Maritel Nievera and her San Fernando

MANILA, Philippines - In the early 1970s, Maritel Nievera was helping run the family restaurant Bahay Pasalubong in San Matias, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, which catered to customers coming to and from Pampanga, especially those en route to Baguio City. 

Bahay Pasalubong was a pioneer in bringing together Kapampangan pasalubong delicacies from nearby towns — pastillas and marzapan de pili from Magalang, turones de casuy from Sta. Rita, San Nicolas cookies from Mexico, Guagua chicharon, taba ng talangka from Apalit, puto seko from Cabalantian, the homemade tocino of the Tiongsons, and Aling Conching’s polvoron.

Along with her sister Beth, Maritel brought this concept to Manila when they opened a pampasalubong kiosk selling Philippine delicacies beside SM City North EDSA’s food court. They were one of the first tenants of the first SM mall in 1986, and this was their first partnership with SM.

Inspired by the success of their earlier business ventures as well as Pampanga’s rich culinary tradition, they opened the Ituro Mo, Iluto Ko restaurant along the Olongapo-Gapan road in San Fernando.

Ituro Mo, Iluto Ko was a pampasalubong store and restaurant serving the best-loved dishes from Pampanga’s towns. This rich tableaux of Kapampangan cuisine — sisig from Angeles, asadong manok from Sta. Rita, chicharon from Guagua, inihaw na hito with burong hipon from Candaba, as well as treasured family recipes — made Maritel love her hometown’s cuisine even more.

This inspired her to open the first Cabalen Eat All You Can, Eat All You Want restaurant in Quezon City in 1986. This concept restaurant, which serves cuisines from different Pampanga towns, was a hit and encouraged her to open the first mall outlet at SM Megamall in 1992.

Today, the Cabalen Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary with 21 concept restaurants, many of which are located in the SM malls — Oody’s, which serves Thai food; Mangan, another Kapampangan resto; Ebun, which serves traditional cuisine; and Cerveseria, which is known for its Spanish cuisine. This year, Cabalen goes overseas when it opens a restaurant in San Francisco, California.

Maritel’s sons Ian and Adji Tiongson and daughter-in-law Dianne are involved in bringing fresh ideas to the business. Ian now oversees the management of restaurants, while Adji, who studied culinary arts in Chicago, is in charge of the menu and food development.

Maritel says, “I left San Fernando 25 years ago to bring the best of Kapampangan cuisine to Manila.” She and her sons continue to be a presence in their hometown through their family ties and restaurants in the province.

Here Maritel takes us around their San Fernando, their SM.