Mama Lou’s memory and restaurant biz live on

RICHARD with a portrait of his deceased wife Marilou in the background.

When French-Canadian Richard Tremblay worked in Asia as an IT professional around the ’80s, he didn’t yet suspect that he would someday start and manage a successful Italian restaurant with his future wife, Marilou.

As a young boy, he already had the inclination to become a chef but was advised by relatives that a future in information technology would be more profitable.  He grew up in a home that spoke French and served mostly Italian food.

At one point during his married life, he had the choice to use some savings either to pay off his insurance coverage in Canada or to start a restaurant.  The couple chose to venture into a business that initially served French and Italian cuisine and was known as Café Français, located along Aguirre Street in BF Homes Parañaque.  Prior to that, the family was involved in a retail store called Pour La Maison selling ceramic products and handmade furniture.

After nine years on Aguirre Street, the family realized that the area was sprouting bar joints and other establishments.

“I really didn’t want to be in the bar business,” recalls Richard.

Since they had a 400 square meter two-story house located on a busy street (Tropical Palace Street corner Tropical Avenue in BF Homes) that they had a hard time selling, the Tremblay family decided to relocate the business there.

“I could still remember that day,” operations manager and eldest daughter Crystal Tremblay cited the moment when the family decided to tweak their restaurant concept and to focus on their strengths.

They realized that French food didn’t appeal to Filipinos as much as Italian cuisine.  So they decided to rename the restaurant Mama Lou, patterned after the name of Marilou Tremblay.

Crystal explains, “It’s friendlier, it’s homey, it’s family.  Kids can say it.”

RICHARD and Crystal Tremblay with David Sison

The business moved to its new home by July 2010 and continues to operate.  The place can accommodate 119 seats and parking is easy.  Just recently, they opened an 80-seater dining establishment at Nuvali Solenad 2 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna—their first restaurant venture outside the village.

Unfortunately, Marilou (also known as Mama Lou) didn’t live to see the restaurant open in a major mall.  She died of lung cancer last April 8, 2012 at a young age of 45.  When they discovered the cancer, she was already in stage 4 and had around one year to live.

“I still believe that she is with us because the restaurant is doing so well,” states Richard. He gave up his job as vice president of sales and marketing for Fritz and Macziol in order to be with his wife during her illness.  His experience with cancer also made him more conscious about the food they eat or serve in the restaurant.

“After everything I read about health and cancer, the closer you are to organic the better.”  He claims that the arugula leaves that they use for their pizza dishes are organic and that they are in the process of eventually growing it themselves.

Mama Lou’s pizzas have that unique crispiness and thinness plus they come with a serving of alfalfa sprouts and arugula leaves.  According to the family, the crust is cooked in a brick oven that uses a smokeless wood based charcoal and the process is a kitchen secret.

Richard has given a free hand to his daughter Crystal and her longtime boyfriend David Sison who now serves as company president.  David got involved since Mama Lou’s opened in 2010.  Both Crystal and David have focused on introducing standardization of recipes and other documentation requirements.

David cites that the challenge lies in exceeding the expectations of guests and providing personalized attention.  They are very specific in calling diners “our guests” and not customers.  It is important for the restaurant to be perceived as a home.

Crystal continues, “If we keep that as a guiding principle on how we want our business to be known, we won’t have a hard time.”

MAMA Lou’s Restaurant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna

When asked about how it feels to hand over the business to the next generation, Richard replies, “It’s against my nature.  But I realized that if I don’t let the young ones guide and takeover, the continuity will not happen, it will not exist.”

With regard to future expansion plans, Richard hesitates, “It’s so much work to duplicate something if you want quality.  Definitely the criterion is if we can keep the quality.”

Richard ends with some words of wisdom for future graduates.

“Nothing comes easy.  You have to work very hard.  You need to be dedicated. Don’t try to be everything to everybody.  It doesn’t work.”

Photos by Ma. Esther Salcedo-Posadas, Contributor