It’s ‘business as unusual’ for celebrity restaurateurs

How are the restaurant and food businesses of celebrities managing during the quarantine period?

As the new abnormal este normal beckons, celebrity restaurateurs are faced with a double whammy. Aside from dealing with the temporary show biz work stoppage, they also have to salvage their food biz amid the pandemic. So I checked on some of them and asked for an update about their restos in the time of corona.

Being versatile is in their job description as actors/celebrities. That will come in handy now as they reboot their resto biz to stay afloat during these ever-changing times. Reinvention is the name of the game.

Their actors’ mind-set that “the show must go on” would eventually rub off on the restaurateur in them to boldly declare that it’s “business as unusual.”

Richard Yap (of Wangfu)

For the new normal, we’ve accepted that there will be more delivery and take out than usual. So, we made our takeout packaging more durable, then strengthened our partnership with Grab Food and Food Panda. We also put up our own delivery team to keep up with the demand.

We will also abide by the new rule that only 50 percent of diners will be allowed in the resto to observe social distancing. Of course, we will clean and disinfect the place at all times and make sure all safety protocols are followed. We also launched our promos to make it more affordable to our customers and made it easier to order through Facebook Messenger.

Joel Torre (JT’s Manukan Grille)

We are still waiting for the government policy on when to open the dine-in section. For now, some of our branches are open for takeout and delivery (0998-5607076).

Judy Ann and Ryan Agoncillo (Angrydobo)

Angrydobo is open for takeout orders only, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., with delivery options via Grab Food or Food Panda (call 0919-3294062).

Gladys Reyes and Christopher Roxas (Estela Restaurant and Sommereux Catering)

In adapting to the new normal, we launched Sommereux’s Table Menu. Some of our bestsellers are baked salmon, lechon belly and beef lengua. Since parties are still not allowed, you can still celebrate in the comfort of your homes by ordering from us (0917-1923242). You can also send our food packs as a gift, so it comes with a special gift card.

For Father’s Day, we have set menus named after our kids: Christophe’s Choice, Aquisha’s Plate, Grant’s Option and Gavin’s Treat. Some of Estela’s bestsellers are chicken curry kebab, porkchop with Florentine sauce and Lucban longganisa pasta. Dine-in is by appointment, but takeout or delivery is also available (0917-8336976).

LJ Moreno (The Lollicake Factory)

When the lockdown happened, many canceled their cake orders since big parties are not allowed. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the situation made me level up in my breadmaking. We used to sell Spanish bread and ube cheese pandesal only. Now, we also make other flavors of pandesal and cinnamon rolls.

I’m thankful that my husband Jimmy (Alapag) is very supportive. He takes charge of the packaging. ‘Di muna bola ng basketball ang hawak n’ya kundi packing stuff (laughs).

Now that its GCQ (general community quarantine, we started accepting orders for customized lollicakes and pastries, for pickup or delivery (0999-7774443).

Anthony Taberna (Ka Tunying’s)

Like any other food business, my restaurant has no recourse but to use the online platform for orders and delivery in order to survive. But our daily sales are incomparable to what we had prior to the lockdown. We’re now in business deals (bulk orders of food packs, food trays, breads and pastries) with private companies and government agencies.

Our Visayas Avenue and Tagaytay branches are open for takeout and delivery daily until 7 p.m. (For Visayas Ave., call 0283661342; for Tagaytay, 0935-2907165). We will start to welcome dine-in customers probably next week, but we’re only serving at 30 percent capacity. All health standards and protocols will be strictly observed for the safety of our staff and guests.

Neil Arce and his celeb partners (Tipsy Pig Gastropub)

It depends on the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) when we can resume operations. For now, my partners and I have been discussing our plans to make sure that our customers will be safe and comfortable at the same time.