This is the story of Alex Tan and Mikee Lopez, two chefs who grew up in families where food was more than a necessity — it was a way to share love and care with one another.
Mikee Lopez and Alex Tan are the culinary genuises behind Tandem, an upscale restaurant located in Makati City. PHOTO COURTESY OF TANDEM
Alex studied at the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management (ISCAHM) in Manila, then pursued further studies at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Culinary Science. He went on to work at Michelin-starred restaurants such as Café Boulud and The NoMad before returning to the Philippines in 2017.
Mikee, meanwhile, earned her bachelor’s degree in Food Technology from the University of the Philippines before studying at ISCAHM, where she graduated at the top of her class. She trained under Josh Boutwood, helping open and run his restaurant concepts including The Test Kitchen, Helm, and Savage.
Alex and Mikee met in 2019. By 2022, they decided to open their own restaurant — and in 2023, Tandem was born. Serving eclectic food inspired by cultures around the world, Tandem reflects their shared passion for creativity and craft. But I won’t spoil the fun. Let Alex and Mikee tell you more about their journey and their restaurant.
Can you share your journey into fine dining and your childhood food memories? Did both your families love to cook?
Get the latest news
delivered to your inbox Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Alex: Food has always been a big part of my and my family’s life growing up, and it was my parents who exposed us to all sorts of food. My mom is the cook, and I’ve only recently come to the realization that it might actually have been her that has really influenced the kind of food I like to cook — which is basically everything. She’d make simpler dishes of course, but would often also experiment and try out dishes that interest her.
Eventually going into fine dining felt like a natural progression, as it allowed me to just keep pushing what I know about food and cooking. But I don’t believe in the kind of fine dining that is snooty or exclusive. At the end of the day, it’s just about making food to the best of my ability, being responsible about ingredients, and sharing it with people.
Advertisement
Mikee: I grew up with food being a big part of life. Cooking and eating together was a way for my parents to show love, so we would always sit down and eat together. My mom would cook very comforting Chinese food — similar to what she grew up with. My dad would also cook from time to time with more adventurous food — similar to what he has tried in his work travels.
We were taught to always try new food and learn how to appreciate them — something I always carried with me. I also grew up watching the food channel with my dad. Making food always interested me. However, it was only until high school that I considered doing it as a full-time job. Cooking and baking was always comforting and a delight but to do it as a job required more — but it was also more rewarding.
What were your goals when you opened Tandem, and how do you keep it exciting in the competitive world of high-end cuisine?
The one and only goal of Tandem in the beginning was to cook good food for people. Our language of love when it came to giving was acts of service, and what more appropriate a career to show this than a career in food service and hospitality.
Advertisement
There were also smaller goals that continue to drive the way we run Tandem until now, namely, zero-waste cooking and being nice in a corporate setting. The former drives how we develop menus and dishes in order utilize every part of an ingredient as much as we can.
The latter, while it may sound a bit strange, is something that really resonates with us as line cooks at heart. We know how toxic the culinary industry is, both in and out of the country. We know how it feels like to be treated as dispensable and unimportant. We know what it is like to be overworked and underpaid; how it feels to have our legal rights as wage workers stripped away, all the while being conditioned to feel more pride the more abused we are.
While we are not (yet) the giant company that can make significantly influential national policy changes to labor and wage workers, we try to do what we can in our restaurant to make sure every single member of our staff never experience this sort of rampant toxicity.
Also another goal: challenge everything. Challenge cooking techniques, traditions, flavors and tastes. Challenge people to becoming better at their craft. Challenge the way people see upscale dining and food in general. Challenge having to always get the best ingredients, and instead embrace using what is available around us (which is not always the best). Challenge how we look at food and its impact in our community and environment. Challenge the “bahala na” mentality. Challenge the abuse and toxicity in the food industry.
Advertisement
In terms of remaining relevant in the industry, I think one thing that sets us apart is sincerity and authenticity. We feel we make it blatantly obvious how much each guest that come through our doors means to Mikee and me, and we feel that genuine gratitude does make a difference. There are a lot of fantastic fine-dining, tasting menus in Manila, but it is not always often for the chefs behind these concepts go out and greet every single table every single night and ask how their experience was. But do this because we really do care what people think about our restaurant and what ways we can be better.
Our eclecticism in terms of menu building also allows us to stand out, as there are very few restaurants that approach food this way. While other restaurants are usually dictated by cuisine, we don’t give ourselves that limitation (as we are also not experts of any single cuisine) and instead just let our creativity and skill direct our food.
In your view, what’s the secret ingredient behind restaurants that thrive for many years?
This is a really complicated question because it opens up a can of worms that people don’t want to talk about. But for the sake of brevity, we’ll just say that the answer depends on what someone’s definition of success is.
Advertisement
For us, our version of success depends on people. Because hospitality to us is about managing people, not money. These include the obvious (which are our guests), but also those at the back end: our own team, suppliers, farmers, and community. Our success hinges on the way we develop relationships with all of them: if our guests are happy and we get return guests; if our staff are happy to be working in Tandem and they feel they are being taken care of, and if they can lead lives outside of the kitchen; if our relationships with our suppliers are mutually beneficial; if our surrounding community is grateful for our existence.
There is also the marketing route, where there is heavy focus on marketing a brand and using social media influence to keep relevant. This is quite an important aspect in today’s world, but one that can also be venue for abuse. But it is hard to deny how great the effect of social media is and its ability to create exposure for any brand.
We believe if we are able to balance the financial necessities of the restaurant while doing all of the above, then we are already successful and will continue to be in the years to come.
***
Advertisement
Tandem is located on the ground floor of Greenbelt Hamilton, 151 Legaspi St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. For reservations, call 09060036112.
