It’s the first Thursday afternoon since Kodawari opened its doors to the public. It’s barely been a week, actually (they went on soft opening just that Sunday), but the lunch crowd keeps the glass door swinging. Inside, tables are populated by a varied bunch: a young family taking their kid for an after-school meal, a group of bank workers in bright lanyards occupying an entire booth, and a woman eating solo in a quiet seat at the back, her designer bag sitting across from her. Once in a while, someone comes in and will know at least three people — a hello and a hug over steaming bowls of gyudon. The narrow walkway is crowded by small tables accommodating diners catching up. In the background, the “Animal Crossing” theme song cuts through the chatter. At one point someone says after bumping into another friend, “This isn’t a restaurant. This is a school cafeteria.”
Familiarity is a big part of the Kodawari brand. It began as a delivery business during the pandemic, offering trays of gyudon that owner Jake Aycardo prepared himself. The commissary expanded and offered three menu items (shroomdon and chashudon were added). By the time Kodawari turned into a brand, Aycardo’s cousin Toni Potenciano joined as a partner and the creative lead. The brand became known for being a creative-forward space just as it was for its food. Instead of presenting itself as Japanese food, Kodawari feels more like food enjoyed through the lens of Japanese culture. It has inspired local artists to make fan art of the dishes. It’s unapologetically weeby in its use of anime memes and tropes on social media, but still welcoming enough to the titas who loved to order it for parties.
‘ ‘100’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:418803f6-a4bd-42e6-957d-f1bf78a4bbd1’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Kodawari’s physical outpost is located at Adamson Centre,
The solid Kodawari fan base made the team, along with their business partner Ryan Serrano, consider the possibility of a physical space. Though they initially planned to do a simpler food hall-type of setup, they settled on a restaurant when they found the Adamson Centre spot on Leviste. The challenge then was to translate its virtual identity into something that fans could recognize but didn’t alienate the majority who may not know of them yet. Judging by the crowds that have steadily come in since they opened, having a lush “Howl’s Moving Castle”-inspired wallpaper in the bathroom is just the right amount of strange for Salcedo Village.
What perhaps is universally appealing to the brand is how it just serves food that evokes a feeling that is both warm and simple. Your protein of choice, a generous serving of rice, and a runny egg. At Kodawari, the food isn’t something you discover, but rather one you recognize; every bite is a memory. At the restaurant, the menu now has steakdon, chickendon, and salmon mentai don besides the original three. There’s a noodle dish called the chilimansi that alludes to a popular instant pancit canton flavor. There are vegetables, small plates, and a three-item dessert menu designed by Baker on East head baker Chino Cruz.
Expanding a modest but beloved menu like Kodawari is a challenge to innovate while remaining recognizable. In conversation with CNN Philippines Life, the restaurant’s three partners walk us through the method and madness behind turning a delivery-only food brand into a fully realized restaurant.
I want to ask about the menu. How did that expand? Where were you coming from?
Jake: We wanted it to be a place for sharing, but kind of counterintuitive kasi dons are for one person. We wanted to have them with things that people could share. Eventually, we wanna have drinks. Actually, during the night a lot of people drink.
Toni: They buy from 7/11 and we have a few bottles [here].
Jake: Masaya, masaya. Especially pag nagkaka-NewJeans-an na. That part of the night. (Laughs)
Toni: You wanna talk about how you developed the recipes? How you expanded from the three.
Jake: There’s a lady kanina saying ‘yung cauliflower was her favorite. And it’s not really Japanese, it’s Vietnamese-inspired. We’re not trying to be authentic Japanese. Wala kaming mga maki, or tempura. We have spicy salmon, though, which is something I didn’t want to put on the menu.
‘102’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:fdc85557-03ee-453a-8f5d-41feecc2da7e’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Cauliflower (fried cauliflower, sesame-patis-lime dressing,
So why did you put it there?
Jake: Pressure from my partners. (Laughs)
Ryan Serrano: For me, my guiding thing on the menu is that everything has to be good. I don’t want anything there na filler, na parang it’s okay, let’s put it. Baka some people will like it. Everything has to be very good for all of us. So parang it’s taste-based more than anything. Spicy salmon is something I personally order everywhere, and si Toni rin. We were begging Jake na come on, let’s do spicy salmon.
Why were you a hater?
Jake: Kasi ‘yun nga, we were trying not to be super traditional or normal.
Toni: And you felt like spicy salmon was too normal?
Jake: Yeah, spicy salmon is the most basic dish.
Ryan: Everywhere else it doesn’t conflict. Yung taste-based and not being authentic Japanese. Pero ‘yung spicy salmon kasi it’s something we really love, and it’s something very cliché. So we were able to force Jake to put it in.
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What were things that you cut out?
Jake: Meron kaming pakô tempura that we couldn’t figure out. It wasn’t good enough to be on the menu. We had a soft shell crab thing, sushi bake. We had salads. Di pa ako satisfied with [the salads] ‘eh. Maybe eventually.
Which menu items do you feel the strongest about?
Jake: There’s a bunch. Personally I like the cauliflower and the baby corn because I feel like at these price points, and just the current state of dining is in Manila, wala masyadong vegetable dishes that you can snack on and [are] yummy like that. The chilimansi is a bit of humor and fun. It’s something everybody has a reference point of. Kasi for me, when it comes to flavor, 50% of that is taste, the rest is context, or you know, your memories of it. How you feel where you are when you’re eating it. That contributes to how you receive a dish.
I remember in the “Kwentong Creatives” podcast with Gio Puyat, you guys were talking about how food tastes best when it’s cooked fresh. Was that part of why the restaurant was an important component in your expansion plan?
Ryan: [The restaurant] was going to be a place where we wanted the food to be tasted fresh. But then we realized down the line that it’s not that big of a difference. And people won’t really travel just to taste it 15 minutes fresher than if they received it via delivery, so doon napunta yung pressure to do other things, to make this a place to go to. It’s not just about being 15 minutes fresher, it became more about coming here to try the other dishes. Kami nila Jake realized that people don’t come here just to try it again, but to try what else we have to offer.
You also worked with Chino Cruz of Baker on East for the desserts. Can you share anything about that?
Toni: Our kitchen isn’t so big, so that already limited what we could actually do with the desserts. So we knew early on that we could only do composed desserts. Which is why they’re all parfaits.
Jake: It was also something that we wanted to do. I like sa desserts kasi texture and temperature. That’s pretty much what we told Chino.
‘ ‘105’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:4fc55d31-0a47-467f-a979-808a4d2d6147’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘The dessert menu consists of three parfaits: The Fuiji Apple
Chino, how did you conceptualize the dessert menu?*
Chino Cruz: I really was given carte blanche but there was also the added idea (and pressure) that we wanted people to come to Kodawari even just for the desserts. The Kodawari team did give me a heads up na Jake liked to keep it classic with desserts in terms of flavors, so it was a bit of a challenge balancing that and my propensity for being a little kooky when developing recipes and wanting the program to really stand out. In the end, I found the sweet spot by trying to reference childhood flavors and sense memories, but giving them just a tiny bit of added color and complexity with fun ingredients like miso, black sesame and saltine crackers. It was very much a thing of using a popular Japanese dessert to communicate something more local without being too obvious about it, I think.
*Separate interview, edited for brevity
How did you come up with the flavors?
Chino: Essentially what you have is a chocolate dessert meant to be something of a crowd pleaser but with a little bit of a sense of humor, a creamier spiced dessert with poached fruit, and something nice and salty with a punch of fruit and color — all of which are up my wheelhouse in terms flavors profile and personality. I really just wanted it to be playful and fun and take cues from Jake’s overall ethos, and I like to think we achieved it.
What are the most popular bowls?
Toni: Gyudon and shroomdon.
Ryan: When [people] try salmon it becomes their new favorite.
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Jake: It’s my least favorite. Maybe chashu is my least favorite then salmon.
Ryan: Those are my Top 2!
I think you’ve talked about this before, how there seems to be a disconnect between your branding and the people who actually support your brand. Like you have tita customers ordering trays, and now you have bankers dining in.
Toni: I feel like if me and Jake had our own way, it would be some dingy hole in the wall that plays obscure music. But Ryan thankfully is our voice of reason. The civilized person. This is what we bring to parties with titas, titos, and lolas. While our brand and we have our creatives also, we’re aware that Kodawari is food that families enjoy. And I don’t know if we’ll ever find a way to mesh the two, the artist thing. But I think it works.
Jake: I think the guiding principles for me at least, in terms of design at least, is if you get the reference you enjoy it. But if you don’t you’re not alienated. So we play video game music, anime music, K-pop. Parang if you get it, it’s a moment of delight. But if not, you’re not offended.
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Ryan: This space is a very creative space, but it isn’t exclusively creative. Ako kasi I’m not involved in anything in the creative industry. I think that was one thing na me being on board [is saying] okay, medyo that alienates the non-creatives already. I feel like that represents the majority of people eh. So I’m that voice telling them na parang, this is still fine. This is too much. So when we were talking about the bathroom. They were very excited about the bathroom. So for me, that’s fine. And it’s not anything alienating. But if you do it a little further, people will get freaked out.
How does it now feel to be open for a week?
Ryan: Well, ako I’m overwhelmed with the acceptance of the people… It feels good to see that they like everything. And it’s not like, ah, sikat ‘to sa Instagram so I’ll go. It’s really about the food. That’s the philosophy behind it naman talaga, which is to make it delicious. I’m happy na people are really happy about that. Of course, it’s a great brand. The creative people go to it to see the artwork. But at the end of the day, it’s driven by the food. And the good service.
What makes Kodawari service good?
Jake: Toni and Athena [Pasiliao] and Petra [Gana]. It’s a fashion show!
Toni: Wala, as in literally none of us have training in F&B. Maybe one day it’ll bite us in the back, but hopefully not soon. We’re all learning lang. I also think about what I want in a restaurant and what I appreciate. I love “Cater 2 U” by Destiny’s Child, and I feel like that’s my energy when I’m here. For me, the way we’re trying to train the staff is if I have a question, I can answer it in the simplest way possible. If you’re in a hurry to eat, who has the time?
Ryan: We don’t have a lot of restaurant experience, but we talked to people who did.
What did they tell you?
Ryan: So one thing a friend told us is service isn’t about pleasing the customer with great greetings or what not. It’s about the speed. You can greet them all you want, but if their food is not there 20 minutes later, it’s not good. So that’s a focus we’ve had from the start na we use stopwatches to do trials. We were timing everything talaga. Nothing gets past 10. We target five to six minutes, your food’s there. And I think that keeps people happy. Although on day one, that was a challenge. But slowly now we’re getting better [at it]. It’s something we’re also proud of.
Jake: Wag mo naman i-promise. (Laughs)