Cabalen's journey with SM
My life has been a journey towards promoting the heart and soul of Kapampangan cuisine. I have been so passionate about Pampango food, I must have been born with a spoon of bringhe in my mouth.
As a child, I loved the delicious aroma of kilawin, sinigang na bangus sa bayabas, chicken galantina and kalamay na biko wafting from the kitchen where my grandmother and my mother would whip up feasts.
My journey began in 1974 when, at 18, I was already running our restaurant in Pampanga called Bahay Pasalubong. Then my sister Beth and I ventured into our first Pampasalubong kiosk at SM North Edsa, selling turrones de kasuy, pastillas, chicharon, polvoron and pan de pili. It was a hit, so we put up other kiosks at SM Cubao and SM Makati.
Inspired by our growing Pampasalubong store, I decided to bring Kapampangan cuisine to Manila by opening Cabalen, a fine-dining restaurant along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City in 1986. I made sure the restaurant would offer all the best-loved dishes from different Pampanga towns, including the sisig of Angeles, asadong manok of Sta. Rita, chicharon of Guagua, inihaw na hito with burong hipon of Candaba, and my family’s own faves from San Fernando.
When SM Megamall opened in l992, the SM management offered us space for a Cabalen resto on the fourth floor. Used to the stand-alone business, I found the concept of a restaurant inside a mall a novel one, but I decided to do it because I believed in SM’s innovative style of business. Cabalen at SM Megamall was designed by my childhood friend, chef-artist Claude Tayag, with the hacendero house as inspiration, and it was a hit. Thanks to our success at SM, we received invitations from other malls to open more branches. After SM Megamall, Cabalen branched out to other SM Malls — SM North Edsa , SM Manila, SM Clark, SM Taytay and SM Mall of Asia.
Today, with a total of 12 branches, Cabalen has evolved from the traditional hacendero house to a modern Pinoy resto, with its reasonably priced “Eat all You Can, Eat all You Want” buffet feast of over 50 dishes. Cabalen has become the preferred place for families celebrating special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, baptisms, graduations, reunions and office parties. Cabalen has also become the must-visit resto among balikbayans. It now offers catering services, too.
Running a restaurant business is not an easy task. It takes a strong and dedicated management team to maintain quality food and service. Fortunately I have my sons Ian and Adji and my sister Beth helping me. My eldest son Ian, with his wife Dianne, helps in business development and marketing, and runs Cabalen at SM Clark and Mangan, a sister company, at SM Pampanga.
My son Adji is a budding chef who handles food development and the training of cooks. My sister Beth helps in accounting and auditing, and runs a Cabalen in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
We have developed new restaurant concepts, and we now run a total of 21 restos, including Mangan (also featuring Kapampangan cuisine) and Ebun (serving Filipino cuisine), plus a Thai restaurant, Oody’s.
In l996, as a means of thanksgiving and giving back to the community, I started the Cabalen Christmas outreach program for less fortunate children. Every Christmas season, we set aside a portion of our sales for books, toys, candies, vitamins and other basic items for such children. We believe Christmas is really for children.
We know how important Christmas celebration is for families just like our own, so we bedeck our restos in Christmas decor, play nostalgic Tagalog Christmas songs and offer Pinoy Deli gift baskets in yuletide colors. Our buffet spread highlights the best dishes families love serving for their noche buena feasts. These are the best dishes we ourselves grew up with and love sharing as a family.
SM has become part of our journey, and we thank SM for its trust and support for Cabalen all these 22 years.
