma’am.
You just need to brush it.

- Just brush?

- Can I try if it fits here?

- It’s big. I think it’s big.

- It’s too much?
Oh no, the width.

It’s kind of unexpected
because it’s nice,

but it’s bigger
than the usual sizing.

My god, I’m nervous,
I think it’s really big—

but let’s see.

I thought you were strong?
What happened?

It’s okay. I mean, it happens.

Good thing we planned
this beforehand.

I think it helps
to be very hands-on

with the construction workers
because at least they know

firsthand what it is you really want.

Nicco and I are
the project managers,

also the owners,
and then the chefs.

So it’s nice because it’s like,
this is what we’re going

to cook—will it affect
the surroundings

when we cook this,
will the wood smell,

will this one smell?

So with this, we were able
to apply our experience

in how to build things.

And what’s also important,
I think, is this is what

we can call our home base.

***May specific na materials po ba para panglinis?
- Yan lang yun ma'am, ibubrush niyo lang yan.
- Brush lang?
- Pwede po bang isukat kung pasok dito?
- Malaki eh. Sa tingin ko lang malaki eh.
- Lagpas? Oh no, yung width.
Medyo unexpected kasi it's nice, pero ang laki than the usual sizing. My god, kinakabahan ako, ang laki po ata pero let's see. Akala ko ba malakas kayo? Anyare? Okay lang. I mean, it happens. Good thing napagplanuhan na namin to before. I think it helps to be very hands-on with the construction workers kasi at least alam nila first hand kung ano ba talaga yung gusto mo. Kami ni Nicco yung project manager, owner also, and then the chefs. So it's nice kasi parang, ito yung lulutuin natin, maaffect ba yung surrounding natin pag niluto natin to, mangangamoy ba yung wood, mangangamoy ba yung this one. So with this, naano namin yung experience namin how to build things. And what's also important, I think ito yung masasabi namin na home base namin.

- I think Quenee
is the best person

to tell the story.

- I think it's 2014.

So I went to Florida
for my internship,

and then I went back home,
but I'm not yet graduating.

I was looking for work
because I'm kind of bored,

I didn't want to be idle.

One, of my best friends back then
in high school said,

"Hey, there's an opening
in Your Local."

And I said, "Okay."

I was very happy
because everyone's welcoming.

Nicco was so quiet.

He was so quiet.

- Still quiet.

- Still quiet up to now.

There's very little interaction
between the team and him.

- Quenee talks a lot...

which is nice—
it balances us out, right?

Why are you doing this?

Why are you adding that?

Are they suitable
for each other?

All these things.

So the R&D process became
a lot more annoying.

I'm kidding.

More...

It became a bit more...

It was less lonely.

At first, it was R&D,
and then later,

I was slowly relying
on her operational stuff,

which freed up some time
on my hands.

So I was able to...

During this time,
because my son was

in Singapore—
he was just born—

I would be able to fly back
to Singapore to see him.

I have sort of left
Your Local running,

unconsciously.

I didn't realize it was running
on its own

because Queenee was there.

And then, there was one day,
I was in Singapore

and this writer messaged me
and said,

"I'm here in Your Local."

A food critic.

"And you're not here."

And then, I was like...

Screwed.

And he said, "But it's okay.
Your team doesn't need you."

So I'm like, what the [ _ ], right?

He said, "No, because your team
is functioning so well already."

So like, I take it
as a compliment

that you've managed
to let them excel on their own.

So for the first time
in my career

of working for myself,
I was very moved.

Like, all of a sudden
I have a team really working

with me and towards
the same goal.

Quenee was able to rally them
and mold them

into a tight knit group,
to a family.

For the first time, I chose
and I said that to myself,

that from now on,
I will lead differently.

So instead of leading
from the front,

I will push them from the back.

Even though she was scared,
she would break through it, right?

***'Cause ako naman parang, I would always parang, I'll test first, parang okay ba sa Quenee? Talon, diba? So kung talon siya, talon din ako. We have been holding each other to account in terms of work and eventually it became like family and really bestfriends na talaga. Her generousity of heart was what glued this team together.

- Same goal.

***I also noticed that
he likes treating everyone pantay pantay. Di siya madamot to ask the idea of others.
And then he tried to calibrate it, he'll try to fix it based sa mga comments ng team members and kung sino mang tumitikim.

- I was born, 1984.

My mom was quite young
back then.

So I first grew up for a bit
with my dad.

And then eventually,
my grandmother took me in.

Grade three, grade four,
I started hanging out a lot more

with my biological father.

And then at around grade six,
I moved to my mom's place.

And then during that time,
I was just starting

to get to know my mom
in a different way—

living with her.

At that time, my mom hung out
with a lot of chefs

for reasons I still don't know why
and how to start it.

But back then,
it was apparent to me

when I observed them
how they all revolved

around the island table
in the kitchen.

They would all taste the food,
they would all talk

about their days.

And so weekends was mostly that.

At that time, I was still dreaming
to have my parents

back together—
my biological father.

And I was still, you know,
maybe if I cook,

they might be back together.

And I was, you know,
grade three at this time.

But all of these
were just thoughts.

I think what I was longing for
back then was really

role models and a set of people
who would continuously

just be there.

Living with my dad
and my grandmother and my mom,

so I was, like, not really sure,
when I was young,

what was happening.

Was I good enough
to stay with them?

Why am I being passed around?

All of these thoughts
in my head, right?

Am I good enough as a son?

Am I good enough as a grandson?

Am I good enough
as a human being?

So I was like always longing
for home.

One day, my friend
in college brought me

to this leadership seminar,
and I took it,

and it opened my eyes
to my blind spots.

I started becoming present
to what I had in life.

And then, I realized that
during all of these times

and moments
that I was with them,

what brought us together
was food.

I guess what I have are strong,
deep memories

of food with people I love.

It's funny enough.

I'm now 40 years old,
and I still cook,

and I still eat
these simplest things.

And having my team experience
the same thing.

I guess for me,
it's a constant recreating

of moments back in time.

I traveled to Singapore
to visit my cousin one day.

His name's Andre.

He owns Yardstick now.

And then, when I went
to Singapore,

I immediately fell in love
with the food.

It really opened my eyes
to so many new flavors.

So I strived to get
into a culinary school.

So eventually, my stepdad
was so generous enough

to put me into culinary school,
and I excelled.

But then, it still wasn't enough.

So for the next four years,
I traveled back and forth

to Singapore to see my cousin
and learn how to make

these recipes.

That's my first, like,
exposure to Malaysian food

and Indonesian food
and Indian-Malay food,

Singaporean food.

***- Boss, ikaw na yan, masipag yan eh.
Kasi sabi niya pwede naman daw grout. Sabi ko, siya na gumawa para tapos na.

- When is the signage coming in?

- They said it's already finished.

- Amazing.

Oh my gosh. That looks so good!

Wow.

- And then, we change the logo.

- Yeah! Oh my god.

He wants to change the logo.

- No, no, no.

All right.

I'm kidding. I'm not a lunatic.

(laughs)

(continues to laugh)

- I'm excited because the kitchen
is finally almost ready.

I guess, in terms of development,

the team behind me—
Jaime, Neesha, and Kevin—

they all...

they've started the ferments.

It will take us...

The closest to what we can get
is two weeks for, I guess,

our rice ferments.

But everything else,
like the vinegars

and the lacto-ferments,
will take a while.

- No, no, no. This is fine.
This weave is fine.

It just feels like
it's pushing me out.

- Yes.

- It's so firm.

- No, it can't be that firm.
It has to be softer.

Because here, our concept
for this was pillow.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- But if they can't do that
because they need

a shape foam,
what we would have had to do

is to keep the lower one
this thickness

and the upper one more narrow
so there's an angle.

This is the third concept,
fourth concept I've done

with Chef Nicco and Chef Quenee.

We've actually designed
a few concepts

for them before.

I really admired the fact
that they wanted this to be

an independent part project.

They wanted this
to be their own thing.

So I felt like it was very important
to have a space

that was reduced and just focus
on the food on the table.

And I think this was an opportunity
for them to hone back

to their roots and showcase
what they're really great at,

which is farm fresh ingredients,
community kitchens,

and their education in different
Southeast Asian palates

and flavors and the way
it's plated.

So I said, "Why don't we just have,
like, a restaurant

for you guys that is just paired back
and that is warm,

that brings
a community together,

but is also kind of dark
and recedes in the background?"

That really allowed them
to honor the dishes on the table.

So that was really the concept.

So we're now in the phase
of completing, I guess,

the furniture, the dinnerware,
utensils, everything.

We're at the phase
that's after construction.

So we really wanted a steak knife
that can be,

like, personalized.

For the weave,
we like the idea of weaving

because we like collaborating.

So when you weave,
you kind of like weave

different cultures, different people,
different personalities.

So just like collaboration.

So that's why that's the design.

And then we said,
"Can you put our logo?"

- It's hard to stay creative
and very present when,

you know, there's so many things
happening in the restaurant

side by side.

So right now, my focus
and the team's focus

is to make sure that the finishing
in the restaurant is,

you know, executed to
what we think is its best form.

And then after that,
we can be fully present

and commit ourselves
to the menu.

***- Stressful, because parang ang tagal, the weight
of waiting for construction to finish,

the little details
that we see every day;

you just see small steps.

It's frustrating.

When will this be finished?

***Ano ba yan!

***How hard it is to fix?
Can we fix that now, and then tomorrow iba na yung problem diba.

And of course,
paying all the suppliers.

***Ngayon, tinototal ko na kagabi, I'm like, wow nag over budget tayo. Pero shocks, okay naman, we're still there. It's just that I have to make sure nandun pa kami dun sa budget or else we need to raise money.

- I won't say it's easy;
it's really hard.

There's a reason
why I'm doing this also

in the first place.

I freaking love this thing.

It's hard, but I love it.

- My ultimate role here is,
one, to make the food

and also to handle
all the operations.

I like the feeling
of making something

with my hands,
and then trying it

and then feeding it to others.

I grew up in a family
that's very food-oriented.

***On my father side sobrang galing magluto ng food.

And then mother's side,
they had a few restaurants

when I was younger;
they love hosting.

My mom would always
have guests in the house.

The same with my father—
he's very extroverted.

He likes bringing together
everybody.

***I think dun ko nakuha yung pagiging hospitable, I would say.
So when I was growing up,
we would always wait for my mom, lagi siyang may dalang pasalubong.
I always remember that we will always eat pag midnight. Pag uwi nila, kahit tulog na kami gigisingin pa kami para kumain. To be honest, yung before didn't mean anything as much to me. I think it really boiled down when my mom died. My mom died when I was 11 or 12. Kami na lang natira ng dad ko and then my sister, brother, and then we became super close. Every friday or saturday, he would always make sure na lalabas kami together. Maraming hardship kasi it was just me and my sister and we needed to help my dad to do the tough part. I think after overcoming death talaga, parang everything's not so hard anymore.
And then fourth year high school, I didn't know what to do. Di ko talaga alam kung ano gagawin ko. And then all my friends chose the culinary internship during our fourth year high school in CSA. Sabi ko, oh, nandun lahat, okay. Sige. Since mahilig magluto yung families ko both, why don't I try this. Rather than enjoying the company of my friends there, sobrang nagfocus ako sa cooking. I liked getting my hands dirty, and I liked it, I enjoyed it so much. I like building things, and I said, I want to do this for a living. I think that's where it started.

I like working with Nicco
because I can be myself.

Building a team is one.

I like gathering them.

If we're going to eat,
I would always say,

"Come on, let's eat together."

***And I hate it when someone
gets left behind. I don't want to be that person na ganunin.

So I'm trying not
to be like that to others.

For me, I have so much
to learn.

I'm not even halfway yet.

With all honesty, I'm lucky.

I'm lucky that Nicco
is willing to open his ideas

to a lot of people.

- I guess for me,
what made me fall in love

with cooking
and the kitchen is that,

anyone can cook.

If you truly just want
to cook and help,

if you have the genuine passion
to feed and nourish people,

you're always welcome to cook
in my kitchen, at least.

There was one particular night
in Your Local that it was one

of the lowest sales ever
since we opened.

And then, I opened up Facebook
and it says,

"Oh, what is this Condé Nast?"

It was like, best restaurants
in the world's list?

Let's check it out.

In the United States and Singapore
and Hong Kong.

Let's go look at the Philippines—
who got in.

In my mind, I'm like,
I'm just really curious, right?

And then I look at the Philippines,
and I said, "Holy [ _ ]."

It was Your Local.

It was the only restaurant there.

I'm like, "This is cool."

I woke up the next morning
and we were on the news,

and then I had no idea
what was happening.

I had links and calls
from my mom, from friends,

text messages
of congratulations.

I'm like, "What's happening?"

And then, apparently,
Condé Nast was a big thing.

But then, what came
with the recognition also was—

sadly enough—haters.

There were also people
in the industry who wanted

to write about us
in a negative way.

Like, "Why is Your Local
even part of this list?"

You know, good thing
that I wasn't really

so focused on that.

But that was our biggest break.

I eventually found myself inspired
by Peranakan food.

I was telling Quenee,

"Quenee, I think this fusion
for Peranakan people

is so natural,
it's not even forced."

So why do we need
to call it fusion?

Why can't, you know...

I was telling people,
"Why can't Filipino food

be like this?"

Because here,
people get married,

and then the recipes
that come about

from this marriage becomes,
you know,

this type of new cuisine.

So like, I was saying,
you know, these things

or this context
of mixed marriage food

and the food
that comes about from love

is so inspiring.

"Let's focus on this,"
I said to Quenee.

And then, let's open
Hey Handsome

with this new inspiration
in mind.

I was so glued researching
about it.

Quenee was focused
on building the construction side.

Oh, my gosh.

Because she's Quenee,
it doesn't stop her, right?

So she learned
from making mistakes

which is great,
because that's also

how I did it, you know, b
before Your Local.

I did kiosks, made my mistakes,
went bankrupt several times,

and it's the only way
to learn—is to fail quickly

and then get back
from it, right?

Nothing will stop you.

So that's Quenee.

- Hey Handsome.

That was a good,
that was a good run.

- Most experimental.

- Yeah, most experimental.

Good and bad, I think.

I think at that time,
bad because people

weren't really ready yet
to eat that kind of food.

Good because at least we know
we can do these stuff, right?

But it closed, unfortunately,
after three years

because of rent.

We couldn't really renew
our rent anymore.

The money needs
to be coming in also,

or we need to be able
to pay the staff well

or else, the restaurant
won't be sustainable.

- So in the pandemic, it was,
I would say,

one of the most
depressing moments of my life.

You know, when Hey Handsome closed,

I was so, so, so depressed,

so much so I wanted
to stop cooking completely.

But I have to make
a living, right?

I have a son to support
who I truly love.

And then my son,

this is for our bonding time
in the pandemic—

we would watch cooking shows.

And he said, "Daddy,
how come you're not

in any of the shows?"

"Because son,
they have restaurants."

"Oh, okay."

And he said,
"When COVID disappears,

I want you to open
a new restaurant

so I can watch you on TV."

Like, "I want you
to be the best...

I want you to be
the best chef in the world."

I'm like, [ _ ].

So my heart sunk, right?

I mean, who wouldn't want
that for anyone,

for their kids?

So, you know, I told my wife
and I told Quenee,

when the time comes,
I will make Tyler proud that,

he has a dad to look up to.

And I want him to be that,
I guess, role model for him

to not stop, not stop believing
in what they can do

no matter how hard it is.

From then on,
until this very day,

I want to be the best version
of myself for him.

Not to be the best chef.

I don't think there's such a thing.

But I want to be the best person
I can be as a chef,

as a father, as a leader,
as a husband,

as a partner for Tyler.

When the economy opened again,
Quenee and I decided that—

as well as a bunch of our friends
who are now our partners—

that it's time for us to open
a restaurant for ourselves.

But since after the pandemic,
I was scared.

Number one, I was broke.

(laughs)

But we were lucky enough
and fortunate enough

that a law firm contacted us
for consultancy.

His team got into a Zoom
with us, and then said

that they needed the chefs,
the helm of the restaurant.

So Quenee and I were like,
okay, I think it's a good time

to get our feet, you know,
wet again,

check out the market.

So we did that for two years.

- It was good.

- And then, this space
came about.

It was introduced to us
by Dan Matutina.

I think it's time for us to open
our own restaurant.

So he was gracious enough
and generous enough

to let us open this restaurant.

Celera—the word is inspired
by my mentor

in Kuala Lumpur.

She taught me the value
of taking care of my taste buds.

Because during this time,
when I was still young,

I had vices.

I'd smoke a lot,
so my taste buds weren't

as sharp.

My nose was, but my taste buds,
not so much.

And I loved layering flavors.

She taught me that I had
to quit all of these things

and take care of my taste buds
if I do want to layer flavors.

For me, food is delicious
when there's thoughtfulness,

a little bit of extra touch.

Like, for example,
it would be my grandmother's

scrambled eggs, right?

But he would say, "You know,
I think Nicco

likes things creamy,

so I'll add a bit
of ricotta cheese."

The intention is
what makes it amazing.

The thought behind it is,
for me, what makes it fulfilling,

less more so the technique.

It's what will separate a good meal
to a memorable one.

It's important that my team
and I get to share that

or get to make sure
that the guests know

that there are reasons
behind how we cook

a certain way—is for them
to get that extra touch

that we put,
because we are truly grateful

that they are here in a restaurant.

Our team is composed
with different backgrounds.

Some of them trained in Italy,
some are French-trained,

some are Filipino-focused.

So the marriage is now coming
from the team members

based on their history.

- So this is one
of our main courses.

It's the, beef cheek lasagne.

Basically, it's a collaboration,
actually, between me,

Chef Nicco, Chef Kevin,
and Chef Neesha.

Actually, Chef Neesha and I,
we did our internship in Italy

a few months back earlier
in the year,

and one of the main things
we learned there was,

of course, pasta, right.

And I think this is one
of the things that culminated

our learnings from Italy.

So it's a French dish,
bourguignon,

but we wanted to do something
more Filipino,

something more Asian.

So we added blood to it—
a blood bourguignon.

So it's more almost
like a dinuguan.

Almost like that.

In the essence of lasagna,
we have layers, right?

So for this one,
we have laksa pasta,

and then inside, we have a layer
of beef cheek bourguignon.

And then in the other layer,
in the other pocket,

we have a cream cheese
bourguignon sauce.

- For dessert, we have
ice cream sandwich,

which is made
with pandan honey twill,

soy caramel ice cream,
and mangosteen gel.

- It is a collaboration
between Chef Nicco,

Chef Marai and I.

For the pandan honey twill,
we chose pandan

because it is
a very comforting flavor.

And for the soy caramel,
we decided on this

because we were inspired
by Japanese soy flan.

And for the mangosteen,
we also added pine nuts,

which explains the pine
on the plating,

because I am personally
from Baguio,

and Chef Nicco also grew up there
for his summer vacations.

For our ice cream sandwiches,
we will be changing the flavors

every month,
because Chef Nicco's mom

really enjoyed having
different flavors of the pie.

- So now the focus is not so much
a cuisine in particular,

it's now basing it off
our histories as cooks.

What are they inspired by?

But at the end of it,
Celera is the gift of taste,

so it just needs to make sense.

So the menu,
the first menu of Celera is

all of us combined
in a set menu format.

So the starting dishes
are an assortment of tartlets.

Each tartlet is inspired
by different histories

from one person in the kitchen.

And then to follow is a soup
that has been my key

to making the perfect chicken rice
ever since 22 years ago

that you will get afterwards.

And then shortly after that,
you will be greeted by noodles

that's made from fish heads,
inspired by one

of my cook's love for crudo.

And then, so it's translated
in form of noodles,

but with no starch.

And then, the set becomes
even more interesting

because you can get to pick
from two sets.

One is a little bit more
Asian forward,

one is a bit more Western
and French,

depending on which line of cooks
are making it.

So the Asian side is obviously
me and Quenee.

And in the Western side,
it's a different set of people.

Last, you will be greeted
with an ice cream sandwich,

which was my comfort food
in Singapore, the streets.

Whenever I would find
myself lost,

I would just find
the nearest uncle

and buy an ice cream sandwich.

And then a chocolate tart.

So my job as a leader
is to make sure that I'm able

to tell their stories properly
and make sure that our guests

can feel it just by tasting it.

Day one, right?

Day one.

I guess for me,
what I realized this morning,

this has been
a long time coming—

I never would have wished
for a better team

as to what to have,
because of your patience

and understanding and trust.

We are able to see through.

Finally, this wouldn't
have been possible

without each and everyone,

so I'm humbly grateful
and incredibly fulfilled.

- I'm very thankful to the team.

(applauds)

- Have a good service.

- Yes!

(cheers)

- Hi, Chef!

- Hello!

- Hello!

- Before I graduated
in culinary school,

I interned in a restaurant,
fine dining restaurant, French.

I was exposed to harsh reality
of what a restaurant is.

It's banging of plates,
it's cursing,

it's making you screw up, right?

It's all of these things.

And I realized,
maybe this is not for me.

If this is what it takes
to lead a successful

fine dining French restaurant,
then maybe I'm not cut out

for this thing.

I never believed
in harsh leadership.

In the back of my head,
I always thought—

is my style even good,
or does it work?

One time, I came across
Danny Meyer's book—

Standing at the Table—
and his style was basically

constant gentle pressure.

It struck me because
this is always how I believe

I should be leading,
and then it's something

that it's easier to translate
to the team.

This constant and gentle nudge
that I give my teammates

is always a better way
to get things done

and to achieve
their personal games.

May it be in their personal lives
or in their careers,

may it be in their relationships
or in a dish they're trying

to create.

And it's also something
that I do to myself,

and then I feel
that I also reciprocate

better that way.

Celera is my love letter
to my mentor in Kuala Lumpur

who told me that
the most important thing

as a cook that you will ever have
is your gift of taste.

And I want to do that
by launching the first Celera menu

as an ode to her
by highlighting my marriage

for food to the marriages
and histories of my staff.

With the right listening
and the right space

and the right time,
I can come up

with a menu fulfilling enough
that's made from everyone

on the team.