What do you think makes a best dining experience?

What makes a great dining experience? That’s a really good question. Atmosphere, lighting, elegance, great food, comfortable chairs, immaculate bathrooms. Here at Bar and Grill, for instance, as you walk past, I want everyone to have the desire to be in this amazing space. It’s intimate. The furnishings are soft, the music is perfect. And first off, you get sucked into the energy.

That’s what makes a great restaurant: staff who are smiling and at their best, the kitchen producing absolutely fantastic food. And then there’s this theatre that attracts customers, and that’s the sign of a great restaurant—a buzz, an atmosphere, and an ambience. But more than that, it’s people just breaking bread and having a great time–that speaks volumes.

How do you maintain your standards across your brands worldwide?

We have the most amazing teams, and this isn’t a team that’s been put together in the last 18 months or two years. I’m working with maître d’s, sommeliers, and operations managers who have been with me for nearly 20 years. This group has become successful because we’ve grown together, and there are three key principles: like, trust, and respect. We have all those functioning on a daily basis.

We also spend time in these restaurants. Ronnie, our executive chef, who’s currently over from London, has been here for the last month. He’ll leave next week and come back in a month’s time, so we have these amazing check-ins with each other. Also, I think the lines of communication now [help us maintain standards]: Zoom, social media, WhatsApp. Our communications are way, way better than they were 10 years ago. These platforms allow us to connect, divide, conquer, and make sure we listen to the customers.

We receive daily reports. If you came in for dinner tonight, by the time I wake up in the morning, I’m reading a report about Bar and Grill, Manila—not just all the good parts, but also where we went wrong, how to fix it, and what the solution is. That’s how we maintain standards. It’s amazing.

How do you think the role of being a chef has changed over the years? 

I think the job has changed for the best, if I’m honest. Seeing the young, prominent female and male chefs today at the forefront and at the top of their game is exciting. Social media has helped propel these chefs and their profiles. They gain recognition on those platforms, which makes them a lot more marketable.

We’re very good at exposing those chefs, media training them, and introducing things like the chef’s table. [We train chefs to come out into] the dining room following their food, [to place] the dishes in front of the guests, [give] a 30-second introduction, and then leave. My job [is also to help them] become more socially aware because they’re marketing experts as well. They need to know the whole insight of what they’re doing: how to come across, but, more importantly, how to sell.

Chefs are brands, right? No different to what it’s like in the fashion industry. If they’ve created this incredible dish, it’s no different from a designer with an haute couture dress or a pair of jeans. It’s exactly the same with a chef. They need to know how to sell it and how to put it out there. So that role has changed dramatically. But for the best.

What do you think is key to making a successful menu?

Making a successful menu, for me, is about balance. I love customers coming in for three courses or four courses without feeling that everything is overly rich. I also think it’s important to draw on local inspiration in terms of how we can transform these ingredients into something even better than they were. How do we stay somewhat semi-seasonal? And how do we give customers something unique, whether it’s a Beef Wellington, an amazing fish and chips, or something that can create an amazing memory? That’s what restaurants are about: breaking bread, having fun, and creating incredible memories.

See also: Lumpia Queen meets Beef Wellington King: 5 lessons Abi Marquez learned from Gordon Ramsay

When do you decide to listen to customer feedback? 

Criticism is subjective. Everyone’s a critic now with these [holding up his phone], and so I welcome that intrusion. If 50 customers are all saying the same thing, then we need to change. Having that kind of feedback is crucial. The problem is, you’re judged by individuals who know less about food than you, and so they get caught up in the aesthetics. But for me, flavour profile is number one, how it looks is number two, and then most importantly, are those plates devoured? Are they clean? Are the customers happy? But I welcome that kind of feedback.

I do get frustrated when, on some platforms, people leave reviews but have never even been to the restaurant. So, you can’t take it all too seriously, but the general consensus on a daily basis will give you an insight. If they’re all saying the same thing, then you need to change. If there are one or two little gripes, then you’ve got to stay focused and not get pulled down by those little bits of negativity. But we’re here to be criticised, right? Everything we put on the plate is up for judgment. 

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