
Chef couple Jay Jay and Rhea SyCip went from losing their lease to finding a great new location, and a reinvigorated menu—with a certain senator’s help
Chef couple Jay Jay and Rhea SyCip started 2023 with much doubt in their minds.
The lease for their Cavite farmhouse restaurant, The Fatted Calf, was up in January, and they were torn over whether to continue their business or call it a day.
“It came to a point when I lost the drive to come up with new menu items. I didn’t want to be visible in the restaurant,” says Jay Jay. “I was thinking, what for? We were bound to close, and it seemed like there was no light at the end of that tunnel.”
As it turned out, fate—and Sen. Loren Legarda—had a different plan for them.
The senator dropped by their restaurant and offered a few points on how they could be more sustainable, which the couple appreciated, but sadly couldn’t really put to practice, as their landlord didn’t renew their contract. Upon finding out about the ended lease, Legarda offered her grandmother’s stagnant property along the highway.
“We have had guests who told us that they have spaces, but the offers didn’t materialize and so we were initially skeptical. But after just a couple of hours of her visit, the senator’s security called my wife asking where we were and that they are waiting to escort us to her house.”

New look, same spirit
The place was ideally located and was spacious enough to hold the restaurant, even possibly have room for Rhea’s Flour Pot, but the couple then had another hiccup: The money to build a structure, let alone set up a full functioning restaurant.
The senator again came to the rescue. “You don’t have to worry about anything,” Legarda said. “I will help you since you are helping small family farms and local producers. I will build the structure for you.”
The new and improved The Fatted Calf broke ground on the last week of November, and on June 1 they officially opened.
The menu has expanded and still proudly practices its ethos of not just sourcing locally (the closer, the better) but also producing zero waste by using everything in the kitchen, including peels, bones and scraps. They now have their own compost pit and the structure itself is made mostly out of recycled items from Legarda’s collection, like yakal posts and wood carvings from old houses.

There’s simply a lot to like, from the signature salads and appetizers with flavors that borrow from various cuisines, to heavier fare such as hand-cranked tuna burger, crab carbonara, Black Tyde steaks and thick-cut pork chop.
Not to be missed are Rhea’s delectable cakes from Flour Pot, which now has its own tiny garden space at the lower ground of The Fatted Calf building. Her bestsellers—mazapan de pili cheesecake, ube kinampay cake, strawberry shortcake using Benguet berries and tablea chocolate cake—can now be enjoyed any time of the day.

Upgraded boodle fight
Just a few weeks after opening their restaurant, the SyCips became busy with a number of collaborative commitments, including the sixth anniversary of Anya Resort in Tagaytay, where they worked with chef Chris Leaning on a very unique food format—an upgraded boodle fight.
“Chef Chris and I hit it off the moment we met and we shared so many things in common, like the love for cured and smoked meats, pâtés and terrines,” says Jay Jay. “It didn’t take us long to determine what should be on the menu. We added Fatted Calf’s free range and organic chicken liver pâté, terrine sampler and new menu items like crab dip and smoked duck salad. And chef Chris knew that we play around with seafood a lot so he asked me to come up with the fish centerpiece.” He made a brick oven-baked white snapper with kinamiyas potatoes and a calamansi, lime and chili sauce condiment.
The impressive meal started with a grazing platter laid out on a board that spanned the 10-foot dining tables. It was followed by a warm and comforting bowl of farmhouse soup with herb dumplings, pulled pork and barley. Then came the main extravaganza—roast pig with grilled vegetables that was carved table side and served with heirloom adlai pilaf.





For dessert, Rhea rolled up her sleeves and brought out the big guns: homemade chocolate truffles, meringue drops, strawberry tres leches, passionfruit and spiced pineapple cheesecake, fresh figs and pistachio frangipane, tin can brownies and gooseberry and yoghurt pavlova.
Accompanied by live saxophone music, a couple of raffle prizes and the company of good friends and the resort owners, Anya’s anniversary posed as a reminder to the SyCips that there is nothing to worry about any longer, as there are people—this writer included—who acknowledge, appreciate and support their business and undeniable talent. INQThe Fatted Calf is at Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway, Barangay Neogan, Tagaytay City; tel. 0977-6437477, 0917-7892352. Anya Resort Tagaytay is at Buenavista Hills Road, Barangay, Tolentino West, Tagaytay; anyaresorts.com. Follow the author at @fooddudeph on Instagram.

Angelo Comsti writes the Inquirer Lifestyle column Tall Order. He was editor of F&B Report magazine.