Baller chef

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Cooking for NBA players was a dream, but something bigger came up

THINK of any NBA star in the past few years — chances are, they’ve been eating food from our very own Christopher Tamayo, who hails from the family of the popular Tamayo’s Catering company.

In a phone call with Mr. Tamayo — who worked at the Miller & Lux restaurant (headed by Tyler Florence) at the Chase Center, the home court of the Golden State Warriors — he said, “As long as nakalaban sila ng (they are playing against the) Golden State Warriors, I cooked for them.” And the home team, of course.

“A week before the NBA game, I’d get in touch with the team’s nutritionist,” he said. He prepared the meals at the Miller & Lux kitchen, and they would be brought to the teams’ locker rooms.

Mr. Tamayo talked to us about the dietary requirements of the NBA players — though because of multiple non-disclosure agreements he’s signed, he can’t name any specific players. But in a mix of English and Filipino, he said, “There are teams that [have] general diets, then there are teams with player-specific diets.

“Top-tier athletes have different diets,” he said. He used players’ physiques to illustrate the point: a leaner player would need “clean and lean” proteins like salmon and chicken, while someone beefier required, well, beef.

“It really depends on the diet of the player. They’re really serious about their diets. They need to perform in their top shape. If they get overweight or something, and they’re not used to that kind of weight, then they’ll get injured easily,” he said in English and Filipino.

He recounted some of the memorable orders he’s executed. One player ordered a whole beef tenderloin, all for himself. “That’s nine filet mignons in one sitting,” he recalled. “That guy can eat.”

Another order was a plain chicken breast, salted and seared. “That’s it.”

As a basketball fan himself (in his younger days, he used to be a fan of the LA Lakers, but moving to San Francisco and meeting the Golden State Warriors face to face changed that), he recalled his amazement at meeting all of his favorite players, telling us that on workdays, he was usually looking up at the ceiling due to the players’ heights.

“It’s a huge honor for me to be showcasing my talent as a Filipino to these top athletes,” he said. The working hours were long: 12 to 13 hours, sometimes reaching 15. “I can’t complain, but just be grateful for the opportunity that was given to me.”

FAMILY
He was invited to work at Miller & Lux due to his skill, honed at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. The restaurant sponsored his immigration process, and he ended up working there from 2022 to 2024, serving some of the world’s most famous athletes.

By that point he was already an old hand in the kitchen. While speaking to ����ý, he said that he was 32 years old, but had spent 28 of those already helping out in the kitchen.

“We come from humble beginnings, as a family,” he said. His father, Steve Tamayo, founded the catering company in 1995, but worked first as a janitor and a waiter. The catering company itself started life as a carinderia.

He remembers going into the kitchen at the Culinary Institute of America and thinking all his years in the catering kitchen was enough: “Nagmukha akong bobo doon (I looked like an idiot there).”

The younger Tamayo would remind himself that he is “a humble kid who grew up in a carinderia is now serving NBA players,” while looking up at one such player during a workday.

He left the Philippines in 2017, despite already managing the family business in 2014 after graduating with a Hotel and Restaurant Management degree from the University of Santo Tomas. “I was questioning myself. Am I being respected because of my last name, or because of my skills? That’s why I left the Philippines.”

He said that he used to joke to his family: “Lalagpasan ko pa si Tamayo’s (I will surpass Tamayo’s),” he said. “Not in a bitter way, but in a good way.”

When he started at Miller & Lux, he told management: “I’m not here for the money. I’m here because I want to prove to myself that I have skills.”

After deciding that he had the skills indeed, he came back to the Philippines. “Now, I’ve found my confidence. I do have skill.”

LIVING THE DREAM
Next month, while continuing to work in his family’s catering operations, he’s going to open Textures by Tamayo’s in Tagaytay, a fine-dining concept. Asked to compare the experience in catering and fine dining, he said, “You can’t really compare.

“There are things that you cannot serve in a catering setup, and things you cannot serve in a restaurant setup,” he said, making a comparison between general practitioner-doctors and specialists. “They might sound the same — it’s still food — but it’s really different.”

This is just another feather in the Tamayo’s Catering cap under his watch: in 2022, he opened Cafe Intramuros in front of San Agustin Church (he also has plans to expand that), then extended their operations in the Southern regions. The biggest dream for his father though, is to open their own culinary school, but he thinks that’s far in the future.

“I cooked for high profile athletes… but at the end of the day, I still want to go back to my roots,” he said. “This may be a dream for a lot of people, to cook for NBA players, but my dream is to carry on the legacy of my parents.

“Lahat ng paghihirap (all they sacrificed) for us… I would honor it in the way that I can. Through food. Food with finesse — but still with love,” he said.

“Bringing families together on a table, then them enjoying the food — it’s a different thing for me.

“It’s a chef’s dream.”

When Textures by Tamayo’s opens next month (he hopes), it will be in 1975 Maglabe Drive, Brgy. Asisan, Tagaytay City. — Joseph L. Garcia