Kismet ❤

Chapter 2: All about Galanza

Jema

"Mumsh, one of the customers want to see you. Ayun sila sa dulong table oh. Yung old couple" Sabi ni Jho

Jhoana Louisse Maraguinot, bestfriend and partner ko din dito sa restaurant na 'to. She paints and the one who designed the whole place while I'm the one who's in charge in the kitchen. Yes, I'm the head chef of this restaurant. We were childhood friends. Baliw din kasi sya at ma-kwento, sobrang daldal kaya nag-click kami. Galing syang ADMU, sa Adamson U naman ako.

Actually, 4 kaming partners sa restaurant. Ako, Jhoana, Maddie and Ponggay. Maddie and Ponggay are also chefs. Pero sa ngayon, ako muna and si Jho ang nandito.

Si Maddie ay nasa San Francisco ngayon, helping her parents sa restaurant naman nila don pero babalik din naman sya siguro next week.

Si Pongs naman sa Japan, attending a food expo. Dalawa kami dapat don pero susunod na lang ako, mahirap iwan 'tong restaurant eh.

Those two are friends of Jho way back in college. She introduced me to them since we took the same course. Si Jhoana lang naiba, she took AB Management economics. Kaya naman napag usapan na namin dati pa na magtatayo kaming restaurant. Kaya we started our business after we graduated, supportive din naman parents namin kaya hindi kami nahirapan.

It opens 24 hours a day pero it's a combination of restaurant, cafe and bar. cafe and restau sa umaga, bar sa gabi. Two-storey building kasi 'to. Nasa baba ang office, cafe and restau then sa taas naman ang bar.

Kami ni Madi ang sa cafe at restau. Usually ako sa pastries, sya naman sa mga main courses. But since wala sya, ako muna nag-take over sa tasks nya. Alam naman namin lahat. Si Ponggay naman sa bar minsan.

"Huy, gurl? Ano? Tulala ka dyan? Okay ka lang ba?" pambasag ni Jho. Kanina pa pala ako tulala.

"Ha? Oo, okay lang ako. Teka, do they have complaints? Hindi daw ba masarap ang food?" i asked right away dahil the last thing I want is for my customers not to enjoy their food.

"No, of course not! Paranoid ka. Haha. Just go check them."

I went to the table of the old couple. They look so happy together kaya napapangiti na lang ako. I remember my parents. They're like that eh.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, Sir. I'm Chef Jema Galanza po, the head chef and one of the owners of the restaurant. You want to see me daw po. Are you enjoying our food po?" I asked.

"Yes, we just want to commend the food and the service here. The food is really great. My wife is enjoying her lemon grilled salmon." he said smiling while looking at his wife. I can see the love.

"It's our 30th wedding anniversary today and I want to treat her something special. One of the doctors in my hospital recommends this place because of the food and service daw at friendly ang tao. And I could agree to that. But may I just suggest, since this is kinda big restaurant, maybe you can add up other cuisines, like maybe Japanese?" he continued. I nodded in response.

That's what I actually plan kaya pupunta akong Japan this weekend to know more about their food.

"Thank you, Sir. Actually, I'm going to Japan po this weekend to attend a food expo. Mas okay po na dun ko mismo pag aralan para makuha ko yung authentic na lasa ng mga dishes nila." I said smiling

"Oh wow. That's nice. My children love to eat Japanese dishes. We'll bring them here next time. I'm sure they'll love the food. Do you also cater some occasions? It's my son's birthday on Saturday next week. We would love to celebrate and have our meal sana dito sa restaurant mo." The wife said with her hopeful eyes.