Ronnabelle Lora

Bangs Garcia shares the story behind her first restaurant venture in London

Article (news)

E. Kristhoff Cagape

Push Team

<p>Bangs Garcia recently shared about her journey into entrepreneurship, marking her first foray into the food industry with a Filipino restaurant based in London called D&#x27;Cocina.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve always envisioned myself being in a food business kasi mahilig akong kumain. I&#x27;m such a foodie,&quot; she said in an interview with Net25.</p><p>The former actress said that relocating to the United Kingdom fueled her desire to pursue a restaurant venture.</p><p>&quot;When I transferred to UK my passion for food business became stronger kasi siguro hindi na ako artista, I am always longing for like a fall back and I didn&#x27;t always wanna depend on my social media gigs. Gusto ko magkaroon ng restaurant talaga. And then, this one is a Filipino restaurant in London,&quot; she said.</p><p>Bangs recalled how she met her eventual restaurant partners while planning a birthday celebration for her daughter.</p><p>&quot;Nakaktuwa kasi nakilala ko sila dahil naghahanap ako ng catering for my eldest daughter&#x27;s birthday nung five years old siya. Wala pa silang restaurant nun tapos na-impress talaga lahat ng bisita ko. They do the decorations as well, &#x27;yung food catering masarap, lahat. At ang pinakaimportante mabait na pamilya sila,&quot; she shared.</p><div><br/></div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-8" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/C4A1cY6M0nh/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=607&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A8%2C%22os%22%3A11224600.900000006%2C%22ls%22%3A184542.40000000596%2C%22le%22%3A184669.80000001192%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="848" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-8" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>After two years, the catering owners reached out to her, this time to promote a restaurant.</p><p>&quot;We kept in touch. After that, two years fast forward, they approached me, they said they need me to help them promote their new restaurant so nag-start ako as influencer for them,&quot; she relayed.</p><p>She noted that while she has worked with other food brands before, this partnership stood out.</p><p>&quot;May iba pa akong prino-promote na restaurants pero sila &#x27;yung nag-stand out sa akin kasi lahat ng passion ko parang pinagsama-sama sa isa kasi they also do events, I love events as well.&quot;</p><p>Bangs eventually decided to invest in D&#x27;Cocina.</p><p>&quot;I chose D&#x27;Cocina kasi my values kind of align with their values. We both want to elevate the Filipino cuisine on a global stage. And then we want to create not just a space for eating but it&#x27;s almost like a cultural hub for food lovers where they can also enjoy the Filipino culture,&quot; she said in an interview with The Filipino Correspondent Network. </p>