By KRISTEL DACUMOS-LAGORZA
Thanks to his insatiable appetite for good food, great service and innovative restaurant concepts, IT professional-turned-restaurateur Archie Rodriguez of Global Restaurant Concepts Inc. (GRCI) has found the secret to his well-seasoned success.
Armed with a degree in Computer Science and Economics, and a minor in Mathematics, from Rollins College (rather than a chef’s toque), Archie admits that he never imagined food to become his life-long calling. As he often proclaims in his university talks and interviews, “I was — and still am — a nerd, a total computer geek.†As a matter of fact, shortly after college, Archie worked for Sega in Silicon Valley for a few years. But while IT seemed more aligned with his educational attainment, deep down he had another dream. It was one that was soon awakened — literally — by the warmth of good food.
While working in the US, Archie would often take the short trip down to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) in Hillsdale to grab a quick bite for dinner. Inside the restaurant, surrounded by boisterous diners who were immensely enjoying themselves, Archie thought that there could be no happier place. Then he had a eureka moment. “Why not bring this home to the Philippines?†he asked himself. Immediately, Archie wrote to Larry Flax, the founder of CPK, to persuade him that the Philippines is the perfect candidate and location for CPK’s next big expansion. They didn’t get back to him that quickly. Flax later admitted during CPK’s 10th anniversary in the Philippines that this was partly because they didn’t know what the Philippines is. Or where it is, for that matter.
Snubbed but not defeated, Archie continued to send the principals updated proposals every quarter for a few years. Archie’s persistence and patience eventually paid off and CPK opened its first kitchen in the Philippines in 1998.
At almost the same time, Archie had established a local casual dining franchise in the Philippines called Tequila Joe’s with his friends Miguel Zubiri and Jean Henri Lhuillier. (Archie also owned an IT company in the early ’90s.) However, it wasn’t until CPK that Archie truly fell in love. Slowly, Archie made the transition from IT to food (though he didn’t completely abandon the former).
Recipe for success
As a manager, Archie was relentless. The kitchen was worlds away from the hushed cubicles of the IT world, which was why he made it a point to know every inch of CPK’s operation. From waiting on tables to manning the cash register and even washing dishes, Archie trained for two months straight in order to fully understand the hectic rhythm of the kitchens.
It is safe to say that Archie became a master in the art of restaurant management. Proof of such a feat is CPK itself, which recently celebrated its 16th anniversary. Despite his success, however, Archie maintains that bringing in a foreign franchise is never easy. In fact, as Archie candidly admits, CPK Philippines’ success was built only after many failures. Archie recalls the first time he got the bitter taste of defeat.
It was 1998, at the height of the Asian economic crisis. With the success of CPK and Tequila Joe’s in the Philippines, he braved the idea to put up more restaurants. His businesses then ballooned to include 19 restaurants. “We were so foolish,†he admits. “We just went off and started building too many restaurants. It was a hasty decision and we realized that the hard way. From the infrastructure of the company to the staff, we were ill-equipped and unprepared.†The truth was a bitter pill to swallow and the brutal lesson had him closing nine of their restaurants.
In this business, as they say, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Badly burned but resilient, Archie swallowed his pride and focused the next 10 years honing, strengthening and preparing GRCI for the next big expansion. Through it all, Archie humbly remembers, “In order to become successful and do great things, you have to experience some kind of failure or loss. It toughens you up. You’ll learn that it doesn’t matter how many times you fall. You just have to make sure that you get back up.â€
A timely reinvention
Older, wiser and better equipped for growth, Archie and his team at GRCI pursued other foreign food franchises in 2008. The recent years saw an influx of these franchises – starting with P.F. Chang’s in 2012, followed by IHOP (International House of Pancakes), Gyu-Kaku, Mad for Garlic and Morelli’s Gelato, which are all cooking up their own successes in the metro.
But it isn’t the brand names per se that convinced the group to “import†them. It was never about the name, Archie clarifies. “We choose these restaurants based on the emotional experience they stir up,†says Archie. “There has to be an emotional attachment. There has to be love. It’s a matter of falling in love with the brand and wanting to share that experience with our fellow Filipinos.â€
In order to test a brand’s winning potential, Archie usually turns to his brilliant team of food experts — his partners Griffith Go, Manuel Zubiri, Ritchie Santos, Jean Henri Lhuillier, and their respective families. And yes, his wife designer Bea Valdes and his daughters, Sofia (13), Allegra (5) and Emilia (1), have their own valuable inputs. His love affair with the business that started more than 20 years ago has seen its ups and downs, with burns and scars as proof of this ever-growing relationship. But for Archie (whether with computer chips or nacho chips), the bitter pill of defeat is essential in order to fully savor the sweet taste of success.
