Celebrity Life

EXCLUSIVE: Happy Ongpauco-Tiu shares tips to be a girl boss

By Maine Aquino
Published April 19, 2019 5:13 PM PHT

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Happy Ongpauco-Tiu shares practical advice for all women aspiring to be a 'girl boss' one day.

Happy Ongpauco-Tiu is a true girl boss that women aspire to be.

For 20 years, the woman behind the Happy Concept Group is consistent in serving up some of the best dishes in her restaurants that are situated in different parts of the Philippines.

Happy grew up in the famous Ongpauco household, who gave birth to Filipino restaurants such as Barrio Fiesta, Bakahan at Manukan, Singing Cooks and Waiters Atbp. and Isdaan.

According to Happy, her desire to give the Filipinos the best dishes started from her family's love for food--cooking it and eating it.

Now she owns restaurants such as World Topps, Bento Box, Hawaiian BBQ, Pamana, Tsokolateria, and I Love Backyard BBQ Grill. Happy also started a bespoke catering service called Private Dining by Happy Concept Group.

Around the same time last year, I visited this beautiful island and dreamt of opening another branch of my beach concept joint #ilovebackyardbbq ---- 12 months and 1 week later, i am back....rushing with a target to soft open in 3 days! My motto in life : dream, set goals, then work hard to achieve them! I can do it - so you definitely can too! ❤️❤️❤️ #hopetoinspire #ilovebackyardbbqboracay now in #elnido #day1countdown #wallmockuptime #letsdothis💪 #HappyConCeptGroup #swipeleft⬅️

A post shared by Happy Ongpauco-Tiu (@happyongpauco_tiu) on

According to Happy, being a girl boss is all about the perseverance to achieve personal goals. With that, she sent a message to inspire women to be girl bosses in their own ways.

“I just want to do a shout out to all the women out there that, we're better than the men when we want to be. It all depends on our train of thought.”

To some people, food preparation can be intimidating. The Culinary Institute of America graduate generously shared a tip to people who are afraid to try cooking. She said it's easy as it can start from having the desire and dedication to learn.

“The beauty of cooking is there is no right or wrong unlike in baking,” she revealed during the Knorr Kitchen Test in Greenbelt, Makati.

What's for brunch? #swipeleft⬅️ and drool!!! Mezze Grazing Table (Dips , yogurt and bread station) *Haydari (Turkish, nut and yogurt dip) *Spicy Ezme dip ( tomatoes, onion, green pepper and parsley) *Muhammara ( red pepper and walnut dip ) *Tzatziki ( cucumber and yogurt dip) *Kisir Salad(bulgur , spices and assorted diced vegetables) *Saksuka ( eggplant and vegetable ragout) *Turkish cucumber , nut, tomato salad Entrèes *Menemen and Urfa Kebabs- Beef Kebabs served with Turkish style scrambled Eggs, with onions, tomatoes and chilies *Gofretler- Street food style Turkish waffles topped with berries, kiwi, nuts, raisins, feta and yogurt honey Dessert Baklava with vanilla saffron ala mode Nespresso cafe Istanbul #behindthescenes #privatediningbyhappyconceptgroup #happyconceptgroup #latepost

A post shared by Happy Ongpauco-Tiu (@happyongpauco_tiu) on

Renowned chefs Happy Ongpauco-Tiu, Josh Boutwood, Kalel Chan, and Nicco Santos shared some of their best gastronomic tips

Happy reveals she favors cooking than baking as it can be modified depending on your taste buds.

She told GMANetwork.com, “With baking everything is precise, in cooking it's all about the taste. You just have to follow your instinct and your taste buds when you're cooking. If it's too salty for you, you can just add ingredients to lessen the saltiness.”