When Tinette Villanueva, a young and passionate stage director at the University of Asia and the Pacific, met Mico Miciano, there were no sparks nor fireworks shooting up the sky. Tinette was all business, bent on finding the best actors for the play she was directing. Mico, on the other hand, had set his mind on auditioning for a part. “I just thought I’d try out acting just for the heck of it because I was more into sports.” he says. “But later, on he admitted that he auditioned just for fun,” Tinette adds. From then on, the two hit it off, entered into a relationship much more intimate than that of a director and an actor, and in 2008, got married. A year later, their first baby was born. 

 

The facade to their law-office-turned-restaurant.

A Plateful of Passion

Twenty One Plates, Tinette and Mico’s other “baby” is a fusion restaurant that is gaining considerable and consistent buzz in the BF Homes, Paranaque neighborhood, spicing up the dining experiences of friends and loyal customers residing at the south of the metro. Starting a food business together was ironic for a couple who had culinary “differences” when they were still dating. “I don’t really remember a first 'real' date. But I do remember him giving me an apple, cheese and veggie sandwich he made. That was sweet,“ Tinette remembers. And on their succeeding dates, Mico brought Tinette to an Italian fastfood he thought she’d love. “Apparently, only after five years of being together did she tell me that she isn’t a fan. I used to suggest it at every opportunity I could before that!”

 

Tinette, though involved with the arts at that time, always wanted to have a restaurant but didn’t think it was possible. “I was a happy home cook and before this, I was an arts manager and a stage director.” But with the help of her husband Mico, the couple was able to put up Twenty One Plates in less than two months and with very little professional help at that. With a roster of twenty-one dishes in the menu, (hence the name) a unique concept and undeniably good food, their business bloomed.

 

“I call them ‘Life is Beautiful’ dishes. They're uncomfortably comforting to eat,” Tinette says. “It is ‘mental and emotional food’, combining memories from one’s own eating experiences and then being surprised because what you just tasted is nothing like it.” True enough, the surprisingly appetizing entrees, including the restaurant favorite Kimchi Rolls, quickly became a crowd favorite. Other yummy specialties include the Indonesian Fried Chicken, Korean Beef Stew, Kaldereta, and Spicy Sweet Potato Noodles with Prawn and Tofu, all of which were Tinette’s original creations. 

Although Tinette admitted to not having any formal cooking training, she explains that she was schooled in good taste. “I ate a lot of good food growing up and they (my family) took me to good restaurants. So yes, I have always loved food and I grew up believing that good food is made with a lot of love and less shortcuts.”

 

 

 

A Sprinkle of Sacrifice

For the Micianos, making the dream a reality wasn’t as easy as getting food from a vendo machine. Setting up the restaurant was a tedious task that required a lot of patience and sacrifice. Tinette further explains, “I was attached to my former job and quitting became difficult. But when I really resigned in 2007, I didn’t have plans of putting the resto up so quickly. But I did.”

 
After quitting, Tinette focused on managing and cooking for Twenty One Plates, and Mico handled the marketing side of things while keeping a day job. The months that followed proved difficult as they both had to nurture their “baby” every single day. They had to miss out on a lot of movies and weddings during their first year as a married couple as the two hardly took a break from taking care of the business. 

But are all the sacrifices worth it? “I gambled in the food business because I wanted to cook and then make money. Most business-minded people will say that’s wrong. Businesses have to make money”. Tinette believed in the integrity of serving good food and couldn’t imagine compromising ingredients for profit. But while Tinette is the heart of Twenty One Plates, Mico, who is the reason, never forgets that no matter how much his wife likes to cook for people, it still is a business. “Food is her passion but sometimes she gets too carried away with the food that she forgets she’s running a business. She’s too kind and too generous. Portions at the resto will attest to that,”  Mico says.

 
Everything is smooth sailing right now, and they have already gone through the rough patches of the budding business. In fact, a second branch of Twenty One Plates in Makati is in the works. “He’s supportive but at the same time he challenges me a lot. He has seen me at my best and constantly reminds me to stay on track,” Tinette says of his husband. “And most of all, he plays with the kids actively, changes diapers, holds them to sleep, and even sings to them if he has to.”

 
“She’s driven, she listens, she adapts.” Obviously, Mico had no lesser words to say about her wife. “I had to let Tinette run her own show really. I had to support her. Twenty One Plates was her dream.” Mico says. “This is her dream come true”

“We’re still a good team” Tinette adds. Obviously, that goes for both the business and them as parents.

 

Twenty One Plates is located at 205 Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Paranaque (across Miracle Spa, beside Winners Bracket and Chi’s Brick Oven). Tel. nos.: 8257348, 09178922156, 09175743061.

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