Mira Angeles is marking her 10th year as a chef this 2016, and she has just opened her very own restaurant Spell Kitchen. While it may seem like the latter was inspired by the aforementioned milestone, the truth is everything was happenstance – in the same way that many of the opportunities in her life came to be with the perfect combination of luck and timing, coupled with hard work and passion.
She had been expected to become a doctor. “My three older sisters are all doctors – a pediatrician, a dentist, and an OB. My grandfather was encouraging me to be an ophthalmologist or an optometrist, but, since I loved to cook, I wanted to take up Hotel & Restaurant Management in college,” she said.
However, during those times, professional kitchens were a man’s world, and Mira’s grandfather denied her wish. With her skill in drawing and eye for design, she ended up studying Fine Arts at the School of the Holy Spirit, later transferring to the University of the Philippines Diliman where she shifted to Visual Communication. Changing schools set her back by a few years, but the delay will prove to be a blessing. She would realize this as she entered the world of new media, as part of the pioneering batch that would maneuver its way into the burgeoning technology.
“The common career path for artists then was advertising or publishing. Had I finished school earlier, I would’ve gone the same route because new media wasn’t available yet then,” Mira said. “But I ended up working for ABS-CBN Interactive, and funnily, that was where I’d meet the key people who would lead me back to my love for cooking.”
Taking a detour
It wasn’t going to be an easy journey though, especially since their family was having financial troubles that time. Mira still remembers having to walk to ABS-CBN when she was still applying because she had no money even for public transportation. She also couldn’t join her new officemates in having lunch at the cafeteria, and had to settle for her baon of cheap burger patties from the supermarket.
But things would soon start to turn in her favor. As a graphics artist for ABS-CBN Interactive, she found fulfillment handling big projects like developing pinoycentral.com and abs-cbn.com, and developing a CD on the Galleon Trade for the Ayala Museum.
She later became a producer for Pinoycentral’s Dining, Nightlife, and Events sections. The job was where she developed the skills of managing. “When I became a producer, I not only enjoyed the work, but I also saw my potential to fix things and manage people,” she said.
This is also where she would meet Food Magazine’s Micky Fenix, who would be instrumental in helping her rekindle her love for food. “Micky would let me tag along to events and I got to meet women chefs like Jessie Sincioco, Penk Ching and Myrna Segismundo. It was such an eye-opening experience – it made me realize that I could still pursue cooking,” she said. “Upon Micky’s and Chef Myrna’s prodding, I enrolled in a short course at the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management.”
After finishing the course, Mira resigned from ABS-CBN and was set to start training with Chef Myrna at Restaurant 9501. She and her youngest sibling Manny were also going to open a steak restaurant called Cow King. All was set for her debut in the kitchen.
However, her brother Manny was diagnosed with cancer.
A test of faith
Mira put her training on hold to care for Manny. While plans to open Cow King pushed through, she was a little frustrated being stuck with steaks, unable to be creative in the kitchen.
“To sustain my craft, my friend Clorets Hipolito and I opened a web design studio. It did okay. We were actually the web design team of TV5 when it launched. But still, I was bent on finding my place in the food industry,” she said. “On the side, I also made dips. My sisters would sell them to fellow doctors at St. Luke’s Medical Center, and, through word-of-mouth, my products started to have a following.”
An opportunity to get back into the kitchen came when a former colleague from ABS-CBN tapped her to help with the restaurant he was opening. The restaurant was Banapple, and Mira would stay on for many years handling operations. On the side, she would also assist Chef Myrna in marketing her TV show and food events.
Also, on a more personal victory, her brother Manny was cured of cancer.
Happy as Mira was, she found herself nurturing new dreams. “I had dreams of writing for the new foodie magazine called Yummy, I wanted to teach cooking classes, and of course, I wanted to open my own restaurant,” she said.
Little did she know that the stars were already aligning to make all these come true.
When things fall into place
Mabelle David Pilar, Mira’s fellow intern at an advertising agency from years ago, got in touch with her to ask if she could include her in a story she was writing for – surprise, surprise – Yummy Magazine. It was a feature on chefs and their muses, and Mira got her beloved Yaya Waps to star in the story alongside her. “Yaya Waps was the one who taught me how to cook after all. She was there when I cooked my first dish which was shrimp tempura using a Nora Daza recipe, and she was also there when I accidentally peeled my finger alongside the carrots I was preparing,” she laughed.
That feature led to another thing: Yummy Magazine editor-in-chief Becky Kho, also a former part of the ABS-CBN Interactive team, asked her to write recipes for Yummy Magazine. Needless to say, it was an offer she immediately accepted. Today, apart from crafting recipes, she also demonstrates how to cook them in videos for the magazine’s website yummy.ph.
Mira also ended up teaching, after Maya Kitchen got in touch with her to ask if she was willing to become an instructor in their school. She also teaches special classes at Back of the House, a culinary events space owned by Booboo Atayde Alvendia. “Teaching is a chance to share my craft,” she said. “With this opportunity, I feel like I’ve come full circle.”
But fate wasn’t done fulfilling her dreams just yet.
Venturing on her own
Early this year, her brother Manny told her that he’ll be closing Cow King soon. Worried about the staff who would be left unemployed, and eager to have her own kitchen, Mira decided it was time to finally fulfill the dream of opening a restaurant she could call her own. It was then that Spell Kitchen was born.
“Back when I was handling content for ABS-CBN Interactive, one of the things I worked on was producing horoscope updates. It somewhat made me believe in how magic could happen in the things we do,” she shared. “Spell Kitchen aims to express that. It’s a ‘good vibes’ café that wishes you well in everything you do, so to speak.”
Mira herself designed the restaurant’s look and created the menu which consists mainly of Filipino comfort food. A hands-on owner, she even takes care of shopping for stocks and supplies. Doing all these makes her happy, and more importantly, allows her to appreciate the simple joys not just in her craft but in life in general. She’s definitely in a good place right now, and that makes the milestone of her 10th anniversary as a chef even more special.
“Back then, I wanted to be a chef simply because I was passionate about cooking. But 10 years in, I’m now at a point where my goal is to inspire and help other people in my own simple way. I share my recipes, I teach cooking classes, and I let people enjoy food through Spell Kitchen,” she said. “I had to take a few detours to get here, but now, I can clearly see that everything happened for a reason. Sometimes, it’s hard to comprehend, but fate leads you to another adventure, and I’m thankful for how the dots connected to make all my dreams come true. ”
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