Not all chefs could be successful food entrepreneurs, Chef Rolando Laudico, better known as “Chef Lau,” one of the most recognizable celebrity chefs in the country due to his no compromise approach to the quality in the food he cooks and endearing advocacy with Filipino cuisine, said.
For Laudico, a food entrepreneur must not only be knowledgeable in cooking but must also be business savvy and knows how to make profit out of the menu.
He also said one must be creative. “Perhaps everybody knows how to cook but not everybody is creative,” he stated.
A chef must also have a big heart, Laudico pointed out, as a chef must love to mingle with people because he or she will be dealing with different people.
“If an individual does not have a heart, he will be discouraged not just with the food aspect but with other matters,” Laudico said.
“Everybody has his own taste and preferences. You cannot please everyone. That is why you have to have a big heart,” he added.
Laudico and his wife, pastry chef Jacqueline Laudico, have a successful catering business and operate the kitchens of restaurants like Guevarra’s Restaurant and OK Cafe.
In a recent media interview, Chef Lau said he has always attached his name to the restaurants that he handle because he is proud of his name and worked hard to maintain his brand.
Chef Laudico’s Guevarra’s Restaurant was launched six years ago, when he was approached by a friend who was a partner of a spa that ceased to operate after one year of operation. “The spa was not working and they had a five-year lease. I immediately fell in love with the place when I saw it,” he said.
Lau restored the original look of the house that was built in the 1920s and originally owned by an American-Jewish businessman.
“It is hard for you to do everything for yourself. You need to have good partners, which, in Guevarra’s, I am fortunate enough,” he said.
Laudico and his partners are still looking for old houses to expand their business, even as he admitted it is hard to find old houses around the country,
Moreover, there are also plans to revive the fast good concept through the Pugon Roasters restaurant next year to enable more people to eat food that don’t have harmful chemicals.
“I was also contemplating [to launch] a food truck that would go to several places,” he said.
For the Christmas season, Laudico has rolled out great food for the Filipino family.
The sprawling yard surrounding the 1920s structure is decked in red and green holiday cheer. Inside the restaurant, the ambiance is equally festive. The mood extends to the buffet table where dishes specially whipped up for the season await guests.
“We prepared items that are popular during Christmas,” said Laudico. The lineup includes orange chicken galantina (chicken stuffed with seasoned pork meat in orange sauce), pata hamonado (pineapple-cured fresh pork ham), roasted turkey with castañas and chorizo, menudo pastel pie (menudo meat pie in pastry crust) and baked macaroni kaldereta (baked mac with beef kaldereta).
“We incorporated a lot of queso de bola and ham,” he added before pointing to the queso de bola croquettes (edam cheese croquettes with surprise filling), and ham and cheese ensaymada sandwich.
“We are also serving embutido because that’s a Christmas staple in our home,” he shared.
“We have traditional items that people look for during Christmas,” explained chef Jac. So the dessert section features bibingka and puto bumbong. “I included the crema de fruta [cake with fruits, cream, and gelatin] because that’s something that I was making and selling when I was in high school and I remember how everyone ordered so much during Christmas,” she recalls.
The 30-plus Christmas dishes will be rotated on different days and be made part of their regular buffet of 80 Filipino favorites. “No matter how often you come over, you will always find something new,” Chef Lau assured.