Cakes, pastries venture helps chef ease into resto business

Chef Ferdinand Alexis Montelibano and his wife invested P250,000 to kick-start their restaurant venture, a 30-seater dining place in Lapu-Lapu City called Alex’s Kitchen. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

What is the easiest way to start a restaurant business even when you don’t have enough capital?

For 37-year-old Cebuano chef Ferdinand Alexis Montelibano, venturing into a cake and pastries enterprise was the way to go.

“It was easier to set up compared to going straight into the restaurant business. Hot items in restaurants really need to be served hot, whereas pastries can be served later. The venture can also be done online,” Montelibano said in an interview with Cebu Daily News.

With a capital of around P20,000 and his kitchen at home in Mandaue City, he launched Chef Alex Patisserie in August 2012, which he began to cater to the cakes and pastries needs of his friends.

Using Facebook as his marketplace, Montelibano uploaded photos of his creations online and was able to reach even those outside his social circle.

Computer science grad

Montelibano graduated with a degree in computer science and worked as an agent at a beverage company in Cebu for almost five years before deciding to take up culinary studies in Thailand.

He trained for six months in Phuket and, upon his return to Cebu, ended up as a pastry chef at a Mactan Island resort where he worked for two years.

P25,000 worth of orders

By December of the same year when he started his online venture, Montelibano received orders amounting to as much as P25,000 for Christmas giveaways.

He said unlike his competitors who use ordinary flour, which cost between P30 and P45 per kilo, he uses moist flour at P200 per kilo.

“My products are even pricier than mainstream brands, but my customers can really tell the difference. I can say that even if I am a relatively new player, this is my edge,” he said.

Two years after he started Chef Alex Patisserie, Montelibano began joining bazaars organized by major malls in Cebu, which strengthened his market exposure.

Alex’s Kitchen

In August this year, he finally opened his own restaurant called Chef Alex’s Kitchen, a 30-seater dining place in Lapu-Lapu City offering barbecue, pochero, sisig, as well as his well-loved cakes and pastries.

Montelibano used his earnings from his pastries business as well as his wife Denise Joan’s savings, which amounted to around P250,000, to kick-start his restaurant venture.

He now also caters to business process outsourcing companies in Cebu City, providing its employees packed lunch meals and dinner buffets, among
others.

Springboard to business

From a one-man venture, Chef Alex Patisserie has not only become a springboard for Montelibano’s dream business, but has also provided employment to at least 10 people today.

The chef is no stranger to food-related enterprises because his grandmother owns a delicacy manufacturing venture, which Montelibano managed for a while.

He had already moved to Manila in 2014 after he married his wife but opted to return to Cebu to man the enterprise.

Montelibano ran the business for two years before he decided to let it go due to certain internal issues.

Although things did not turn out quite well for that pursuit, Montelibano said he also lost his desire to go back to Manila and preferred to nurture his businesses here in Cebu.

Fruit of hard work

“My wife and I have this dream of living comfortably and investing in our own properties without being dependent on other people. We want our success to be the fruit of our own hard work,” said Montelibano.

Montelibano was among the participants of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Mentor Me program, where he learned the importance of accreditation with government agencies and setting up a solid inventory.

Moving forward, the entrepreneur said he plans to come up with his own pasalubong item.

He added that he is currently looking at the possibility of offering pistachio sticks, which he was inspired to do while getting his training in Thailand.