Buffets and beyond
Industry trailblazer First Foods — a rebrand of the former Triple V Group, whose founder Vicvic Villavicencio is considered as the country’s pioneer in “eat all you can” buffets in his restaurants Dad’s World Buffet, Sambo Kojin, Number 1 Barbecues and Ogetsu Hime — is now led by the second-generation Villavicencios.
First Foods closed during the 14 days of the quarantine and has since reopened with its own strategies. With general community quarantine (GCQ), how can it continue its proposition of offering varied cuisines and its “eat all you can” promise? Patricia Marina “Pia” Villavicencio-Lago, eldest daughter of the maverick Villavicencio and First Foods managing director shares how the restaurant group is staying relevant as it navigates the crisis with its exciting new-normal concepts.
Daily Tribune (DT): What was the biggest challenge the company faced during the coronavirus crisis? And how did you address these challenges?
Patricia Villavicencio Lago (PVL): Our restaurants are known for its “no take-out” policy, being a buffet concept. To completely change this was a big challenge and once we decided how to go about it, getting back to work was difficult for our personnel. Most of our key people were unable to leave their homes even if they all wanted to come in. We needed to teach and train our staff to do things they usually didn’t do. Like how a cashier could be a rider, a kitchen helper to be an actual cook.
DT: You launched take-out products as an answere to the massed buffets. Can you tell us more about it?
PVL: We launched several products such as grill-at-home barbecue kits by Sambokojin; specialties like our lechon and chicken
relleno for take-outs for Kamayan, Saisaki and Dads; large orders for barbecues for Number 1; a la carte take-out menus for all our brands; and the newest is Eats For You frozen ready-to-heat and ready-to-cook items from all our brands.
DT: With everyone talking about the “new normal,” what will the “new normal” be for the Triple-V restaurants in terms of (a) the physical restaurant (b) the dining experience where customers interact with chefs/cooks at the carvery, Japanese station, etc?
PVL: We have no choice but to adapt and innovate. Of course, top of the list is that we will follow the recommendations of our government. Under the new normal — you can expect our service to be even better because we will be serving our food instead of customers getting them from the buffet and this requires excellent service.
Pia Villavicencio Lago talks about the future of “eat all you can” dining.