Cebuano entrepreneur invests P4M for Mexican-Korean resto

CEBU, Philippines – A young Cebuano exporter invested P4 million to open a Mexican-Korean cuisine inspired dining haven called "Señor Kimchi."

Kimberley Dacay, whose family is into food export, worked in the United States for three years to help the family business operations there. She later decided to come home to venture into the promising local dining industry.

"While working in the US and family travels around,  I was exposed to different cuisines, what intrigued me most is this modern concept of combining the Mexican and Korean food preparations," said Kimberley during the formal opening of her 88-square meter restaurant located at the newly opened AXIS lifestyle destination along Escario Street.

A graduate of Business Administration at the University of San Carlos, this 29-year-old young entrepreneur hopes to introduce a new and contemporary concept in the dining offering in Cebu which has become a street food craze in downtown Los Angeles since 2009.

"I really believe the concept and I thought of bringing it home because I believe that Cebuanos deserve more and the market is ready for newer concepts," she said.

Influenced by the strong entrepreneurial spirit of her Lola Mary Dacay, Kim went to culinary school and contracted a training and consultancy service of an LA-based Korean chef to help her open her version of urban Korean kitchen in Cebu, which so far is the first of its kind in the Philippines.

Since the soft opening of her dining outlet in December 16 last year, Kim said, it already gained a following, surprisingly from customers across ages and nationalities.

Looking forward, Kim plans to expand initially via food cart concept in malls, and pop-up stores, as well as restaurant outlets in major cities like Davao. (FREEMAN)