Positioning PH as food concepts’ jump-off point to Asean

To “elevate the Filipino dining experience” and position the Philippines as “a jump-off point” to the region of international dining concepts—such are the goals of newly launched restaurant management group Excello, who brought to the country last year Wolfgang’s Steakhouse from New York City, and will soon be introducing two more US-based dining establishments to the local market.

“We want to make the Philippines the jump-off point [of new dining establishments] for the rest of the region, because normally we would get concepts from Singapore, Hong Kong,” said Raymund Magdaluyo, Excello group head. “There’s going to be a Wolfgang’s in Singapore, but the Philippines came first. I think what our partners are thinking is, if it works in the Philippines, it’s going to work in the rest of the region.”

Magdaluyo is just one third of the Excello Group; the other two include Magdaluyo’s longtime business partner Marvin Agustin (the two and another partner, Ricky Laudico, are the ones behind Japanese cuisine concepts SumoSam, Mr. Kurosawa, John and Yoko, and Akira), and Leina Bolinas, who had previously worked with Magdaluyo as project head of Vietnamese concept Annam Noodle Bar.

“We needed [another] operating partner. We have a lot of investors, but few operating partners, and Marvin had to go to the States to go to film school. So we invited Leina to be the third operating partner,” said Magdaluyo of Bolinas. “I knew that there would come a time when [we] would have to partner with someone much younger, someone who is very much in touch with the market—and that day has come.”

The trio plans to open two more Wolfgang’s branches this year, both smaller versions of the flagship store in Newport Mall in Resorts World Manila. Magdaluyo initially discovered Wolfgang’s, which is under the leadership of Peter Zwiener, in 2013 while on vacation in New York.

When he heard the restaurant had made plans to build branches in Japan in partnership with the World Dining Inspirations (WDI) Group, Magdaluyo saw it as an opportunity to bring the steakhouse to Manila, as it was also a time when they had started to face a lot of competition on the Japanese cuisine scene with the sudden popularity of ramen restaurants.

“I said, from East, let’s go West. When we opened Wolfgang’s, I told Marvin, this would open a lot of doors for us,” said Magdaluyo.

And open doors it did as, aside from Wolfgang’s, Excello has found another US partner in Gen Korean BBQ, a “giant cook- and order-all-you-can” Korean barbecue concept from California “with an upbeat club feel.”

“[Gen Korean BBQ] is a concept [grounded on] efficiency without compromising quality. We will have the same top-quality meats, and we will import these from the US,” said Bolinas. Excello plans to open the first Gen Korean BBQ here in the country—which is also its first location outside the United States—in SM By The Bay in SM Mall of Asia during the year’s first quarter.

“Why the Philippines? In the US, [Gen Korean BBQ] realized that 40 percent of their market are Filipinos,” said Bolinas. “So the next logical step for them was to [come here] to the Philippines.”

The third concept in the pipeline this year is another New York City eatery called Sarabeth’s, founded by couple Sara and Bill Levine and known for its preserves, pastries, baked goods and all-day dining.

The restaurant already has stores in Taiwan, Korea and Japan; the Philippine branch, which will be located in SM Megamall, is its first in Southeast Asia.

“But, of course, as a group, we don’t want to focus on just international brands. We also want to be the jump-off point for homegrown concepts. We’re working on a local oyster bar, a Filipino fish bar that we’re opening in Alabang, hopefully by the second quarter,” added Bolinas. “There’s definitely a lot in store for us, both with international franchises and local concepts, which we hope to bring not just to the rest of the region but also to the rest of the world.”