The road to a MICHELIN award does not always pass through a famous culinary school. Sometimes, it begins with an overseas job, a stint aboard a ship, and years spent building a career far from home.
That was the journey of Filipino chefs Frances Tariga and Francis Lacson, whose years working abroad eventually brought them back to the Philippines to build restaurants of their own.
Their homecoming received an unexpected distinction at the 2027 MICHELIN Guide ceremony.
Lacson took a less conventional route to the kitchen. A former seafarer, he now runs Digamo in Marikina and received the MICHELIN Young Chef Award.
Tariga spent 23 years working overseas, from Dubai to New York, before returning to lead Tadhana in Makati, which received the Opening of the Year recognition.
For Tariga, the recognition was more than a milestone for her restaurant. It was also a reminder of how far a girl from Sampaloc could go, even if the journey took her halfway around the world.
“Coming from a humble beginning, from Sampaloc, Manila, I would like to say that this is anyone’s game,” she said in her acceptance speech.
Proudly introducing herself as a lesbian Filipino chef, Tariga also used the occasion to encourage young LGBTQIA chefs to claim their place in the industry.
“You have a place in the kitchen, you have an opportunity to deserve all the respect in the world,” she said.
Their stories add a distinctly Filipino dimension to the MICHELIN Guide’s Philippine chapter.
Last year’s inaugural ceremony had its share of delightful surprises, including owners of modest eateries and karinderyas who nearly missed their moment because they did not realize the emails in their inboxes were from MICHELIN.
This year, the stories behind the awards offered another kind of surprise.
Tariga and Lacson represent a familiar Filipino experience. They left home to work, gained experience abroad, and eventually returned to build something of their own. Only this time, the homecoming came with international culinary recognition.
For two former overseas workers, the journey home has turned out to be quite a recipe for success.
