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“Magaling magluto yan,” says Mrs. Nenita Chan Lim of Suyen Corporation, parent company of the fashion and lifestyle brand Bench which Ben Chan, Nenita’s younger brother, started in 1987.
It’s a sunny Monday morning in Tokyo and we are in the kitchen of Maisen, the only restaurant to get the best tonkatsu in Japan. Ben is wearing a white laboratory gown and white hat as he stands beside tonkatsu meister Mr Matsuoka who is teaching him how to make the perfect breaded pork chop.
Ben takes on a thick slab of pork, presses it hard on cold panko breading, and drops it into a deep fryer filled with sunflower oil. After a few minutes, he is done. “Okey na,” he smiles self-consciously and leaves the station.
Ben Chan after preparing the tonkatsu in the Maisen kitchen
Ben is usually quiet and reserved in public, but on this five-day trip to Japan, where he and a few Suyen executives are taking us to three Japanese restaurants they are soon opening in Metro Manila, we’re seeing his friendly, fun, and even goofy side.
Earlier, he was trying to avoid participating in a tonkatsu cook-off.
“Iba naman, kasama na ako kahapon eh,” he says, referring to the baking demo that he joined at St. Marc where everybody in the group got a kick from seeing him participate in a chococro — choco croissant — baking contest.
While four other contestants seriously cut the dough and stretch it to 23 inches, Ben fields both cheers and heckles from his posse, smiling and posing for the cameras he placed two bars of Ghana chocolates and carefully wraps it with the dough four times. “You’re the most fashionable baker,” cheers someone. “I’m just dressing the chocolate,” Ben shoots back.
That “pastry performance” breaks the ice. After that, everybody in the group is sociable, cracking jokes, taking photos and having a good time.
Later, Ben presents the Japanese executives of St. Marc a surprise. He hands each one a box that he urges them to open immediately. Inside is an architectural model of the Manila Central Post Office, one of five Philippine landmarks that Dimensione furniture store (another Suyen brand) commissioned English architectural sculptors Chisel & Mouse to make.
This reminds us of two things: (1) Ben Chan is the boss of a huge fashion brand in the country and (2) he has exquisite taste.
After his stint at Maisen’s kitchen, Ben removes his white lab gown to reveal a casual navy blue English coat studded with gold cuffs, complete with a medium-length tail. It’s very different from the sporty gray bubble jacket he wore on the flight to Tokyo, but just like that one, this navy blue coat fits him perfectly to a T.
Ben Chan goofing off as a “promodizer” in Tokyo
The guy is a sharp dresser, and we surprise even ourselves by casually coming up to him to tell him so. He smiles shyly and says a gracious thank you. And then he’s back to being the boss — quiet, sharp, one who prefers to keep a low profile and observe his surroundings.
He likes to keep to himself and stay in the company of close friends and family. After a full-day’s function in Tokyo, for instance, when everybody gathers for a nightcap, he was elsewhere. On Dover Street, as we would later learn, shopping, looking at store display windows, and observing the world.
In Osaka, we visit Pablo, another restaurant Suyen is bringing to Manila, which specializes in cheese tarts. Part of the restaurant’s attractions is a heady song-and-dance number by the staff, and as we watch that performance, we see Ben bobbing his head to the beat, clearly enjoying the show. “Ano sa tingin niyo,” he and his sister Nenita, along with brother-in-law Virgilio, ask us. “Papatok kaya ito?” Business as usual, but really, surprisingly casual.
After the main store visit, we are taken to a Pablo kiosk, where Ben quickly takes on a student’s role. Watching from a store window, Ben quietly observes how they make a cheese tart. He is on his own and quiet, a stark contrast to the noisy sugar-high group he was with.
His sister Nenita snaps a picture of Ben and posts it to Instagram. “Very interested to learn,” she writes as a caption. “Or craving for one.”
Perhaps that’s how business leaders are. Sometimes game, sometimes quiet but always, always learning and observing.
