TOP CHEF: RJ UNGCO

NAME: RJ UNGCO

RESTAURANT: Ponzo's (beside St. Alphonsus de Liguouri aka Magallanes Church, Magallanes Village, Makati City)

SPECIALTIES: Italian, Continental, Filipino

TRAINING: Les Roches, Switzerland







I featured Chef RJ at the start of the year in an article on up and coming chefs, alongside Carl Miguel of Mezza Luna and Sonja Ocampo of Sonja's Cupcakes.

"RJ Ungco is the chef of Ponzo's Restaurant by the St. Alphonsus de Ligouri Church in Magallanes Village. Ponzo's is a simple village restaurant with continental cuisine for very reasonable prices. (Best on the menu is the puttanesca. His pizzas are very reasonable at P145 a box.)

RJ's training was at Les Roches School of Hotel Management in Switzerland. Under Swiss-German professors, he learned to be precise, disciplined and patient. They were trained to work 14-hour work days and to always be on time. Upon graduating, he worked as an apprentice at a hotel in Italy where he mastered Italian cooking. Today he applies German discipline to his work, blends this with an Italian passion for flavor, and tops everything with Filipino hospitality, adding a personal touch to his service, delivering orders himself and making sure the customer gets what he wants.

Since coming back to the Philippines, he has done catering for no less than Malacanang, where his Swiss training came in handy as attention to detail was required, research having to be made on every guest's food preferences, allergies, etc. In 2005 he also went to New York on an exchange apprenticeship and handled a team for a high brow benefit dinner for Hurricane Katrina victims. The dinner had a guest list of 160 and RJ's team of five whipped up dinner for 60 guests.

Coming back from the City, a restaurant with a unique concept (which I cannot as yet divulge) is in the works. So just hold your breath…" (Sunday Inquirer Magazine, 7 January 2007)

I happen to eat at Ponzo's a lot because I hear mass at the Magallanes Church and have gotten to I know Chef RJ quite well since they opened the restaurant. He is constatntly experimenting in the kitchen and working to improve his craft. The last time I was there (two Sundays ago), he was working on a telefono recipe that was quite tasty although I suggested the use of Gruyere cheese but for purely selfish purposes (I just want Gruyere on everything).

Of the items on the menu that I have tried, I have been particularly impressed by RJ's squash soup, cheese pizzas (very thin, toasted crust so be warned if you like your dough soft), and chicken steak. He prices his items very reasonably too so it's easy to come back to Ponzo's.

I think RJ is still in his budding years, hitting the right notes but still sticking to the safe side. I'd really to see him experiment a little more with his ingredients and recipes, although I understand that there's really no need to do that for a simple neighborhood restaurant like Ponzo's. I'm hoping that he continues to hone his craft though so that someday, hopefully, he can put up a restaurant where he can really shine as a creative genius in the kitchen, hitting us with awe-inspiring, out-of-this-world creations, instead of just being a damn good cook. I can wait for this too because there's so much time. This chef is only in his twenties.