Meet L.A. Renigen of Los Angeles’ Olivia Restaurant

Written by Jennifer Redondo

Back in 2009, San Francisco based filmmaker, H.P. Mendoza, and L.A. Renigen made a television series for Comcast and San Francisco’s Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) highlighting Asian restaurants in Los Angeles. Almost 15 years ago, they were ahead of their time. Though most of the restaurants were Thai, Korean, Japanese, and even Taiwanese influenced, they remained hopeful that Filipino food would one day have its time to shine in the limelight. That time has arrived! Filipino food and Filipino creatives are creeping into the mainstream – more Filipino-American chefs are competing on the Cooking Channel, and Filipino flavors like ube and calamansi are highly coveted at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. We are also starting to see more and more Filipino-American restaurants pop up around the world, outside of the Philippines. 

And of course, Los Angeles is one of the main forefronts of the Filipino food scene. Two years ago, Chef-Owner, Mario Alberto, Danny Oh, and Anderson .Paak opened up Olivia Restaurant, with L.A. Renigen as General Manager. Olivia is a vegetarian wine bar located in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. While Olivia is not a Filipino restaurant per se, it is run by a Filipina-American and from time to time, you will find some Filipino influence and elements on their menu like Gelato Festival’s ube ice cream and shaved melon drink. 

L.A. Renigen is a Filipina-American who has taken the road less traveled. Unlike most Asian second generation children, L.A. didn’t fall into familial pressure. At an early age, she was already forging her own path, taking risks and pursuing her interests and passion in the arts and acting. If she looks familiar to you, it’s because you may have seen her in some of H.P. Mendoza’s films Colma: The Musical (2006), Fruit Fly (2009), and Bitter Melon (2018). 

You’re probably wondering, how did she transition from acting to the restaurant business? To learn more about her journey, read on.  

1. Tell us about yourself, L.A. 

I was born in San Francisco, raised between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. My parents divorced when I was one, and my mom remarried an African-American man. We moved to the Central Valley where I grew up in a multicultural family. I was a Filipino girl being raised by a black family, running around with Mexican cousins. Imagine the food!

I fell in love with theater in high school and went on to pursue Theater Arts in college at San Francisco State(SFSU). SFSU also had an Asian American Studies department where I was able to reconnect with my Filipino roots. An assignment for Professor Dan Begonia’s Filipino American Studies class led me to Bindlestiff Studio, a small black box theater in downtown San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Bindlestiff would go on to become the epicenter for Filipino American Performing Arts in the United States. I was a Resident Artist there from 1997-2002.

Years later, I took a leap and moved out to Los Angeles. One of my dear friends, H.P. Mendoza, is a filmmaker. Our 2015 film Colma: The Musical brought us to Los Angeles. It became a darling of the independent film circuit and I decided to move. I did some independent films thinking I was going to get into acting, but I started working at a fine dining restaurant called Sona on La Cienega, and ended up falling in love with the restaurant industry. I had always wanted to go to culinary school and this was my chance to learn. I was obsessed with baking!

When I first moved to Los Angeles, we had a Dinner Club every Wednesday with some Bindlestiff Artists that had also moved south. I would make a different dessert every week. I would then bring the desserts I made to the Pastry Chef at Sona. I was always asking her questions about all the different desserts and techniques she used, and finally she just said, “L.A., why don’t you come and stage? Does Chef David (Myers) know you love pastries?” Sona was revamping their patisserie across the street so I ended up leaving Front of House to train to become a baker and helped re-open Boule. I learned breads and pastries, and eventually, I managed the macaron department. It was a way of pursuing my dream, without going to culinary school - the old fashioned way via apprenticeship. 

The restaurant industry is very hard on your body. It’s intense but you can get a lot out of it. After three years, I was burnt out, and my body was wrecked. That’s when I went back to work the front of the house. The industry is very alluring because there’s no ties. You can make good money, food is delicious, and it's very flexible. You can take time out to travel and still come back to a job. 

Years later, I would have my own side business, making cakes for weddings and other special events. My favorite thing to do was to find out what people’s favorite desserts were, and make it for them. Growing up, my papa would always make the birthday cakes for our family members. He was the “Cake Man”. I remembered what a wonderful feeling it was to present someone with their birthday cake. It’s still one of my favorite things to do.

2. How did you get to where you are today? 

There’s a lot of me that didn’t want to become the stereotypical “starving artist”. I was just enjoying and living life, which I still am. I enjoy being around people and real connections. 

I am project-oriented. I love to create and collaborate with others. When you go from restaurant openings to restaurant openings, you just keep moving on to the next project. I opened Tavern in Brentwood, the Ritz Carlton downtown Los Angeles and Hinoki and the Bird. After a while, I needed to figure out what I really wanted to do. I never imagined that I would be a restaurant General Manager (GM). A dear friend of mine was opening a restaurant downtown, so of course, I wanted to work with him again.

I met Chef Mario at Gratitude in Beverly Hills. He was the Executive Chef, and I was the AGM. During that time, I was looking to get out of the industry, but I kept getting lured in by cool projects. Mario had some really cool ideas and wanted to open up his own restaurant. I had one more left in me. Mario had a vision that I wanted to help bring to life. 

It was a long road to get here, but Olivia is the only restaurant I can say that I really enjoy being on the floor and interacting with our guests. They are obsessed with our food! They love the flavors, the ambiance, the hospitality. I’ll hug someone as they leave and our owner will ask, “Do you know them?” and I’ll say, “No, they just had a wonderful time!”

3. Was your family supportive of you going into the arts? 

Yes, they were. My Aunt Honey (dad’s sister), who had a hand in raising me, never pressured me. They were supportive as long as I was in school. They just wanted me to get a good job. She knew that pursuing nursing wasn’t my style. I have been working since I was 14 years old. I always had a job so they knew I would figure it out. They saw me having moderate success and they’re very proud of how far I’ve come.  

4. What do you do as a General Manager (GM)? 

EVERYTHING!! As a small business, the question should be what don’t I do? I hire and train the staff, run payroll, manage operations, vendors, book large parties, decorate, help select the wines with Chef Mario - I research the wines and put the list together. 

I am also the IT Director here. At Olivia, most guests order using the QR code. Our menu and orders are placed via the QR. I thought we were going to get more pushback, but 90% of guests embrace it. This saves a lot of time and there’s less room for error. My front of house team and I have more time to focus on and oversee the guests’ experience.

5. What are some obstacles that you faced opening Olivia? How did you overcome it?

The restaurant industry is one of the most challenging industries out there. I have opened and closed many great restaurants. The margin for profitability is really slim. I think the statistic is something like 50% or restaurants fail. You have to have a tight budget, and I am proud of how much we accomplished with so little. We were struggling, but we stuck through it. We all took pay cuts to make it work because we believed in it. It’s a lot: insurance, payroll, produce. There’s always something! It’s hard to find labor. If you’re not doing the volume, you’re not getting enough revenue.   

When investors came in, that kept us afloat and it helped a lot. Opening and running restaurants are always more expensive than you think. But if you stick through it, you can say that you tried to pursue your dream. It’s a tough industry, but we have made it two years so that must say something. 

Recently, we were notified that we were included in the Michelin Guide. It’s one of the most prestigious culinary guides out there! We will need to wait until June to find out if we receive a distinction like a Star or Bib Gourmand, but just to be included is beyond what I could have hoped for. It’s so great and exciting! What we are doing here is interesting, unique, and there’s no one else doing anything like this in the area. 

6. In moments of self-doubt, what do you do to build yourself back up? 

I usually talk to my papa. He talks me through my troubles. I meditate. We meditate together. When my papa was working, he managed large crews in the Bay Area that worked on fiber optic cables for AT&T. There is a lot of stress when it comes to managing a team, and that’s something that we could relate to one another. My papa told me, “Whenever I have these moments of self doubt, I stop, realize who I am, and say to myself ‘I am Chet, I can do this!’”. That’s a healthy dose of self-confidence. I have to remind myself “I am Chet” and I can do this! I can and will figure it out and get through it.  

7. Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? 

It’s hard because as I get older, I feel like I have been hindered by lack of self-confidence. I hold myself back a lot. I don’t go as far into something because I was scared. I wish I could tell myself, “You are L.A., you got this!” I wonder what would have happened? At the same time, I have those experiences for a reason. Maybe I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t push forward in one direction or another. Looking back, I wish I would have had more confidence in myself. I did a lot of things that I always wanted to do, but I don’t truly feel like I fully pursued acting because I was baking. Do I wish I could have done that? Or was I already doing what I really wanted to do? Hard to say because I say one thing, but my actions are speaking another.  

8. What are your favorite foods on the menu at Olivia? 

L.A.: Olivia uses local sourced vegetables. Chef Mario’s focus is on simply making vegetables taste good. Vegetables are the star here! Of course that’s also the case because Danny, one of the owners, owns a gym – so of course it has to be healthy. We have lots of options for people to choose from vegan to vegetarian. 

The artichoke dip with rye flatbread is my favorite right now. It’s so good! Our pizzas are crazy! The crust is incredible. I also like the kale salad because it’s light and filling at the same time. The spaghetti is also really good! Whatever food mood you’re in, you can have it here. 

Jennifer: My favorites are the olives and squash blossoms. I save some of the olives and put them on top of the pizza, which I also love! The olives are so good, you can’t share! You need your own.  

9. What is the biggest lesson you have learned? 

Trust! In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho talks about how a circle is drawn in the sand, in the spot where you are standing. You are exactly where you are supposed to be. You may not know it now, and it may not make sense. Later down the line, it will. At the end of the day, we are all here to experience life. In life, you’re always learning what you need as a human having an experience on this planet.  

10. What does it mean to be Filipino? 

I think of a very strong community. There’s a lot of camaraderie. Being a part of Bindlestiff Studio there was a lot of pride. I learned a lot about our culture and brought it to life. Filipinos are some of the most generous and friendly people, with the quirkiest sense of humor. I love that about our culture and people!  

11. What are you working on now? 

Always myself! Last time my friend, H.P., visited me. He asked me when’s the last time I did something creative. Creatives tend to put a lot of stress and emphasis on whatever they’re working on. I future trip a lot and mess with myself even before I start something! I am trying to learn to do something for the pure joy of it. Why do I put so much pressure on myself? I shouldn’t stress out if it’s good, bad… I am trying to just be and be okay with that. I am not trying to put pressure and just be present. I need to trust my instinct, like I’ve done my whole life. 

12. How can people reach you? 

You can come visit me at Olivia wine bar and restaurant located on 205 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles 90004. You can also follow @oliviarestaurant.la and @foodiepatoodie on Instagram. It’s perfect for a date night, girl’s night, guy’s night, any night! 

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Written by Jennifer Redondo

Co-Founder and Co-Author of In Her Purpose

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