Lockdown measures, partial or draconian, have changed the way people access their food. Like many entrepreneurs in the restaurant industry, Rina Go reconnected with consumers through an array of curated food boxes to-go and frozen and convenience food in groceries.

For so long, Go centered on supplying chain restaurants and running Nic’s, a snazzy bistro named after her eldest, Nicole Thorp, located at Park Terraces in Makati. Since the pandemic, she developed Nic’s Gourmet Boxes that travel nicely and offer a sense of indulgence.

The breakfast box is Filipino traditional fare wherein the customer chooses from sirloin tapa, crispy adobo flakes, naked longganisa or pork tocino, that go with fried rice with sunny-side up egg, and bonuses of a green salad, a choice of house-blend iced tea or café latte, and a cinnamon roll.

Then again, there are other options for pastries, breads and egg sandwiches. The most popular, the Classic Fare, is a choice of one meat—baby back ribs, roast Angus salpicao, tenderloin with béarnaise steak; a selection of salmon crunch or salmon salpicao, complemented by pasta; Cobb salad with chicken, egg and caramelized walnuts; rice or mashed potatoes; Nic’s dessert bars and the homemade iced tea.

Go cites that food boxes have the edge in value for money because she throws in Nic’s famous desserts, such as the yema cake (chiffon with custard) and tarty iced tea.

All through the COVID waves, benefactors would order hundreds of Gourmet Boxes to boost the morale of the emergency room front-liners of St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City and in Quezon City. The weary doctors and nurses feasted on a selection of meat-, beef-, chicken- and seafood-themed boxes, depending on the delivery days. Go says they found comfort in chicken or beef with rice, aside from the additional pasta.

Gourmet milkfish

The pandemic likewise spurred other opportunities. At a recent on-site wake, curated food boxes were safer options for visitors than the classic buffet. When a politician would hold an emergency meeting or an affluent client would receive guests, Nic’s would take a few dozen orders for customized party platters or Gourmet Boxes.“The food platters make it convenient for those who do not want to spend time preparing for gatherings,” says Go.

During first lockdown, residents of Park Terraces were grateful for Nic’s’ takeout menu and ready-to-heat gourmet meals.

“There are people who don’t cook and needed an alternative. The restaurants inside the malls were closed and some were afraid to go the grocery. The residents ordered everything—pasta, pizza and sandwiches,” she says.

Nic’s convenience food that are sold in groceries have undergone rigorous testing by the Food and Drug Administration. During the pandemic, Go developed pasta sauces—pomodoro, pesto, red clam sauce and seafood marinara—and frozen food.

“I wanted to offer a sophisticated version of what’s out there,” says the restaurateur.

She cites the smoked milkfish with mushrooms and capers in a jar as Nic’s counterpart to the humble tinapa.

“You can make it into a pasta sauce,” she adds.

While other brands promote affordable kaldereta with more extenders, Nic’s won the hearts of customers with its ready-to-heat stew of rich tomato sauce and braised Angus, worth P500 for 400 grams.

Some of Nic’s frozen food were developed out of necessity.

“We were gifted with Angus beef, but it was very tough. I chopped up the Angus beef into cubes and fitted it into our family salpicao recipe,” says Go.

The salmon crunch, crisp with herbed panko bread crumbs, was a ploy to wean her daughter from another restaurant that served the latter’s favorite sizzling salmon. The salmon crunch has since been one of Nic’s bestsellers.

“Customers requested Asian flavors in our frozen food, thus the chicken teriyaki, honey-glazed chicken barbecue and red chicken curry. We received messages saying they are happy that we have food packs at Landers in Alabang. Someone sent a photo of an empty jar of our pimiento. Another asked if I could make a frozen vongole sauce since her mother would make pasta vongole,” says Go.

Moist roast turkey

Meanwhile, Nic’s maintains its following for its classic family recipes such as the beef and fowl that are centerpieces in party tables. The tender roast beef Angus, suffused with red wine and olives, has seen increased sales. The popular roast chicken is given a Mediterranean flavor with a rub of rosemary and zesty garlic.

Go reveals that a solon gifted Nic’s signature roast turkey to a billionaire because of its moistness.

“Our café is frequented for our Blue Cheese Pizza (Go studied in New York to make the perfect thin crust), Chicken Parmigiana, Steak Frites, Salmon Crunch,” she adds. Customers drool over her mother’s Caesar salad and her late sister’s Walnut Peach Pie and the Queso de Bola Apple Pie.

These blessings compensated for the disruptions that Go experienced at the start of the pandemic.

“Our core competency has always been supplying restaurant chains with pastries, bread and ready-to-serve food. Our clients, who were situated in malls and areas near hospitals and schools, were shut down for a long time. The biggest nightmare was the rotation of staff, which meant fewer work hours for them. They had to feed their families with lower salaries,” says Go.

Nic’s second branch at UP Town Center folded up, since its main market was the student community.

Go’s business pivoted to groceries such as Landers, Unimart, Makati Supermarket, Royal Duty Free, offering breads, pastries, frozen gourmet and Filipino meals, spreads and sauces. It ventured into the online websites of Pacific Bay and Coop and on all the popular delivery apps.

“I’m holding on because I want to help as many people as possible,” says Go.

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Nic’s is at G/F, Park Terraces Tower 1, Palm Drive, Makati City; tel. 0999-9933231 or 7744-NICS; nics.com.ph