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Monday, July 11, 2005
Under the water Sainz
By Jenara Regis Newman
Carlo Marcelo Sainz looks pretty much like the cleancut boy next door except that, hey, he is in a dark suit. That ’s because this tall, good-looking young man works as the outlet manager of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel ’s Japanese restaurant, Mizu.
Carlo took a very diversified path before ending where he is now. A product of Sacred Heart School for Boys, he wanted to enroll in business management in UP Cebu but took up fine arts in that school, instead.
He has a Joya award for an abstract painting to show he’s good in this field. Even before he finished college, he was already working for a family corporation, in a field very different from what he was studying, Cebu Clean Services, which provides janitorial services.
He could have stayed in the family business but decided to make it on his own and became a flight steward of Philippine Airlines in 1997, a short stint because PAL closed (temporarily) in 1998.
He opened another family business, Cyberminds Inc. dealing computers. In the year 2000, he opened still another family business, the Iloilo Teacher’s Lending Investors Corporation, of which he was supervisor.
This last stint led him to where he is now. In Iloilo, he got acquainted with a lot of people in the food industry and this sparked in him an interest in cooking. After two years in Iloilo, he took up culinary arts at the International Culinary Arts Academy of Cebu. For this course, he had to apprentice in hotel kitchens, one of which was Waterfront ’s La Gondola. He did so well that the hotel hired him after he got his culinary diploma.
Waterfront sent him to Manila for training under Chef Nick of the Manila Pavilion. While there he was told that he would be a sous chef but he told Mr. Gatchalian (Waterfont ’s owner) he ’d be bored in the kitchen. After the training, he was part of the opening team that conceptualized Mizu, not knowing he would be the outlet manager when it opened.
Carlo ’s diverse work experiences are partly reflected in his interests: music, sports, the arts, automobiles, computer, gadgets, travel, people management and culinary arts. He says his art training comes in handy in food presentation.
In Mizu, he corrdinates with the Japanese chef, Ken Imamura, for the costing of the food, purchasing, design of menu, and with the art department, for layout styling for food photography for print ads and flyers. He sees to it that the staff do their job and periodically checks on the food for quality control. (If you ’re into Japanese food, this is one place you really have to check out because the food is so good).
Mizu means water in Japanese and the name was chosen because the place is designed to be also, becoming a chill-out lounge when dining is done in the evening. The background music then shifts, from water themed sounds, to faster paced electronic music.
The question that nagged my colleagues lifestyle writes, all) while I was interviewing Carlo was, in Jo Mag’s words, “How come such an eligible young man is not yet married?” Carlo’s answer? “In Iloilo I was with a newly married cousin and I realized I’m not ready for it.” The next question also has to be asked: “Do you have a girlfriend?” And the answer,girls,was “At the moment,no.”
Right now, Carlo is very focused on his job. He’s even learning some Japanese in order to communicate with his Japanese counterpart better.
(July 11, 2005 issue)
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