Warm Up Your Holidays with Comforting Home-Cooked Meals

The holidays are a special time for family and friends to gather, reflect on the past year, and look forward to the future. Planning ahead can help you enjoy the festivities without the stress of last-minute preparations.

Perfectly cooked fluffy riced with generous chunks of vegetables, meat, and seafood makes Chef Lolit's famous paella the highlight of any gathering

Food is always the highlight of any gathering, which everyone looks forward to. Save time in food preparations and celebrate the holidays with delicious, hearty comfort meals, lovingly prepared by 12F Kitchen. From packed meals, party platters, and desserts, Chef Lolit Tolosa and her team have you covered.

A love for cooking

At a time filled with uncertainty, Chef Lolit started making comfort food in her apartment on the 12th floor of her condominium building. From baked treats like fudgy brownies to hearty dishes like beef salpicao, she was able to make a challenging situation more bearable through her creativity in the kitchen. As she delighted her family with delicious home cooked meals, Chef Lolit Tolosa was encouraged to start offering her specialties like gambas al ajillo, Iberian chicken, and of course, her famous beef salpicao, to friends, relatives, and eventually the public through online orders. 

As everyone was quarantined at home, Chef Lolit’s sharing trays and packed meals gave her customers a sense of normalcy as they are able to continue enjoying delicious food conveniently and affordably and share it with their loved ones. 

Chef Lolot Tolosa and Che Manalang, 12F Kitchen Partners

Once life went back to “normal”, Chef Lolit briefly had a stint manning the kitchen of a local hotel, but the call to be an entrepreneur was too strong for her to resist and eventually decided to focus all her attention on growing 12F Kitchen, this time partnering with fellow foodie and entrepreneur, and coincidentally, former hotelier and cabin crew, Che Manalang, who works on marketing 12F Kitchen.

“I really love cooking, nothing gives me more joy than being able to make people happy through my food. My friends and family really encouraged me to take my chances and open my own restaurant. After years in the hospitality industry, even before the pandemic, my experience crafting different dishes enabled me to come up with my own recipes for popular comfort food dishes. This is why you’ll see a wide range of menu items. We’re not just catering to those who like Asian dishes, there’s also a good variety of Western dishes in our restaurant, that I personally prepare with my lovely staff.” said Chef Lolit . 

Sharing the joy of 12F

Admittedly, while she’s the queen of the kitchen, Chef Lolit needed a hand in being able to get the good word out about 12F Kitchen. Initially she relied on good word of mouth from her relatives, friends, and customers who posted about her food on social media, but as she set her sights on really growing her business, Chef Lolit tapped Che to help her come up with effective marketing strategies. 

Beef Salpicao, Crispy Pork Belly, Bolognese Linguine Pasta, Burnt Cheesecake

“The first time I tried Chef Lolit dishes, especially the paella, which was so flavorful with perfectly cooked rice and tender chunks of meat and vegetables, the pumpkin bisque, which is very creamy and tasty, and her take on burnt cheesecake, which is truly decadent, it was an easy choice for me to join her and the rest of the team at 12F Kitchen. As I’ve been an entrepreneur myself, even during my time working in the hospitality and aviation industries, I have a good understanding of what people like. From being an online business, we opened our very own restaurant in Makati, so we can also serve the busy office crowd and the local residents whether they prefer to dine in or to have their food delivered. That’s not to say that we only cater to those in the Makati area, of course our kitchen is also open for pick up orders and deliveries. Thus, our menu has options for solo orders as well as party platters for big groups.” said Che. 

Indulge in festive favorites

For the upcoming holiday celebrations, Chef Lolit and Che invites everyone to try 12F Kitchen’s variety of party trays and platters that make it easier for them to enjoy their home or office get togethers. For soups and starters, 12F Kitchen offers molo, pumpkin bisque, gambas, and nachos, which, according to Chef Lolit are all very straightforward as she prefers to stick to traditional recipes but what makes 12F Kitchen’s version is its hearty, home cooked take on these popular dishes. For pasta options, they offer creamy carbonara and bolognese linguine pasta, and for house specialties, there’s beef salpicao, crispy pork belly, and Iberian chicken. Customers should not miss 12F Kitchen’s selection of desserts, burnt cheesecake brownie, and polvoron to make their celebrations, not just this holiday season, sweeter. 

To know more about Kitchen 12F, you may follow @12FKitchen on Facebook and Instagram. You may also visit them at D’Arcade Food Park, GF Unit 05, 7433 Yakal Street, Barangay San Antonio, Makati City, Makati, Philippines or send them an email through 12fkitchen@gmail.com for inquiries and orders.