MANILA, Philippines ? Running a restaurant isn?t only about designing a menu. At the end of the day, it?s still a business. So the chefs with business savvy outrun those who can only cook. And it?s these business-minded chefs who become the restaurant tycoons.

One such chef/entrepreneur is Florabel Co Yatco. Only 34, she already owns and runs Florabel?s at the Podium; Floring?s Barbecue at Landmark Trinoma, SM Taytay and at South Expressway gas stations; Commons Bar and Resto in Salcedo Village; Cafe Ten Titas at Gateway; Sumosam at the Powerplant in Rockwell; and her latest project, Felix, named after her father, at Greenbelt 5. Whew!

I can?t imagine what a day is like for this kitchen workaholic, but Chef Florabel says it all boils down to having a passion for what you do. ?I don?t have any formal training,? she says at the onset of my interview with her, ?but I have always had a passion for cooking and a passion for food.?

She has also always had an entrepreneurial spirit, she adds. In high school, she would bake cakes and sell these to friends. An aunt taught her how to make chocolate cake and she made a yema filling (?just because I really love yema?) to create a cake that was uniquely Florabel?s. This was a hit among her friends, and to this day it remains a favorite dessert at what is now her own full-blown restaurant, Florabel?s.

In college, although she considered a course in medicine, she opted instead to stick with her first love, the culinary arts. She enrolled for an HRM course at the University of Santo Tomas and was further inspired to pursue her passion when she represented her school and won in cooking competitions. Later, she eagerly apprenticed at Via Mare because this was founded by her idol, Chef Glenda Barretto. ?In those days,? she recalled, ?the big restaurants were Via Mare and Le Souffle. So I really looked up to Glenda Barretto and Jessie Sincioco.?

Later, fate would have her apply and be hired by Le Souffle, which began a nine-year relationship with her most admired resto. ?I worked at Le Souffle for two years then left. But after (a one-year hiaitus), Jessie called and invited me back,? Florabel shares. Sincioco saw the potential of the then-25-year-old chef and took notice of her leadership and dedication to the craft, and so gave her a break.

?Jessie really gave me my break. She made me handle the kitchen even if I was so young. After only six months, there would be days when I would find myself crying. But I really wanted to experience everything so I read up and did my homework. I really learned a lot, not only about cooking but also about (restaurant management), and details like costings.?

Today, with her own slew of restaurants with her name stamped on them, she seeks to distinguish herself from Le Souffle. ?I always make it a point to make (the restaurant) my own,? she says. ?I make the menu a reflection of what I want to eat or what my husband likes to eat.?

Indeed, a quick browse through the menu at Felix will tell you this, as the dishes? names are reflective of the point of origin of either the ingredients or the inspiration for the dish. For example, a suman dessert is named Lipa because it is inspired by the suman sa latik of that city. The lechon kawali appetizer, inspired by the chicharon and lechon of Bulacan, is called San Raphael. A chocolate cake is called Sharon because it reputedly the favorite dessert of the megastar. And the ice cream is called Celeste, inspired by Celeste Legaspi?s song ?Mamang Sorbetero.?

Chef Florabel says it took her only three days to create the Felix menu. What I noticed is that the dishes are not complicated, although definitely creative. The Guangzhou, a Chinese-inspired sandwich, is really just a mini pao stuffed with Chinese ham, cucumber and bean curd. But the bean curd is fried to a crisp and adds a crunch to an otherwise plain pao. The San Raphael is not your ordinary lechon kawali. Its fringes are deep fried so that it?s like chicharon bulaklak. It?s half-kawali, half-chicharon bulaklak; I?ve never seen anything quite like it.

Although at first it seems like the restaurant has no theme, the main courses will show that the cuisine is Asian Continental. The spare ribs, for instance, reminds one of Chinese spare ribs, with the leeks as garnish and the sweet sauce it sits on, but it has a thick slab of foie gras that it wears like a French hat. Of course, this changes the taste of the entire dish because the liver adds a salty dimension, making it a very enjoyable and interesting main course. The dory has sea urchins on top of it, making the fish dish a blend of Japanese and Australian influences.

After Felix, Chef Florabel?s next baby will literally be her own. She has been married eight months and says it is time. For aspiring chefs, her only advice is to enjoy and love what you do. As indeed she clearly does. ?

Felix. Level 1 Greenbelt 5, Ayala Avenue, Makati City. 729-9062 or 496-0725. Open Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 12 midnight; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Wheelchair accessible. Major credit cards accepted.