Marianne Magalona: The restaurant heiress is a director at heart

She is young and inexperienced in the ways of building a business, but the privilege of being born into a family that owns Bob’s clears the way. It was in the ’60s when Marianne Magalona’s lola decided to open Bacolod’s first drive-in. Perhaps the lola wanted to be near her husband’s clinic, so Bob’s was built right in front of the Riverside Hospital.

Today, Bob’s restaurant stands in the same place. It has become a tradition for tourists to pass by Bob’s and its reputation has evolved, making this restaurant a landmark in Negros. 

Marianne’s youth in Bacolod was sheltered. People she met either knew her relatives or had friends who knew her family. When her parents sent her to university in La Salle Manila, she realized the thrill of being incognito. Our 21-year-old bachelorette discovered that she could pursue her passions and started to visualize herself as a director and producer of films. But now, reality has set in and the newly graduated beauty finds herself in charge of marketing two recently opened Bob’s in Makati. Between learning how to welcome guests and choosing designs for the wall murals and menus, Marianne has discovered that it isn’t enough just to serve delicious java rice or classic burgers. For her, the tug between earning money by stepping into a family affair may have to give way to her struggle to follow her dream.

One of my goals is to produce a movie or a show. It might be too early, but I want to learn more about that field so that in the future I will know what to do. I want to be a director or a producer. My parents want me to focus on the restaurant, but ever since high school I would be in charge of everything, from out-of-town trips to proms — I enjoy getting everything together. My dad is the head of Gawad Kalinga in Negros, so maybe it is in my blood to organize.

My personal style signifier is my shorts. I like wearing shorts, slippers and sando-style shirts. Those are my daily outfits.

For grooming and style I rely on myself. For the Tatler Ball, I wore a gown made by Veejay Floresca.

The last meal that truly impressed me was when my brother, Mark, was experimenting with a steak. He was teaching my mom how to do it and I forgot the name, but I really liked it. I really like eating.

Some of my fears are that I might not pursue the field that I really want. I am really scared to go outside my interests because I might not find my way back.

What helped me to conquer fear is when I talk to elders. They guide me to have more options. My friends make it even harder for me to know what I need to do.

 A recent find is the ambience in Real Coffee in Boracay. I fell in love with the omelets and breakfast.

The last thing I bought and loved is my Polaroid. I love photography, so I bought a Polaroid online. You can’t edit it. Whatever you capture, that is it. Instantly prints out and there are different-size prints.

The thing I’m hoping to buy next is a videocam so I can document and edit every day of my life. Whenever I go anywhere, I think like a director. Like right now, this could be a short film already.

If I had to limit my travels to one city, I don’t want to limit myself. I have not been to Europe. I have been to the States, China, Thailand, and have not even gone around the Philippines.

A memorable place I have traveled to in the past year is Khao San Road in Bangkok. I fell in love with this place where there are so many backpackers. I felt the good vibes with everyone just in slippers. They are all foreigners and interesting people.

The sight that inspires me is anyplace I can feel the vibes. Orange walls with yellow lines. Pictures and paintings everywhere. I prefer to work in that kind of environment or even a coffee shop.

The best gift I have given recently was when my friend got dengue and I was thinking, oh, my, what should I give him? I partly blamed myself because the night before I was with him and apparently I had triggered the attack because we stayed up late that night. I bought him 12 shots of Yakult, vitamin A, C with zinc and labeled everything with explanations of what it was good for.

And the best one I’ve received recently was from my friend who went to Japan. I asked him to buy me even one pack of Japanese gum and now I have a year’s supply.

In my fridge you’ll always find Bacolod food. We do not buy raw food from the supermart because my mom and my lola send me food from Bacolod: chorizo, hamonado and recado. Most of our foods are from the commissary of our restaurant.

My style icon is Sienna Miller in the movie The Factory Girl. I like how she carries herself.

In school, I learned not to be narrow-minded.

After being in business, I realized that the food business is really stressful. It’s not like making movies or writing where you can edit mistakes. There is a table and if something goes wrong, you have to think fast. Keep calm. Bob’s on De La Rosa has been so busy with a long line from the first day.

My talents include dancing ballet, jazz, belly dancing, Spanish. I like performing onstage.

I remember an embarrassing moment at work when I had to be the waitress because there were so many customers. I just put the dishes on the table and said, “There.”

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E-mail: aurorawilson@gmail.com