A Lenten story: Too busy cooking to die
As we enter the season of Lent, those 40 days in the Christian calendar when we honor the sacrifices of Jesus
As we enter the season of Lent, those 40 days in the Christian calendar when we honor the sacrifices of Jesus (Ash Wednesday is this March 6) and the gift of eternal life He has given us (Easter Sunday is on April 21), I would like to share the inspiring story of chef Theodore “Day” Salonga.
Chef Day (pronounced like day in daytime), as he is fondly called by his friends, is a chef in a wheelchair. In 2008, he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a motor neurone disease that causes the death of neurons controlling voluntary muscles. His doctors told him he had three years to live.
Four years later, he opened his own restaurant, Ted’s Kitchen.
“I guess cooking keeps me alive!” chef Day says gratefully.
When he surpassed his life sentence, the rebuffed doctors tested him again and amended their diagnosis to polymyositis, a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles.
“Pinsan (cousin) ni Lou Gehrig,” chef Day says with humor. Only five out of a million people are diagnosed with this.
But Day is proof that when you ignore obstacles, nothing can stop you from finding your dreams. “I guess my faith is just really strong,” shares Day, who is now planning a fundraising dinner for Caritas Manila (among other projects) at Ted’s Warehouse, a 500-square meter event space he created, with the help and guidance of his dad, in their family property.
Long journey
His journey to becoming a chef was a long one. He graduated with a business degree from De La Salle University in 1998. His father, Teodoro Salonga, had continued the family business of distributing LPG in Laguna and wanted Day to pursue the same. The obedient son obliged and worked with his father for five years, until he attended a life coaching seminar and realized that his true north was in the kitchen.
He saved up, enrolled in the American Hospitality Academy and graduated at the top of his class. He started a restaurant consultancy business, worked for chef Sau del Rosario at Raintree for a while, and then went for further culinary studies at the Beijing Training Academy in China. It was while touring the Great Wall of China that he started feeling that something was wrong with his body.
After being diagnosed, instead of feeling sorry for himself, he just continued to cook.
Against all odds
“Cooking keeps me busy so I’m not thinking of dying. I’m too busy to die,” the jovial chef confides.
He continued his consultancy work until clients started asking if he himself had a restaurant. This pushed him to open Ted’s Kitchen, named after his father, in December 2012.
He also encouraged his sister, financial analyst Gel Salonga-Datu, who had just returned to Manila from Singapore, to bake. Now they are partners and she is the pastry chef of Ted’s Specialty Cakes and Deli Shop, located just behind Ted’s Kitchen.
The challenge for Day in opening Ted’s Kitchen was not his disability but the fact that in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, there were no other restaurants in the area and he was not sure if the community was ready for a concept restaurant, such as an American diner. He recalls the first time a rich farmer dined at Ted’s in its early days: after being served iced tea in a mason jar, the farmer complained, “Bakit naka-garapon ang iinumin namin? (Why are you serving us drinks in a jar?)”
Three months later, by Valentine’s of 2013, people started pouring in. They started getting customers not only from Sta. Cruz but also from Los Baños, especially expats from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Today, they have customers visiting all the way from Manila.
They became known for Ted’s Burger, a 125-pound burger with an all-USDA beef patty, fresh local vegetables, Swiss cheese and an egg. Day also makes sure that return customers don’t get bored by updating the menu quarterly.
Two years ago, upon the request of a customer from IRRI, he started providing vegan options. Recently, he partnered with the Department of Agriculture to promote local produce even more by offering seasonal salads.
Turning weakness into strength
He now has assistants to help him cook but his disability has only made him an even better chef. “I have become very sensitive to taste, texture, sound. Weird nga e, parang naka-develop ako ng special powers kasi even sa tunog ng piniprito, alam ko na kung may mali sa temperature kahit hindi ko nakikita.” (It’s weird, as if I have developed special powers. Now, even just by the sound of something being fried, I already know if the temperature is not correct.)
He is also continually expanding and developing the family’s one-hectare property. In 2016, he worked with his father in creating Ted’s Bed & Breakfast. Now there are seven cottages in their property, which can accommodate three persons each. They are building seven more cottages, to open before the Christmas season.
Beside the bed & breakfast is the old warehouse (the family had a farm and rice mill) that they converted into an event space, which is now booked for weddings and corporate events. Chef Day is now also a banquet chef.
Charmed
As if work at Ted’s wasn’t enough, in 2017, the chef also converted the Salonga ancestral home in the Sta. Cruz poblacion, near the church, into Aurora’s (named after his grandmother), a restaurant serving Laguna specialty cuisine. This is where Day showcases local delicacies such as crispy adobo tadyang and sinugnong kanduli (silver catfish in a burnt coconut sauce).
The hardworking chef, together with his family, continues to develop the property.
The entire compound is incredibly charming. Visitors usually only see the restaurant, cake shop and event space. But behind the bed & breakfast is the special section that is the extension of the Salongas’ home. This is where they host family gatherings, but Day has now opened it as well to culinary tours and private dinners by reservation.
In this special section, you will find a prayer room. There is also a private dining space that can fit 20, called Angelina’s Private Dining. Across the private dining space is a garden area that can fit 50 pax, called Ted’s Birdhouse, as it is decorated with bird cages. And beside that is their home, where the family including their dog Truffle live.
It’s a magical space—made magical by the chef in the wheelchair.
Truly, chef Day Salonga is a living example of how, in spite of life’s challenges, one can still have a charmed life especially when you have faith.
Ted’s Kitchen: Km 83, National Highway, Sta. Cruz, Laguna. For reservations and inquiries, call (049) 501-6858 or mobile 0917-5440820. For more details, visit tedsbedandbreakfast.com.
Aurora Filipino Cuisine. P. Guevarra St., Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Call (049) 523-9014.
