Chef Pepin Ordoña (CDN PHOTO/ EDD BUENAVIAJE)
THERE’s a Zen-like air that comes seated across Chef Pepin Ordoña. Adjectives like “cool, calm and collected” are an understatement— although less on the facial expression and more the verbal clarity— the baker and cook just tells it as it is.
“People come here and ask if we have fraps and we tell them that we don’t serve that. Sayang kasi you pay a lot for a good coffee tapos matatakpan lang ng syrup,” he says.
Chef Pepin runs Yolk Coffee and Breakfast and these days, things are getting more exciting for the quaint and homey cafe that introduced specialty coffee and now has an interesting mix on its menu. Gearing towards another year from a successful run, the father of two pours out on the bitter, the sweet, and the jolt
that comes after the risk—and just taking the shots.
Here’s to Sundays and coffee.
(CDN PHOTOS BY EDD BUENAVIAJE)
Finally, your family is based here in Cebu…
We’ve always been based in Singapore… so yes, finally, the whole family is back. This was just last end of October and it’s a good thing that my wife… nakahanap siya ng work here… in Manila though… so this time it will be her who will be shuttling back and forth, Manila and Cebu. But
we will definitely be based na talaga here in Cebu.
It must be difficult, taking care of business here in Cebu and flying to Singapore for the wife and kids?
It was difficult as well as expensive. I have to spend a month there tapos two weeks here. It was more difficult for my eldest daughter dahil umiiyak siya, although
it’s a lot better now, kahit the Mom is working in Manila… at least it’s a lot closer na and anytime she wants to go home she can.
You’re an IT guy turned chef—how did it come about?
Yes, I took up Information Technology, and I once worked in Manila, selling POS (point of sell) systems. In 2008 my wife… wala pa kaming kids then and she was working for Unilever… was transferred to Singapore. I also worked in Singapore for a while, but wasn’t really happy where I was working.
Unfortunately that was the time na naghigpit yung Singapore in getting more people in as well as nag-down ‘yung economy. So I was having a hard time looking for an IT job, but mainly because I was a foreigner. Their local companies prefer to hire locals so that was kind of difficult.
But what would you rather be—an IT guy or chef?
Siguro I’d rather spend more time in the kitchen. I still do like to play with new gadgets pero if you put me in the kitchen for the rest of the day, okay lang.
Why did you take up IT then?
Noon kasi that was the popular course. Back in high school I was a bit of a techie and also did a bit of coding. Somehow that fascinated me and after some time nawala na lang ‘yung mata ko sa coding.
What made you decide to set up a café in Cebu?
Back then, whenever we come back here in Cebu for the holidays we thought that something is missing… the café culture, because there in Singapore, there is this boom of cafés and they all serve good coffee. That time it was just the usual big cafes here, so we missed the coffee. If you notice, most commercial coffee establishments go for lots of whipped creams and syrups at nawawala na ‘yung lasa ng kape. I love my coffee. I like to have it black or sometimes with milk. Initially it was just me and my wife. Fortunately, we have this group of friends who also wanted to put up a café. Initially it was just the three of us and then we became five. It’s a good team since we all have different roles. I am handling the kitchen side and my wife looks at the financial aspect, and then we have two people in charge of marketing and another person for human resources.
How did Yolk start to gain ground?
Me and my wife, we were thinking na if we will go back to the Philippines, we need to have something in place. We can’t go back and start from scratch, or saka pa lang kami maghahanap ng business opportunities. Since I was the one who wasn’t doing anything, or I was the one who doesn’t have a job, we were thinking of opening a food business since I’ve always loved to cook naman. However we need someone who has an idea on how to open that type of business so I studied. I took up a local culinary course in a well known school there.
Tell us about your experience.
I had my training at the Ritz Carlton in Singapore and it was there that I learned how big hotel operations is. I was assigned in different kitchens. You might think it is only a single operation… the truth is that it’s divided into two sections, and Ritz Carlton is lauded for its customer service. To them, the way to treat customers
is to be truly maalaga. That’s what I learned from them. After the training, I worked in a café called Baker and Cook, and I was fortunate because when I came
in they were opening a new branch and I was tasked to handle the kitchen. I was very hands-on… did the ordering, watched my stocks, communicated with the people at the front on what food was in demand and what was not. It was from there that I started having this idea of opening a café here in Cebu.
What kind of a boss are you?
I have always been strict—what needs to be done should be done. Ako, I want to take care of my staff. I want them to feel that I care for my team because when I was working in the hotel doon ko naramdaman yung ano… how do I say this? Maybe because I was just a trainee then so medyo mababa yung positioning ko noon, and you know naman, kahit hindi mga head namin ang baba ng tingin sa amin eh. I don’t want my staff to think that they have been taken advantage of. I want them to feel taken care of. That’s why in terms of giving benefits I really give it to them aside from the usual perks. We don’t give minimum wage because in the end that would mean na we would just get miminum effort. But I tell them na we are giving you this much so we are also expecting you to give more. In the end, because of this desire to give more, our customers are happy.
Do you breathe down your employees’ necks?
Sometimes I do shout. It comes to a point where I would be angry if it really gets dangerous na. For example, kasi for some, they’d tend to salvage ingredients and ako naman I would really check and recheck the stuff… if it’s expired na you should throw it away, di ba? Yun lang naman, I suppose. I am very particular with food waste… yung nagkamali lang with this and that and then you end up throwing the rest of the batch, which is very sayang. We’re not dealing with a manufactured product na if may part na sira you can easily remove and replace it. With food, it is the whole batch that you prepared that gets
affected.
Have you always seen yourself becoming a chef?
Not so much I would say though mahilig lang talaga akong kumain and before I would really watch cooking shows. My dad is the one who pushed me to try different food so sinasama niya kami to his meetings in fancy restaurants and eventually yung fascination started from there.
What’s an ordinary day for you?
It was all about the business when we started Yolk because my family was based in Singapore. Now since nandito na sila I am the one who brings my daughter to school. Usually, mornings I’ll be home until I bring my daughter to school by 12 and then come here to Yolk. Weekends, I help out in the kitchen since it is usually our peak days.
What’s ahead for Yolk?
We are thinking of expanding this year but we are looking for a good location pa. The problem lang namin is if we will open another branch within the city baka ma-dilute or mag split yung client base. Plano namin is maybe farther, maybe in Mactan. We may also open another food concept.
How do you take care of you health?
Medyo unhealthy nga because when you’re in the kitchen mabilisan na, especially during weekends. You are the last person to eat. Ako na lang is I maximize my time and I am trying to avoid fastfood.
How how do you de-stress?
Family time, with my two kids—I have a six-year-old and a nine-month old. We just stay in bed. I think that’s the best way to de-stress.
Would you be able to define the Cebuano taste?
Ang hirap pero I noticed the Cebuanos’ affinity for meat and rice. Because when we opened, our inspiration was mainly western, yung breakfast and brunch idea that will be composed of salad and toast. Ang rice meal ko lang was yung Silog, and that was it. But thenpeople were asking if I can have rice with this or rice with that. ‘Yung turning point was when there was this family who came in, they had this little boy and they wanted rice for a meal na hindi kasama ‘yung rice. So iba talaga—it’s hard na pilitin natin na salad lang or toast. From there on, we have rice as an option.
And meat during Lent…
Oh, yes! Kasi nung Lenten season we were expecting more fish eaters so we prepared lots of bangus, at dinagdagan ko pa ng vegetarian options as well as tuna sandwiches. Pagdating ng customers sina-suggest ng servers yung mga Lenten specials pero the diners preferred the chorizos and the meats. That Lenten season I was selling a lot of bacon and chorizos. So going back, it is really hard to put a finger on the Cebuano taste.
And how are Cebuanos taking their coffee?
Right now what I can see is Cebuanos still preferring the ice blended. And we want to change it. There’s more to coffee kasi than just putting milk, foam, whipped cream and syrup. And I think what’s going on also is, since I’ve been to our local coffee shops, intentionally, ‘yung coffee beans nila, they would get the dark roast, because when you put syrup or anything else the coffee taste should be there pa rin ‘eh. People come here and ask if we have fraps and we tell them that we don’t serve that. Sayang kasi to pay a lot for a good coffee tapos matatakpan lang ng syrup. Basically, that’s it—we
encourage people to try better alternatives and not just fraps.
Pepin with the family.
