ERIC CHEENO DEE:
To put lumpia on the same level as pizza
Iwatched Cheeno grow up in a family that thinks food and breathes food. From Xavier, he was sent by parents Rikki Dee and Beng Dee to Menlo College in California to take up international business. “Though I wanted to pursue a culinary course,” Cheeno clarifies, “my dad was right: I had to study the business side.”
Since childhood, Cheeno had been learning what good food is all about, “starting from my grandma, my dear Ama,” to his parents who are now icons in the food industry. The Dees have built 200 stores with 15 brands.
Cheeno, the hardworking and creative president and COO of FooDee Global Concepts, still finds time to play games with his children Enzo Kinji, Ean Kedric and Elizsa Kidd, together with wife Kidd. Cooking contests, perhaps? They have many playgrounds —Mesa, Tim Ho Wan, Kam’s Roast, Pound, Llao LLao, Sunnies Cafe, Bench Cafe, Kai, Cerveseria, Isogi, Seoul Good, Kain, Chin’s Empress, Inihaw Express — and more.
‘ I want not just to put Filipino food on the map, but also to cement its place as one of the mainstream cuisines of the world. Lately, there’s been a positive shift in the world’s attitude towards food and culture in general — we’re now more open to exploring new tastes and experiences. So I think there’s no better time than now to put our cuisine out there.
The game plan is to start in Southeast Asia, because there’s some similarity in our food and some of these countries are probably familiar with the flavor profile already. From there, I’d like to gradually extend the reach to surrounding countries until — BAM! — I can say the whole world has tried Filipino food. I want them to find the same comfort in our dishes, and I’m confident in Filipino food’s potential to take the world by storm.
I won’t rest until people put lumpia on the same level as a hamburger, or, like… pizza!
For our family’s FooDee Global Concepts, I’d like to double our resto count (especially Mesa)
years.’ and hit 500 stores in the next five