Mijo is a play on Filipino nostalgia, says chef, adding that he likes to use Chinese and Spanish ingredients as well, since those two cultures are heavily intertwined with the Philippine’s history and his own personal experiences. “My Mama Lita (my grandmother from my mom’s side) has a lot of Filipino-Chinese influence in her food, and my Lola Nena (from my dad’s side) has a lot of Filipino-Spanish influence in hers,” Enrique explains. The restaurant’s approach to creating meals is proof of how food is inextricably linked to memories and emotions. Each of us attributes flavours to moments in our lives. 

“I always had a fascination with food growing up, I always found myself eating the most and wanting to try different and new food. I secretly wanted to be a chef, so when the culinary boom hit, I was in.” Chef Enrique also confirms how food can totally captivate you, as it did him. “Mijo is about sharing stories and laughs over a table of food and drinks” Enrique shares, underlining how his ultimate goal is to provide his diners with food to fuel an experience."

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Who is Enrique Moreno? He is a foodie at heart and a professional chef who graduated from St Benilde. He has worked in restaurants for over a decade and has dabbled in F&B consultancy after having taught at his alma matter. 

When asked to explain comfort food from his perspective, Enrique says: “I think it’s food that brings you back somewhere. Whether it’s a memory or it just makes you feel good. To me, it’s a family meal prepared with love and a lot of sharing dishes.” Sharing. Something that’s been taken off the proverbial dining table for us all this 2020.

Chef agrees that the times have put him through the wringer but adapting and moving forward was the only way to go. “We’ve been doing deliveries and takeouts for the past couple of months. We’ve recently re-opened our doors again for dinner dine-in on the weekends, Fridays to Sundays from 5pm-9pm. We continue to do deliveries from Thursdays-Sundays” he elaborates. 

For take-away, they have had to change their menu to something that is delivery-friendly. From pasta kits and read-to-cook options, I asked the chef what he had to keep in mind when thinking delivery first: “We tried to think about the client first. Some prefer to do a bit of cooking, while some just want to eat. So we came up with Mijo@home (aside from our regular takeout and delivery menu) where we sell our frozen meats and some charcuterie that we make. (We have our bacon, guanciale, chorizo and more!).”  

In terms of dine-in, you’ll be happy to hear that Mijo does open-air dining, as they have a floor to ceiling sliding door that they leave open to increase ventilation. If you’d like to hangout post-meal, maybe for a drink you can head to the rooftop which used to be named Church and is now simply called: Mijo Roofbar.

Visit their Instagram here. 

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