Former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Say Alonzo has found a new passion beyond showbiz, which is venturing into the food business with her husband, Ryan Tordesillas.
The couple now operates an inasal business, which they franchised from Bacolod. Their branch is based in Laguna, where they currently reside. Say shared that it was Ryan who first brought up the idea of franchising Aida's and bringing it to their hometown.
"I tasted Aida's. I found out about it when we had the PBB mall show. They brought us to Bacolod and the first thing we did was we ate an Aida's and sobrang sarap. So when he told me about it sabi ko alam ko 'yan, na-taste ko na 'yan, okay let's do it," Say relayed in an interview with Pinoy How To.
Before launching the business, Say returned to Bacolod to see the restaurant again and observe its operations firsthand. "I said we have to go to Bacolod to see it again, I want to see the kitchen kasi course ko nung college was hotel and restaurant so I've never really applied it. Grumadewyt lang ako, nag-PBB ako so I never got to be a chef," she relayed.
Now, Say sees the inasal venture as a chance to finally put her degree to good use. "Sabi ko baka this is the right time to do it, to manage a restaurant, to put some of my recipes in. He didn't have to super convince me naman, I was all for it," she stated.
When asked for tips for aspiring entrepreneurs, Say emphasized the importance of innovation and hands-on involvement.
"You always have to be on top of your game like you always have something new like you have to be offer. Kami we have a lot of dishes that I also personally curated, ako rin gumawa ng mga sarili kong recipes, kunwari... my take on sisig, so you have to be different from people kasi ang daming restaurants, ang daming inasal restaurants," she said.
Say was one of the housemates of Pinoy Big Brother season 1 which aired on ABS-CBN from August to December 2005.