In May of 2020, I created Lola’s Kitchen, a Filipino food catering business. It was during the pandemic here in Ottawa, Canada. My day job was on hold because of the pandemic and I was also going through a lot of personal problems in my life. Instead of dwelling, I decided to use my passion in cooking to make ends meet. I got inspired by my lola (grandmother in Filipino) who had her own “carinderia”, which is a market or roadside food stall with a small seating area. As a kid who grew up in the Philippines, I remembered I loved going to family gatherings. My lola would set up the banana leaves and lay out all the yummy homemade food on it. We would all gather and eat with our hands. No spoons, no forks, no knives, just “kamayan” style!

Since I have always loved cooking, I figured, why not share the Filipino food culture with the people here in Canada. I remembered the recipes that my lola had shared with me and I started making them and sharing them with my friends. They all loved it and encouraged me to open up a business during the pandemic. My passion for cooking allowed me to share the traditional flavours of the Philippines along with the way we eat food on fresh banana leaves. My goal is to provide traditional Filipino flavours and experience to the people here in the Ottawa community.