Filipinos are resilient, and not even the pandemic or the loss of a loved one can prevent them from helping others and finding ways to support their family.
Forty-year-old Rhea Torreblanca Dasalla lost her husband on March 24, just a week after she gave birth to their second child Dmitri Dominic. Their first child, Sophia, is now a 20-year-old lady. Grieving, while nurturing an infant, Dasalla mustered up enough courage to establish a food venture amid the pandemic.
My Sunday Kitchen, which she put up in mid-June, delivers delicious home-cooked meals, cakes and pastries which found a loyal following in Quezon City and other parts of Metro Manila. She tapped the social media to spread the word about the products, and quickly she found customers who kept placing orders.
“The business started during my search for something to do while coping with the depression brought about my husband’s death,” says Dasalla, who was married Dennis, a barangay kagawad who died of cardiac arrest. “That was when I started thinking that I should do something fruitful to continuously battle the enormous depression I felt deep inside. The first thing that came into my mind is to let love be expressed through cooking.”
Her first project, My Sunday Mobile Kitchen, helped feed children in the depressed areas of Barangay Paltok, Del Monte on weekends. “It grew into something big. We just surprisingly found ourselves serving meals to kids as well as to those who had been working so hard during these trying times such as delivery riders, drivers and a lot more. That was also where I got the name My Sunday Kitchen,” she says.
The food business came afterwards, while she was browsing Facebook and came across the page of a friend. “We had a quick chat on how life has been going on. We had a conversation about cooking—that it is going to be a great outlet for me and something to focus on. So the inspiration began just right there,” says Dasalla.
Today, My Sunday Kitchen has more than 2,200 followers on Facebook. “We are home-based in Del Monte, Quezon City. I have two staff helping me all the way through during weekdays and the whole family during weekends,” she says.
“What separates us from the rest is we cook because we know how much joy food can bring to others and how it helps tighten family bonds. Our way of cooking is done with care and for us, it is an act of love,” she says.
With the community lockdown and transport restrictions, many shops in Quezon City had to close down. “We had been seeing in our own two eyes that businesses were closing here and there. It had greatly affected commercially known businesses and big food chains,” says Dasalla.
As many restaurants ceased operations, she noticed a growing demand for food deliveries. “People from all walks of life were shifting to food deliveries versus going out. This is what helped food deliveries get more stability. Online selling is the new normal. And we are planning to grow it big by experimenting more on flavors to come up with unique food fit for all,” she says.
“I could only hope that everything still goes well in the coming days. We take it one day at a time,” says Dasalla who worked for a multi-level marketing company before establishing My Sunday Kitchen. She also managed a flower shop, an events planning business and a dress shop.
“I got pregnant and gave birth during this pandemic, so I decided not to go back to work because I am hands-on with my five-month-old child. I’m a mother of a 20-year-old lady and a five-month old,” she says.
“Everything I do now is for my children and to fulfill my promise to my husband that I’m never going back to work and to set up our business instead. So here, I am taking it one step at a time. If God allows, by next year we will have a small café,” says Dasalla.
To those who are losing hope in business, she encourages them to remain grateful for each day. “Just wake up each day with a joyful and hopeful heart. Always start your day with a prayer. Involve God in your plans. Let Him do His miracles, and you’ll be surprised. Give your best every time. Always find something new to offer to your customers, especially if you’re running a food business online. Be present on social media. Observe discipline, passion and consistency,” she says.
“I always say consistency is the key. I have learned it from the experts. Lastly, I learned during this challenging period to take each day as an opportunity to give love, in big or small ways, in anything and everything that we do,” says Dasalla.
