Pamana: Heritage food in showbiz-inspired setting

There are many things to like about Pamana, the chain of restaurants owned and managed by Madonna “Happy” Ongpauco, daughter of former actors Rod Ongpauco (who invented the iconic Crispy Pata) and Liberty Ilagan (daughter of National Artist Gerardo “Manong Gerry” de Leon).

There’s the food, the courteous crew and the showbiz-inspired setting. The restaurant is so named because it carries on the family legacy, thanks to Happy who inherited his dad’s love for food and her mom’s artistic touch. Happy and her two equally pretty sisters Sunshine and Love shunned the showbiz footsteps of their parents and instead ventured into non-showbiz businesses. Happy, who took up Culinary Arts, did try theater but cuisine is where her heart is.

Happy runs nine restaurants: Three Hawaiian BBQ (one of them in Boracay) which she started in 2005, World Topps and Bento Box (both in Makati City) and four Pamanas with the first one in Tagaytay, followed by the second in Boracay, the third in Makati and the fourth on Mother Ignacia St. in Quezon City, right behind ABS-CBN Studios (with a Hawaiian BBQ outlet beside it). Pamana No. 4 opened five days ago but will have its formal blessing on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Like the other Pamanas, the new one also serves what Happy calls “heritage food” (some samples on this page), lutong-bahay which she said she learned from her dad, the family chef, her lola and her yayas. “I just put them all together,” said Happy.

The place takes you down Memory Lane via the old pictures of family members and stars of yesteryear that Happy herself nicely arranged on the walls and on the ceiling. One wall is covered with the blown-up handwritten songs that Rod and Liberty dedicated to each other during happier times — “When they were still together,” said Happy.

Liberty now manages the original family restaurant Barrio Fiesta (Makati Avenue, Makati City) and daughter Love, Singing Cooks & Waiters (on Roxas Blvd., Pasay City).

“My dad is busy with his own Isdaan which has outlets in Laguna, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija,” said Happy. “They are decorated with statues; you know naman how creative my dad is.”

The Ongpaucos (the clan Heart Evangelista belongs to; her father is Rod’s brother) used to own Everlasting Pictures in the ’60s, led by Rod’s father Col. Bonifacio Ongpauco, which produced some of Rod’s starrers (Kambal sa Sinukuan, etc.) and those of the late Von Serna, Snooky’s father.

(For inquiries about Pamana and Hawaiian BBQ, call 0925-8214149 or 0915-4505628.)

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