How Happy Ongpauco Tiu is building a lifestyle brand
Chef-restaurateur took the pandemic as an opportunity to evolve her company—while keeping staff employed, even as her restaurants are closed
Happy Ongpauco Tiu’s cuisine is a feast for the eyes. Food has been at the core of her existence. “I was born into a family that not only loved to cook; food was our actual bread and butter,” she said.
Her mother, Liberty Ilagan, and her dad, Rod Ongpauco (of the famed Barrio Fiesta clan, the master builder of the Isdaan Floating Restaurants and the genius behind the creation of crispy pata), exposed her to the real world at the age of 6, having her work for fun at their family restaurant, Barrio Fiesta. Her task was to hand out menus.
Tiu’s summers were spent learning new skills such as setting tables and doing inventory. With pride, she said, “In my teens I already knew the ins and outs of running a restaurant.”
Becoming a chef was the apparent career choice for Tiu, who honed her skills at the Culinary Institute of America.
Instead of the obvious— that’s to work for the family business—she ventured out on her own.
Lots of guts
“Without my dad knowing, I maxed out my credit card to open my very first restaurant, then paid back my card loan and saved all my income thereafter,” she said.
Having inherited her father’s skill for restaurant management, Tiu slowly built different concept restaurants and a catering company, under The Happy Concept Group. Under its umbrella are Pamana Restaurant, Tsokolateria, I Love Backyard BBQ, Le Chon, Bento Box and Private Dining.
Like many in the food business, Tiu turned to new ways of serving her clients through this pandemic.
Her Private Dining catering service turned to “contactless private dining,” specializing in decking silver platters and chafing dishes beautifully with their international themed food offerings.
“We lend our clients beautiful silver platters for free so they can replicate how we serve our food without needing to be exposed to others,” she explained.
Thinking of means to provide for her staff, Tiu focused on her food manufacturing company, Mom Made, creating fresh, frozen ready-to-eat healthy dishes.
Tiu admitted 2020 was quite a difficult year, but there’s no stopping her evolution.
Her love for plates, a passion inherited from her mom, led Tiu to open My Happy Home, an online store of homeware and home decor. A physical store soon followed, brought about by the success of the online store.
“Just like 20 years ago, I started from scratch with just a lot of guts,” she said.
My Happy Home has indeed kept many of her
employees happy, literally. Her waiters, chefs, cashiers have become her sales staff, online sellers and part of her logistics team. All of them have been kept employed while her restaurants are temporarily closed.
This month, expect yet another first, My Happy Home Kids, with merchandise inspired by her four boys. This store is to offer every conceivable item that brings joy to children.
Favorite job
It is no secret to those who know Tiu that being a mother is her favorite job in the world, that being a restaurateur only comes second.
While she has had her fair share of shakeups, she has used the pandemic to her advantage. Because of it, Tiu has transformed the Happy Concept Group from just a food-and-beverage company into a lifestyle enterprise.
Her dreams are plenty. After this is all over, she plans to open not just more restaurant branches but also her Happy Home and Happy Home Kids’ stores.
The little girl, who enjoyed boodle fight-themed Sunday lunches, eating lechon roasted by her dad at their sprawling Antipolo residence, turned out to be an inspiration for many who dream of becoming food entrepreneurs.
As a tribute to her dad, Tiu shared the recipe of her version of his crispy pata.
Dad’s Crispy Pata
• 1 1/2 kg front pata
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper, cracked
• 1 piece bay leaf
• 3 stalks lemongrass
• 2 liters water (or to cover)
• 1 liter canola oil
Place the pata, salt, black pepper, bay leaf, and one stalk of lemongrass in a stockpot. Add water until everything is covered. On high flame, bring water to a boil, then lower down flame to simmer for three hours, or until the pata is tender.
With a carving fork, lift the softened pata out of the liquid and place on cooling rack to allow to cool and dry. Drain pork stock and discard solids. Set aside for other uses.
When the pata is cool enough to hold with your hands, transfer to a clean container with a lid and keep in the chiller.
In a frying pot, heat oil to 375ºF. Add two stalks of chopped lemongrass to hot oil and deepfry the pata until the skin is golden brown. Drain off excess oil in a cooling rack. Chop pata into 4 or bite-sized pieces.
Serve with sweet soy vinegar dip. Tip: Pound the lemongrass, so the flavors are more intense. (@happyongpauco_tiu on Instagram)