Karla Mendoza: On Top of the Culinary World

Chef Karla Mendoza with Azuthai's Malu Gamboa

Loving today's Sunday Inquirer Magazine. I do hope you were able to get a copy. It features personalities who are at the top of their game, with Susan Rocas on the cover (still acting after 60 years in the business!). It also features guitarist Edgar Avenir, guitarist; boxer Nonito Donaire Jr; and writer Ed Marcelo. I featured Karla Mendoza, executive chef of Mario Batali's Pizzeria Mozza in Singapore.

 The Chef's A She!

Burrata Pizza

She looked tired. But not harassed. At 10 pm she was still pulled together and managed to walk over to our table and flash a genuine, charming smile. "How's everything?" she asked, her eyes albeit behind glasses obviously inspecting our orders. Azuthai's Malu Gamboa, my date for the evening (how lucky am I?), exclaimed, "Mmmmm!!! So good!!! We love the burrata pizza." After sharing that indeed the burrata had become a favorite of restaurant patrons, the chef excused herself to go back into the kitchen to continue working.

Over our second pizza, we had another chance to chat. Whence we learned that this chef had 18 hour work days (or was it 20?), does not go out for drinks after work ("it's a personal policy") even after much cajoling from Malu, and had to open the restaurant in record-breaking time of less than two months.

The superwoman is Karla Mendoza. She is the Executive Chef of Pizzeria Mozza at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. She is the ONLY female chef in the entire Marina Bay Sands. And she is one of the rare few if not the only female executive chef in the entire country of Singapore. She is a Filipina.

Like most Pinay chefs, she learned to cook from her grandmother. "The love for cooking I discovered at around age 9, watching my maternal grandmother cook for everyone on a Sunday lunch. Everyone was about 40 people – my mom’s siblings, spouses, and all my cousins. She went to market everyday in a jeepney along with the helper so that they could plan the day’s meals. I would go with her everytime I spent the night or weekend with her," Mendoza shared in a subsequent interview. Like other lola-cooks of that generation, Mendoza's grandmother, Pilar Marco, ouidoed everything: "She would whip up dishes like no one could. Nothing from a cookbook, all from feel or inspiration. And all from what she could find at the market that given day. Of course, during the holidays she would out-do herself by making the most elaborate feasts. And I would help her."

Roasted Bone Marrow (bulalo!)

Although she graduated from the Ateneo with a degree not culinary, her destiny soon found her. Right after graduation, she moved to the United States and committed herself to the kitchen. It probably helps that she has found quite the inspiring boss and mentor in Mario Batali. "He is very energetic, full of ideas, and is larger than life. He is so very inspiring and simple in his requirements for all of us who are his Executive Chefs. Make good food, have fun while you are doing it. But, he also knows what he wants and is not afraid to let us know that. I love working for him – would not have it any other way at this moment," she shares.

Batali's Balls hehe

But it was another female that led Mendoza to Singapore. A lady named Nancy Silverton. Silverton is no ordinary Nancy. She is quite the cooking legend in her own right in the United States, a chef and cookbook author who has won no less than a James Beard Foundation award for Best Pastry Chef of the Year (1990). She was Mendoza's boss in Los Angeles at a restaurant named Campanile. When Silverton sold her shares in Campanile and partnered with Mario Batali to open two restaurants on the corner of Highland and Melrose, Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza, Mendoza went with her. Soon Pizzeria Mozza became famous for its artisan-style pizzas. When Batali decided to open in Singapore, Mendoza was tasked to open Pizzeria Mozza with and for him.

It wasn't easy. "When we opened, I was 20 pounds heavier and my hair was a lot more black. Now I’m grey…" Mendoza confessed. But the hard work has paid off. The reviews have been raving and it is now a challenge just to get a reservation. No less than Restaurant Magazine, which ranks the world's 50 best restaurants, describes this latest Batali venture this way: "On the opposite side of the restaurant is a more casual setup of Pizzeria Mozza. Here the menu is based on Batali’s culinary adventures in New York, Bologna, and the entire Italian boot. Widely imaginative and in touch with traditional roots, it features artisanal salumi and handmade pasta along with seafood and meat dishes conceived by Mario... This energetic and lively section of the restaurant will see chefs at work as they prepare fresh pizzas from two wood burning pizza ovens." (http://www.theworlds50best.com/regional-spotlights/singapore/osteria-mozza-and-pizzeria-mozza)

Pinoy and Pinay servers FTW!

But the challenges continue day to day. "In the States, if I needed vegetables, I would call the purveyor and it would be at the restaurant by the end of the day. Here, I have to order certain things a week in advance. It is very difficult to get all the things I need for one dish all at the same time. It takes a lot of coordination....Hiring was a challenge, and it still is…The work ethic is very different here in Asia than in the US and that takes a lot of getting used to. There are still lots of sleepless nights, but that really comes with every restaurant of this caliber, I guess," Mendoza shared.

Nevertheless, the payoff is great and comes on a daily basis, with the reaction of the restaurant's customers: "At the Pizzeria, since we have an open kitchen, you get to see the instant satisfaction (or hatred) the guests have for their food. The guests are always eager to ask for cooking tips since I am right there in front of them."  And the icing on the cake? Sometimes culinary royalty give you their nod of approval. "The most memorable story so far is my shock when Thomas Keller wlaked in to the restaurant without a reservation. I recognized him, my eyes went big, and I started to palpitate. He ordered off the menu, asked to talk to me, and I think I almost passed out!"

Her success comes from a strict work ethic and passionate commitment to her chosen industry. "Always cook with the your heart. I learned that from Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali. If it is just a paycheck for you, you are in the wrong business (there is no paycheck here). It has to be done out of passion and the love for long hours, repetition, physical, emotional, mental pain, and working hardest when everyone else is on holiday," Mendoza advises aspiring chefs. 

 
This is truly one Pinay who does this country proud!

Chianti to match

Pizzeria Mozza. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (across theater). Lunch 12 to 2 p.m. Dinner 5 to 11 p.m. Tel. +65 6688 8522. Reservations highly recommended. Casual.