‘Good morning, mga suki!’
The couple that cooks and sells food together lives a happy life together.
Celebrity couple Ryan Agoncillo and Judy Anne Santos-Agoncillo wake up early every Sunday to attend to their customers at Angrydobo, their restaurant. But instead of selling breakfast in the restaurant, they do it online. It’s a novel idea — while Judy Anne cooks, Ryan is busy inviting the audience to grab what his wife prepares through their Angrydobo Sunday Market live selling on Facebook.
“Good morning, mga suki!” Ryan hollers to the viewers. (Last Sunday, more than 100,000 viewers around the globe tuned in.) He peppers his invitation with the same trademark humor he delivers on the noontime show Eat Bulaga. And in two hours of selling, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., the breakfast fare that includes chicken arroz caldo, tokwa’t ‘dobo, Chocnut sansrival cake caldobo (adobo that is cooked again, caldereta-style) flies out of the kitchen, picked up by a courier service booked by the customers and delivered to their doorsteps.
Angrydobo, which has branches along Taft Avenue in Manila (in front of De La Salle University) and Filinvest Westgate in Alabang and is open for lunch till dinner, is a business venture born out of a lovers’ quarrel.
“Angrydobo is a dish that our chef, then my girlfriend, magically whipped up literally overnight in front of a stove (in L.A.), when we had a lovers’ quarrel. The morning I first tasted it, I knew it was a dish that had to be shared with the rest of the world,” shares Ryan about the liempo-cut (pork belly) adobo that started their food business.
“Angrydobo is the type of adobo that I cooked so I could avoid being with Ryan the whole night. I cooked the whole night, waiting for daybreak. Slow-fire. I just added the ingredients. ‘Yun na,” Judy Anne shares over the phone with laughter, as if to prove the worn-out adage that the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
Judy Anne is a trained chef of the Center for Asian Culinary Studies.
Why did they venture into online selling of food?
“I had the good fortune of interviewing FB online live sellers on Eat Bulaga’s ‘Bawal Judgmental’ segment. At the time, I wasn’t even aware there was such a culture that existed. I was struck by their joy in recounting their experiences and I just thought, hey, I want to experience their happiness too,” he adds.
One of Ryan’s joys doing the online selling of food is reconnecting with new and old friends. (Last Sunday he was thrilled to “see” his fifth-grade teacher.) There’s a certain kind of high every time a customer types “mine” for every dish presented on screen.
“Once a suki yells ‘mine’ online, we then ask to be PM’ed through Angrydobo PH Facebook page so our managers on duty can message back and complete the transaction, and our suki can book a pick-up courier service right away to pick up the food freshly cooked from the kitchen. Or they can wait for the other offerings and have the whole bunch picked up in one swoop,” explains Ryan.
He adds that the pandemic has greatly affected their business. “We are just so happy to have the loyalty of our cast members and our beloved loyal customers. The struggle has been great, but the rewards of love have been more than enough motivation for us to carry on. Walang imposible sa love.”
The Angrydobo Sunday Market online selling on FB is done swiftly because there’s proper division of labor. Ryan handles the technical aspect of the venture, setting up the cameras and doing the actual live selling. Juday, of course, is the chef who mans the kitchen. Ryan’s brother Dondee Agoncillo and his wife Maloo handle the electronic transactions and manage the flow of deliveries.
Ryan and Juday’s three kids — Yohan, Lucho and Luna — help in shooting the Angrydobo videos for their Instagram page @officailangrydobo and FBaccount @AngrydoboPH.
It’s a family affair. (Even the hearty chicken arroz caldo served at the online selling takes its inspiration from the heavenly arroz caldo served to Judy Anne by her mother-in-law, Rowena Gonzalez-Agoncillo, when she gave birth to her children.)
If Ryan and Judy Anne’s relationship were a dish, what would it be?
Ryan, in a heartbeat, answers, “Angrydobo Classic, because it’s #madewithlove.”
(Catch the Angrydobo Sunday Market online selling through Facebook Angrydobo PH from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.)
Bun&Bun is love
Baked scallops that melt in the mouth. Mouthwatering garlic prawns. Yummy tagliatelle truffle pasta. These and more are made fresh from the home kitchen of Bun&Bun, owned by enterprising couple Billy Billano and Kathy Arceo. “Bun” is the couple’s term of endearment instead of “Hun.” They are the best of friends.
“Bun&Bun was created because of our love to cook and eat with our family and friends. It was during the quarantine that we decided to share our passion to everyone,” says Billy, a race team manager and deputy general manager of a car service company.
“Our aim is simple: to offer fresh and good food. Above all, integrity over income — at your tummy’s service,” adds Kathy, a director at a one-stop shop company for one’s advertising and marketing needs.
Kathy’s sister-in-law, my friend and townmate Jan Chavez-Arceo, says, “I like introducing their food to my friends because aside from how much I enjoy their food, I like their business principle of prioritizing quality and taste. Thus, they do not accept too many orders because they value integrity over profits.”
Their food offerings are a slice of heaven.
(For more information, send a message to IG @thanksbun.)
(E-mail me at [email protected]. I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed weekend.)
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