I'm from Bacolod, born and raised there.
Ever since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated with the kitchen.
I don't know, it just blew my mind.
Normally, you know, you go to college and after you work at the farm, I didn't want that life.
Deep down, I really wanted to be in the kitchen.
So I went to Australia and, you know, I did the whole 10-12 hour shifts, no day off.
And then one time, my mother called me and was like, why are you doing that?
Why are you torturing yourself?
I felt like that I needed to burn my stripes.
All along, I was shopping for business partners and it was just under my nose.
So I said, you know what, if no one wants to partner with you, I'll partner with you.
Maybe six months later, we opened the first HRSA.
Tracy's my mentor and I really look up to her.
She's my anchor.
When I tend to float, she pulls me down and I'm back at it again.
He'd cook for us, would give him our opinions, very no-olds barred.
And then that's also how he refined his food.
With Filipino cuisine, you know, I don't want to reinvent the wheel.
What I keep saying is, I just want to put better tires to it.
So we said, wouldn't it be great if we could have a restaurant that really served really good along the food?
We just wanted a restaurant that would serve it how JP wanted.
The discipline that I learned from Australia, I try to pass it on to them.
I may be harsh or I may be brutal at times.
But if you are good, I will empower you.
I guess that's what I try to teach my boys is,
don't be too loud.
We always need to be hungry.
I know the feeling of an empty restaurant.
You've got to rule with the punches and deal with it.
If you're tired today, there's another day to know.
If I'm good today, I got to be good tomorrow.
People thought that I was just this TV chef that served a lot.
No one knew that I could actually cook.
It's been a dream to open something here.
There's so many people eating at a restaurant.
It's every chef's dream.
You know, I came out of nowhere, I was plucked from Bacolod.
It's a great feeling to be respected by your peers.
Especially to these chefs that you've looked up to for the longest time.
Like, because in the kitchen, I'm the boss.
And out in the water, I'm nothing.
The ocean is so big and the forces of nature is something that you can't control.
It humbles me.
So it gives me that balance, which they are very supportive of.
Because when I come back, there's always like four or five new dishes on the menu.
Food should have soul.
It's a personal thing.
They come here because they want to feel that warmth.
You can taste it, you can feel it.
I just want to preserve good food every day.
Success is when you make everyone around you better.
When everyone's on the same page, when everyone understands what you're trying to do.
And that's not easy.
I should be more than just a chef.
I can inspire and I can motivate.
That's what I can do.
I need to do more of that.
