THINK of the most-tender Crispy Pata—with that crackling and crispy skin—and pork dishes like Belly Roulade, Pig’s Wing, Rich Man’s Pot plus a horde of items that incorporate pork in their menu. Whether you’re a pork lover or having instant craving for pork dishes, you would be delighted to know that there’s a watering hole in Quezon City that serves all these. Conveniently located on Sergeant Esguerra Street, one wouldn’t miss this restaurant attraction named Livestock Bar & Restaurant, a brainchild of the husband-and-wife tandem of Chefs Mico and Ching Uy.
The family of Mico owns a piggery business in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, and, thus, the “livestock” for the resto’s name. But more than just the name of the restaurant, they have made sure that their pigs are bred and fed to create pork meat that have pork knuckles that can be cut by a popsicle stick.
Oh, yes! Only a popsicle stick is needed to cut their crispy pata into serving pieces. The meat closest to the bone is tender. They actually call it Melt-In-Your-Mouth Crispy Pata. The skin is rubbed with salt and spices that further enhance the crackling experience with a hot and savory after-taste.
Prior to having their own business, Ching used to work for the Red Crab Group of Restaurants. She gives credit to her former boss, Executive Chef Peter Ayson of Red Crab, for teaching her to spread her wings and gave her autonomy to his kitchens that she managed.
But she said she admires most his husband Mico for his creativity and boldness in the kitchen and in business. “He was never afraid to try and do new things, and is always thinking outside of the box. I admire that he’s a risk-taker, never afraid to gamble, therefore inspiring me, giving me confidence in my decision-making,” she said.
Mico and Ching opened their dream project in the last quarter of 2013. Since then, it has served families eating out on weekends, the yuppies hanging out on weeknights and food lovers in between.
Couple first and business partners later, Ching said she worked hand in hand with Mico in the conceptualization and menu engineering of Livestock. The business isn’t a flash in the pan, she assured the BusinessMirror, as she has been working hard on this, backed by her years of “on-the-job training days” with Chef Peter.
In college, Ching was taking up BS Mathematics but shifted to business course “when I’d realized that I’m not much of a mathematician.”
But, she said, she always had a culinary calling.
“Culinary wasn’t famous at that time yet. So I researched about Culinary Arts and ended up enrolling at Center for Culinary Arts, Manila in 2005.”
Now with a family business of their own, she said she is guided by her in-laws. “I must say that I was influenced more by my in-laws. My father passed away when I was still in college and my mother lives in the US. Business-wise, I learned that frugality stretches your dime a long way—from my father-in-law; and strike while the iron is hot, or be aggressive with my business decision-making—from my late mother-in law.”
Let’s know more about Ching, the chef turned businesswoman:
What is your management style?
I’m more of an authoritarian, although I’d like to think I’m also consultative. I believe a unit must work with clear directives and parameters to be able to achieve goals, but, at the same time, in achieving those goals, I would like it to be a pleasant, if not fun, experience.
How do you juggle your time between being a businesswoman, homemaker, wife and mother?
It’s all a matter of time management, multitasking and proper division or allocation of labor. I’ve always believed in the saying “divide and conquer.” I divide or allocate tasks, so I can conquer all my duties.
What is a typical day for you?
A typical day would be doing business calls with my morning coffee, placing orders, checking par stocks, tend to family necessities, and then head out to the restaurant, where I am, and my husband, are in charge of the kitchen and restaurant operations.
How would you describe yourself as a businesswoman?
As a businesswoman, I am driven, goal-oriented, tenacious and somewhat conservative. I admit I’m not much of a risk-taker. I always go for calculated risks. I constantly have high expectations for my results and prolificacy.
What are your short-term objectives and long-term plans? What is your overall vision?
Short-term objective is to get Livestock known and soaring, and eventually branch out. My husband and I, it’s been our common dream since culinary school to be restaurateurs. We would like to promote the aspiration for good food quality in the restaurant industry, and one of the many ways is by ensuring the quality of the raw ingredients right from the source. At Livestock, we breed our own livestock, which is pork, and cultivate some of our herbs and vegetables. So it’s fresh from the farm right to your table. We are now considering possibilities of breeding our very own local Berkshire pigs so we can supply our own fresh kurobuta pork. We hope to achieve this feat in the next five years.
How is it like working with Livestock?
It is definitely not a walk in the park. While it is great to have a free hand with conceptualization and execution, it takes a lot of work, blood, sweat and tears to put up a business. But at the end of the day, it’s very rewarding to see the fruits of your labor, hear good feedbacks from your customers. So, all in all, it’s been a great roller-coaster ride to be working for my company.