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| ka tunying with wife rossel velasco taberna |
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| ka tunying having lunch with us and other press people |
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| KA TUNYING and his restaurant's Nueva Ecija series of delicious dishes!!!!! |
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| KA TUNYING with press people he invited for lunch!!!! |
ANTHONY “Tunying” TABERNA is one of the most trustworthy young Kapamilya broadcast journalists today. He is currently a host of “Umagang Kay Ganda” and is heard daily on radio in “Dos Por Dos” with Gerry Baja. At 44, he’s also a very successful entrepreneur.
He and his wife, Rossel Velasco, own the Ka Tunying chain of restaurants that started as a panaderia in his native San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, then became a bakeshop, a cafe and a full service restaurant.
They invited us to lunch at their Ka Tunying resto at the ground floor of SM North Towers last Friday and we enjoyed their Nueva Ecija series of dishes including Cabanatuan longsilog, adobo sa gata, tinola and sinampalukang manok, various longganisas and their crispy kare-kare.
For dessert, Lolit Solis and us shared their palitaw and turon which are served with a delicious twist.
They later sponsored the show Ka Tunying, Panlasang Makabayan, held at the activity center of SM The Block. They treated the viewers of the show to a free lunch and a Ka Tunying mascot entertained the crowd with a dance number.
Ka Tunying’s restaurants started only four years ago but they now have nine branches. Aside from SM North Towers, they’re also in SM Megamall, on Visayas Avenue, at NAIA Terminal 3 (with two outlets at domestic area and one at the international terminal), also at PAL’s Terminal 2 and Santa Rosa, N.E. They will soon open a new full restaurant at Tagaytay’s Summit Ridge with function rooms for events.
“We didn’t expect na magiging ganoon kabilis ang growth ng aming food business. It helps that my wife and my sister Helga are hands on in managing it. You can now also order from us online,” adds Ka Tunying.
“We also offer holiday packages perfect for gift giving to your friends this holiday season, like our Kape Pakners, Tinapa in Tandem, Los Kombacheros, and many more. Ang daming nago-offer for franchises in Cebu, Davao and even Zamboanga but I’m scared baka hindi makaya ng commissary namin kapag sumobrang dami ng demand.”
He’s so amazed that OFW’s who come home often make it a point that they get to eat at Ka Tunying’s. “Nakakatuwa kasi noong una, I thought maraming kumakain kasi they just want to see me and have their picture taken with me. But now, talagang ang luto namin ang binabalikan nila. We applied na sa Department of Tourism to be accredited as one of the restaurants recommended for foreigners and balikbayans. Our slogan is Eats More Fun in the Philippines to help promote our local food and dishes.”
Wasn’t he supposed to have a new morning show with Kris Aquino? “Yes, nakapag-tape na kami ng about 3 or 4 episodes. Kris is our Ninang ng wife ko and I really enjoyed working with her kasi she’s very smart kaya you have to be on your toes always para makasabay ka sa kanya. We were both surprised when we were told hindi na raw matutuloy. It’s sad, pero hindi ko na rin inalam kung ano ang dahilan bakit hindi nila itinuloy.”