That’s Chef Myke Tatung! Years ago when he was working with us in SunStar, we knew him as Myke Sarthou, one of the writers in our Weekend magazine and Lifestyle section. He was an earnest young man who was always eager to learn and help in any way. He was a fast learner and credited the late SunStar editors Erma Cuizon and Pura Kintanar for honing his writing skills. As Executive Editor, I dealt with him every now and then by suggesting topics to write about. I never knew that he had an innate cooking talent and would cook for his SunStar office mates at times. He learned to cook from his grandmothers and his Mom.
He moved on after a few years and I lost track of him. Then from out of the blue, I read a write up about a Cebuano chef who was making waves in Metro Manila and I saw Myke’s smiling face. It seemed that when he left us, he went on to pursue his first love, cooking, and got professional training here and abroad. He started out doing catered events and hosting private dinners, and thus began his culinary career. He then represented the Philippines during the Madrid Fusion event in Spain. There he got the chance to cook in Michelin-starred restaurants. Another highlight was cooking for the Rothschild Family Foundation.
Chef Tatung has come a long way since his venture into the culinary field 15 years ago. Aside from his success as an exclusive caterer, he has worked with the country’s big food manufacturing companies as consultant, recipe developer and lately as endorser. He also owns a restaurant in Quezon City called Pandan Asian Cafe.
Not only is Chef Tatung into cooking, he is also into writing and publishing. Yes, he has six books (bestsellers) on food and cooking to his name, two of which won international awards (World Gourmand Award). He sits as president of Vertikal Books which publishes and sells his books. He is also on top of the media company called Vertical Kreatives Inc.
Chef Myke Tatung’s cup is full!
As an afterthought I asked, “Where did the name Tatung come from?” His answer: That’s the brand of an electric fan popular during my childhood.