Sunday, May 28, 2017

48. 14 NATIONALLY-FAMOUS KAPAMPANGAN FOOD BUSINESSES


ALING LUCING “The Sisig Queen”
The woman who, in 1974,  gave her name to her modest Angeles restaurant and catapulted “sisig” to national prominence was born Lucia “Lucing” Lagman in Tarlac. A good cook, Lucing experimented with innovating “sisig”, a favorite Kapampangan dish made from chopped parts of a pig’s ears, liver, chopped onions, calamansi, vinegar and spices and served on a sizzling platter. Her Aling Lucing’s Sisig earned a multitude of patrons from even outside the city, that soon attracted national media attention. Dubbed as the “Sisig Queen”, Aling Lucing’s food business helped establish Angeles as the “Sisig Capital of the Philippines”. Her business had not even reached its maximum potential when Aling Lucing was found bludgeoned to death on 16 April 2008. Husband Victorino Cunanan, reputed to be a gambler, was tagged as a suspect. At present, there are Aling Lucing’s Sisig restaurants run by relatives in Pampanga, plus branches in Makati, Pasig and Aklan—all serving different sisig versions. From an appetizer, the Kapampangan sisig had graduated to being staple feature for many landmark occasions.


CABALEN Restaurant
Back in the 1970s,  Maritel O. Nievera used to help run the family food business called “Bahay Pasalubong” in San Matias, Santo Tomas, Pampanga. It achieved a measure of success , so she and her sister Beth, were encouraged to open a small kiosk at SM City North EDSA  in 1986 selling various Kapampangan delicacies. Five years later, the Pinatubo eruption occurred. Holding fast to her faith in the future of her embattled province, she initiated a drive to make San Fernando a showcase of successful recovery  by putting up “Ituro Mo, Iluto Mo”, a restaurant  that promises every guest a classy Kapampangan dining experience. It proved to be a hit. She then went further by establishing Cabalen, the first Kapampangan specialty restaurant chain in Manila, captivating discriminating food lovers with authentic native cooking and signature dishes from the province. Through her fine restaurants, Nievera continues to promote widescale interest for Pampanga’s culinary arts, while showcasing the Kapampangan woman in her best light. Today, the “Queen of Filipino Buffet” , with her Cabalen Group, is on its 30th year of bringing the best of Pampanga’s cuisine to the Philippines.


EVERYBODY’S CAFÉ
Everybody’s Café and its ubiquitous diner-inspired sign has become a San Fernando landmark, and a favorite stop for many travelers passing by the city along MacArthur Highway. The idea to open a roadside café was conceived by couple Benito M. Santos and Carmen Nogoy during the 40s. A friend suggested a neutral name that’s neither pro-American nor pro-Japanese--”Everybody’s Café”. The Santoses started with 10 tables in a a space along the newly opened Consunji St. with a menu that included merienda items like pancit luglug and 30 centavo mami soup. By the 1950s, it gained a reputation as a favorite eating place of Diosdado Macapagal before going to his miting de avance. In 1967, a second Everybody’s Café building was put up and through the years, the list of customers expanded—from Pampanga High and Assumption students to Dña. Aurora Aquino, Pres. Cory Aquino and her children, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo an showbiz celebrities. Everybody’s Café is known for introducing to a nation such special Kapampangan treats as “adobung kamaru” (mole crickets) a perennial bestseller of the house, betute (stuffed frogs), taba ng talangka, paku salad, morcon (Kris Aquino’s favorite), lumpiang papaya, tsokolateng binatirul and leche flan made of gatas damulag (carabao’s milk). Currently, Everybody's Cafe is operated by the Santos daughter, Mrs. Petronila Jorolan with the help of children Pocholo, Pamela, Kristine and Ma. Carmina. It has been true to its name through its long years of existence—it is indeed, a place for everybody!


HIZON’S CAKES AND PASTRIES
 Hizon’s Cakes & Pastries on Bocobo Street in Ermita, Manila was founded by Inocencia Hizon, a widowed single mother who worked as a department store clerk at Aguinaldo’s, Escolta. The Hizons have roots in Mexico. Family lore has it that the now-famous ensaymada recipe was given to her by an anonymous woman. Inocencia baked dozens of ensaymadas using the recipe, and engaged the help of her sister to peddle the pastries in offices, which, to her surprise, were all sold-out. This encouraged her to put up a bakeshop which she named simply as “Hizon’s”, on Raon St. Today, Hizon’s has branches in Pasay, Greenhills and Makati, run by daughter Milagros Ramos Roasa. The shop, regarded as an institution, (it was the late Dolphy's favorite hang-out place),  is also famous for its taisans, apple pies and ube cakes, but the ensaymada remains a sentimental favorite.


HIZON CATERING
The country’s leading off-premise caterer specializing in weddings, private parties and corporate events was started in 1987 by Baby Hizon, a Kapampangan from Concepcion, Tarlac. She parlayed her interest in culinary arts into an successful enterprise that began as a backyard business –catering to relatives and friends.  She was soon being sought after to cater birthdays, weddings, debuts and other special occasions.  After three decades, Baby’s , Hizon’s Catering has served over 14,543 weddings, 5,673 corporate clients, and 3,653 private events with its nearly three decades of experience. With son Joseph as current general manager, and assisted by eldest son, David, an American-trained chef, Hizon’s Catering has grown into a modern operations housed in a fully equipped 2,500-square meter commissary in Quezon City. Plans for the future include growing the business by about 15-20 percent a year, tapping the corporate and children’s events segment,  while maintaining its hold on the wedding catering market.


LJC RESTAURANTS
Larry J. Cruz, the son of renaissance man, writer and artist Emilio Aguilar Cruz of Magalang, is the founder of LJC Chain of Restaurants, beginning with Café Adriatico—a small café in Malate, that was put up in 1979. Cruz, a journalist, virtually had no experience in running restaurants, but his little café made waves—what with its good food, efficient service and a vintage ambiance that appealed to artists, celebrities, politicos, celebrities and people from the corporate world. Café Adriatico inspired the openings of cafes around the country. Today, despite Larry’s passing in 2008, the LJC Restaurants have expanded to include the management and operations of food outlets  like Abe, Abe Farm, Fely J’s Kitchen, Lorenzo’s Way, Café Havana, Larry’s Café and Bar and Polka Dot Bakeshop.


MANGAN
Cabalen paved the way for the establishments of other Kapampangan restaurants. San Fernando born and bred Ricco Ocampo, owner of several  lifestyle stores (“Sari-Sari”), diversified into the food business and opened “Mangan”, an authentic Kapampangan culture restaurant , to complement his earlier  “Kitchen”, both in Manila malls. Every dish should only be cooked upon order,” says Ocampo, “Cooking everything in the morning and reheating them during lunch and dinner betrays the essence of real Kapampangan cooking. Mangan, an all-day, casual restaurant, also serves merienda items such as puto bumbong, bibingka and halo-halo, Guagua style, with lots of leche flan, sweet bananas and macapuno. Complementing his Mangan Restaurant is Ebun, Kusinang Pinoy, at Greenbelt in Makati.


MEKENI FOOD CORP.
What started as a home-based chicharon and tocino business for couple Felix M. Garcia and Medica L. Santos is now—after 3 decades—a highly successful, giant processed meat enterprise called Mekeni Food Corporation. At the start, the promising meat business gave the Garcia couple supplemental income to send their five boys to school. Luckily, the boys found various employments abroad after college. But when the 1991 Pinatubo eruption wrought damage to their business, the Garcia sons came home to help their parents rebuild the business.  With the help of 30 employees, Mekeni was fully restored with greater success. Not only did the company bounced back from the calamity, but it also gave employment opportunities to a community of people who lost much in the aftermath of the eruption. Its flagship brands include the Mekeni line of cured tocino, tapa and longganisa produced in its world-class plant in Balubad, Porac. It also produces the popular Picnic premium brand of hotdogs and a host of other treats like Spicy Pork Barbecue, Corned Beef, Nuggets, Beef Teriyaki,  Kikiam and Squid Balls. Recently, Mekeni Food Corp. celebrated  “30 Years of Uplifting Filipino Lives”.


PAMPANGA’S BEST
Pampanga’s Best is the most well-known meat processing corporation that has been giving the Philippines and the world a taste of our renowned tocino, longganisa, tapa, bacon, hotdogs, embotido, barbecue, burger patties, nuggets, and more, for over 4 decades now. It was founded by Mrs. Lolita O. Hizon of San Fernando, who helped her neighbor—a meat dealer-- in preserving her leftover meats.  Mrs. Hizon cured the meat by improving and refining on the traditional process of fermenting Kapampangan “pindang” that is endowed with a delectable salty-sweet taste. The result is her famous  “tocino” products that would form the core of ber Pampanga’s Best business, now a multi-million peso venture personally run by her family, including her 12 children. “Always the best—from Pampanga’s Best”, so goes the company motto, a promise that the Hizons vowed to keep in response to the loyal patronage their meat brands enjoy to this day.


RAZON’S
The famous Razon's chain of halo-halo shops began as a small "refreshment parlor" at the Razon home in a Guagua subdivision. It was put up in 1972 by the Razon siblings: Virginia, Severina, Elena and Roger, and catered mostly to residents and local students. But the merienda items—particularly the pancit and the delectably smooth Razon’s halo-halo soon became the talk-of-the-town. Tourists began flocking to the Razon’s Guagua home, moreso when foodie writer Doreen Fernandez discovered it and wrote about “the best halo-halo in the world”. Surprisingly, Razon’s halo-halo only had 3 ingredients—sweet macapuno, sagin na saba, and leche flan. With the death of the siblings, the business flourished,  through several incarnations of the Razon’s refreshment shop ran by relatives.  One niece, Luz Razon-Cabrera operates 3 Razon’s stores. Her sister-in-law in San Fernando owns Teresita’s, which, according to the proprietor, makes halo-halo from the only original recipe approved by Virginia Razon. The first Razon’s of Guagua, owned by Razon Food Corp., opened on 8 July 2003 at the Food Court of Robinson’s Galleria. This chain has over 66 branches in Manila, as of 15 April 2016.


RED RIBBON BAKE SHOP
Amalia Hizon of Mexico, together with husband Renato Mercado, put up a little cake shop called Red Ribbon that drew praises for its cakes and pastries. They set up their first shop in 1978 along Timog Ave. in Quezon City. In a matter of years, the cake shop gained a substantial following, and in 1984, it opened a U.S. outlet.  The bakeshop was popular for its chocolate cake, blueberry cheesecake, black forest cake, ensaymada, empanada and mamon. It was no wonder then that Jollibee Food Corp. acquired the business in 2005. One of the fastest-growing bakeshop chain in the country, Red Ribbon has over 370 outlets all over the Philippines and some 33 stores in US with locations in California, Nevada, Washington, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey and Virginia.


 SUSIE’S CUISINE
Susie’s Cuisine has become a household name in Pampanga, a favorite go-to place for the most delicious Filipino kakanins or native delicacies like bibingkang nasi (rice cake), tibuk-tibuk (maja blanca), kalame, aleyang ube, sapin-sapin and moche. Began in the 1970s as a carinderia by Mrs. Anicia Ayson, she named her stall after her adopted daughter  Jesusa “Susie Ayson-Yabut, an Amerasian abandoned by her father. In time, Mrs. Ayson started adding native kakanins and pasalubong items to her offering, due to consumer demand. Her bestseller turned out to be her “tibuk-tibuk”, a creamy, delicate pudding made from pure carabao’s milk. Eventually, Susie Ayson-Yabut took over the business, which suffered a setback when Pinatubo erupted in 1991. Yabut and husband Glenn moved to Manila, and after earning enough capital, they returned to Angeles to re-open Susie’s Cuisine, with an expanded menu, and additional local treats like saniculas, araro, polvoron, turrones de casuy, brownies, okoy and bobotu. To date, there are about 15 Susie’s Cuisine branches in Central Luzon, raking in up to P5 million during its peak months.


LAPID’S CHICHARON & BARBECUE
D’Original R. Lapid’s Chicharon & Barbecue is rputed to be the largest producer of chicharon in the country today. It was started way back in 1974 as a “kainan” (eatery) by Rey Lapid, then age 23, a transplanted Kapampangan, whose father Frederico Sr. owned a meat stall in Quinta Market. He observed that his father’s customers would ask that the skin be removed; his dad would just often discard the skin away.Thus, Lapid collected the skin and ventured into chicharon-making. He perfected a recipe and began selling his chicharon in a Quiapo stall. Slowly, but surely, Lapid’s business grew, especially when he introduced cooking chicharon in front of customers in giant malls like SM, Robinson’s and Landmark. It is also the first chicharon manufacturer to use imported pork skin raw materials from U.S.A., Europe, Canada, and Korea. Indeed, chicharon has become synonymous to Lapid's, and this cracklin' delicious snack is enjoyed all over the country, thanks to the over 100 branches of R. Lapid's Chicharon and Barbecue in operations today!


CINDY’S BAKESHOP & RESTAURANT
Cindys—the place to be—was founded in 1971 by a group of businessmen in Tarlac who simply envisioned a restaurant that served “good food in a good place”. Thus was born the first Cindys store in Tarlac, that served a standard fare of baked breads, and merienda favorites. The successful reception to the store prompted  them to open more branches and to offer new menu items like burgers, French fries and express meals. But it was the bakeshop that gave Cindys a competitive edge. At its peak, Cindys was promoted through national advertising, a no mean feat for a homegrown business. To focus on its uniqueness,  Cindys re-conceptualized its product in 1996, by opening a store that was first a bakery, and secondarily a restaurant. This gave it an edge above the rising number of fast food joints. Today, Cindys has over forty stores nationwide.

SOURCES:
EVERYBODY’S CAFÉ: Kasalesayan ning San Fernando
HIZON’S: “Piece of Cake: Kapampangans’ Sweet Tooth”, http://viewsfromthepampang.blogspot.com/2015/04/381-piece-of-cake-kapampangans-sweet.html
HIZON’S CATERING: http://hizonscatering.com/
LJC GROUP OF RESTAURANTS: http://ljcrestaurants.com.ph/ljc/about/
SUSIE’S CUISINE, Meet Pampanga's 'kakanin queen' : http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/07/14/meet-pampangas-kakanin-queen
MANGAN: “Mangan is authentic ‘mekeni’ dining”.By Alex Y. Vergara
Inquirer News Service
MEKENI FOOD CORP.: http://www.mekeni.com/
PAMPANGA’S BEST: https://www.pampangasbest.com/

1 comment: