Doctor-turned-restaurateur

The art and science of cooking is becoming a common passion among many professionals today. In fact, a good number are taking it up as a second vocation. Celebrities and employees-turned-businessmen are storming the food industry. Among this growing breed of restaurateurs is Dr. Efren “Boy” R. Vazquez, MD. After practicing obstetrics-gynecology for more than 30 years, he now dedicates his time to his restaurant, Café Juanita.

A graduate of University of Santo Tomas, Vazquez had his residency training at the Makati Medical Center. His mentor was the famous Dr. Constantino Manahan who inspired him to specialize in the field of OB-GYN.

As a boy, Vazquez had already wanted to become a doctor. But it was also during his childhood when he first discovered his love for cooking. “I come from a big family in the province of Nueva Ecija,” he relates. “Our kitchen was always busy. I guess that’s where my love for cooking started. My mother, a Kapampangan, was my first cooking teacher.”

In fact, Café Juanita is not his fist venture in the food business. Having caught the cooking bug from his mother early on, Dr. Vazquez began dabbling in the food industry nearly two decades ago.

“Aside from cooking, I love to entertain. Every time I’d have a party at home, people would tell me to open a restaurant,” he shares. “So 18 years ago, as a hobby, I opened SoHo—a small Japanese restaurant that only had a seating capacity of 15 to 20 persons. The success of SoHo encouraged me to stick to this hobby until now.”

Today, Vazquez oversees the daily operations of Café Juanita with the help of his son, as well as the manager. The restaurant offers a combination of Filipino-Spanish, Thai-Asian and some Mediterranean choices.

This month, it will be the first time for Café Juanita to participate as a vendor in Pink Kitchen, a food festival to be held at Rockwell Tent from October 18 to 19.

Launched last year, the food festival attracted over 6000 visitors. This second edition will showcase cuisine from all parts of the globe: French, Italian, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Indian, Burmese, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Singaporean specialties, as well as traditional and innovative interpretations of favorite Filipino dishes. There will also be a variety of baked goods and confectionery, as well as wine selections.

All proceeds from Pink Kitchen II will benefit ICanServe Foundation’s flagship project, “Ating Dibdibin,” the Philippines’ first community-based breast cancer screening program under the auspices of the American Cancer Society. ICanServe is an advocacy group that empowers women with breast cancer with information and hope.

Vazquez says Café Juanita’s involvement came about because Beth Romualdez, chairman of the Pink Kitchen project committee and eminent chef in her own right, brought up the idea.

“Beth is a dear friend. Being a doctor of women, the cause finds a special place in my heart. It ‘s very fulfilling since it allows my passion for cooking to be instrumental in advancing a noble cause. I think ICanServe does laudable work. It’s not just the campaign itself but it’s also about the inspiration that people who care about other people bring about,” he said.