Cover Tuny Resto Farm - Long table
Tuny Resto Farm - Long table
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How Emely Mendoza and her husband, Anthony Mendoza (Kanin Club) turned their weekend getaway into a dining destination
Somewhere in the lush fields of Silang, Cavite, Emely Mendoza and her husband, chef Jose Anthony Mendoza created their dream getaway—a private space for the couple to rest and unwind away from the city. “It was Anthony’s happy place and passion project,” Emely shares, “where he cooked for family and friends and dabbled in crafts including oven and furniture-making.”
The sprawling plot of land, originally a pineapple plantation, was acquired by the Mendozas in 2008. Then, the ever-resourceful handyman got to work. “Anthony designed, landscaped, and built on the property from scratch, with the help of our farm hands,” explains Emely. The charming, eclectic structure is largely comprised of reclaimed and repurposed materials like an old bowling lane, which now serves as their main banquet table. It didn’t take long for the Mendozas’ home away from home to become the default setting for birthdays and Christmas parties with their nearest and dearest—“sometimes complete with a band set-up,” she adds.
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Suddenly, amidst the chaos and mayhem of 2020, an opportunity presented itself. “During the pandemic, friends prodded us to open the place to the public, as it was exactly what people were looking for at that time: an al fresco dining space,” Emely recalls, revealing that she and her husband had actually toyed with the idea in the past. “It helped that we co-owned restaurants for which Anthony made the menu—if dishes like crispy dinuguan, sinangag na sinigang, or turon halo-halo sound familiar, Kanin Club was the restaurant that popularised those,” quips Emely. “There was a conscious effort, though, to make the menu entirely different—so, no, you cannot order crispy dinuguan here.”
Finally, in 2021, the entrepreneurial couple opened their country home to the public under the name Tuny Resto Farm (stylised Tuny RestoFarm), referencing Anthony’s nickname, Tuny. “We spelt it as it is pronounced, hence the U instead of the O,” says Emely. This quirky feature is just one of many personal touches that colour the Tuny experience—to this day, it is chef Tuny manning the grill, crafting their homemade bacon and sausages, and chatting with guests about how it all came to be.
As the space evolved from a destination restaurant to a full-fledged event venue and even a bed and breakfast, the Mendozas have remained faithful to what the space is all about: a haven for recharging and reconnecting with your loved ones over delicious food. Keep reading to hear from Emely Mendoza about their unexpected return to F&B:
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A wedding at Tuny Resto Farm
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How has the restaurant evolved over the years?
In our first few months, people already started asking us to host weddings, and this gave a very nice twist to our operations. What started as an al-fresco dining place turned out to be suitable for wedding ceremonies and receptions. In addition, we were also able to re-purpose our weekend cottages for use by the brides and grooms who wed in our venue.
After three years of hosting weddings, we now have apos (grandchildren) from the couples who were wed at Tuny’s. Plans are also underway for a pavilion that can hold bigger (up to 150 pax) receptions.
On a personal level, we realised that we enjoy hosting events. We’ve had company parties, team buildings, reunions, themed kiddie birthday parties, renewal of vows, and of course, wedding ceremonies and receptions on our grounds. There was even a time when we sold tickets to an American-style barbecue, complete with wine and a performing band. It has evolved to be a quiet, fun place for family and barkada alike, whether for lunches on weekends or an event space on weekdays.
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Who runs the kitchen and who runs the restaurant business?
Even now, Anthony remains hands-on with Tuny’s cooking and kitchen operations. You will still see him grilling chicken inasal, pork barbecue or rib-eye steaks outside his main kitchen. He still personally makes Tuny’s farm-smoked bacon and two types of farm sausages (Italian and Spanish chorizo). He never tires of answering questions from guests on how the farm came about and where he got all the wood he used for the dining hall. He would tell guests that our ceiling used to be the floor of an elementary school in Caloocan, or that our long table used to be a duckpin bowling lane from Cagayan, or that our lighting insulators were a 1950s-old find from an eBay seller from Iowa. He eventually ends up being friends with some guests, especially those with whom he shares a common interest.
I, on the other hand, oversee booking, dining operations, and events management—the latter of which came naturally, having come from an advertising background. I honestly have no training at all on the first two tasks but we managed, again, owing to our Kanin Club exposure. We get along just fine with social media management but it remains to be our weak spot as Anthony and I are old-school advertisers, haha. We still believe in word-of-mouth endorsements by people who have tasted our food and experienced our place, which is what brought many guests to our doorstep. Our social media following remains organically grown.
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Tell us about your chef.
Anthony, or the eponymous Tuny is our main guy. He concocted the menu of Gabino’s (his first food business of rice toppings in Chinese take-out boxes), Kanin Club, and now, Tuny’s.
While Anthony popularised “lutong puñeta” among our friends (referring to dishes with no names but whose ingredients come from whatever is available in our fridge or pantry), he is a purist and is not a believer of anything fusion when it comes to his restaurant cooking. He will twist textures and add unexpected ingredients to his recipes, but you are sure to know exactly what dish you are having as soon as it lands on your tongue.
Anthony, just like his 11 other siblings, was schooled in his mother’s kitchen. His mother, who is a dentist by profession, also dabbled in the restaurant business. She learned to cook from her mother-in-law, Anthony’s paternal grandmother. So Anthony actually never went to culinary school—his taste buds and kitchen skills were honed by observing and practising with the women in their household. In the end, even after going to a few years of dental school, he actually chose to be in the restaurant business rather than become a dentist like his parents and other siblings.
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Above Tuny’s ensaymada
Above Tuny’s tractor
Tuny’s ensaymada
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What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned in the business?
So far, resiliency has helped us sharpen our entrepreneurial compass. It has proven to be our best guide for what we should get into next. We do not expect to go into anything remotely different from what we are doing now (as restaurateurs) but also, we will not allow anything (not even our ripe old age) to stop us from starting something, especially if it presents an opportunity to grow.
What is a challenge you didn’t expect to face and how did it impact you?
Managing our social media presence has been our biggest challenge. With my advertising background, I’m amazed at how the media landscape has changed the way people “buy into” a product or service. My advertising and marketing background has been rendered almost obsolete by internet marketing.
What do you think makes your restaurant unique?
Our location and aesthetic will always be what makes Tuny unique. Never have we encountered a customer who was not “wow-ed” by the rustic charm of our place. Most can’t help but be curious about where all our stuff came from, who put it together, or who thought of doing things the way it’s been done. Even the short 50-metre unpaved narrow road leading to our gate is a blessing because people get to see the tractor greet them at the entrance to our parking.
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Tuny’s main dining space
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Talk to us about some of the unique furniture and interiors of the restaurant and how you’ve repurposed intriguing materials for the space.
The Tractor: Anthony and I used to regularly bike the Silang trails. The tractor, a 1950 International Harvester, has long been an attraction for Anthony who would often pass by it parked at “Upak” trail in Barangay Carmen. One time, while on our bikes, we decided to ask around for the owner of the tractor. Anthony then went back to strike a deal with him to relocate the non-operational tractor to its current location at Tuny RestoFarm. Too many group photos have been taken at Tuny’s with that tractor in the background. It has become part of Tuny’s iconography.
The dining hall floor: Anthony is a believer in buying old wood, even before he knows where he will use or need it. He has reliable wood and antique items suppliers, both of which are into buying old buildings or houses for dismantling and then reselling. The wooden floor of Tuny’s is made from his wood collection bought during the early years of our farm lot. It is made from dungon or ironwood, a rare one.
The ceiling: This is Anthony thinking outside the box, or in this case, thinking upside down. Once the flooring of an elementary school in Caloocan, the tongue and groove wood panelling now hangs upside down from the ceiling of the main dining area of Tuny’s.
The long table: Anthony’s creative brain got to work once more on this one. The table which witnessed most wedding banquets at Tuny’s was once a bowling lane in Cagayan.
The parilla: Anthony was once challenged by an Argentinian friend to build a parilla in his backyard. Those observant will notice that the leveller uses mountain bike parts (his old gears and pedal actually), revealing his love for biking and cooking at the same time.
Our beloved Ifugao hut: This originally came from the Mountain Province and was put together piece by piece, without the use of nails, by Ifugaos. It now serves as one of the three air-conditioned huts that we offer at Tuny’s Bed & Breakfast. We fittingly call it Batad Hut (the other two being the Sagada cabin and the Bontoc hut).
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Above Tuny’s laksa
Above Tuny’s bandejado
Tuny’s laksa
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What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Our best teacher has, and will always be, experience. Travelling (and tasting) has taught us so much. Not only did it make our palates richer, it also imbued in us a level of inclusiveness when it comes to relating with people.
What is your favourite part of the job?
We like and enjoy planning and putting together events. We also like that, in the process of doing so, we most often become part of our clients’ happy memories.
What advice would you give your younger self when starting out in the industry?
Giving a part of one’s self has always been a good practice when starting something new. It adds a spark to a new venture and makes it unique in the eyes of the customers.
About
Lauren’s love for food came much later in life than one would expect— an obsession awakened in the streets of Melbourne’s multicultural dining scene. Armed with this newfound passion, she returned to the Philippines determined to discover the best eats in her home country, with a personal advocacy to champion local cuisines and homegrown talent. Nothing is off-limits; if it’s delicious, it’s worth celebrating.
Work
As Tatler Dining associate editor, Lauren covers all things food and drink, from listing the latest openings in our monthly Dining Radar to interviewing chefs and bartenders about the biggest obstacles crippling the industry today. Beyond the digital space, she also organises Tatler Dining’s tentpole events, including Off Menu and Tatler Dining Kitchen, as well as the annual Tatler Best Philippines awards night and guide launch, detailing the best restaurants in the country.
For leads and event invites, contact her via lauren@tatlerphilippines.com or follow her on Instagram at @laurengolangco.
Photo: Ralph Mendo
