The man behind succesful fine dining resto Chateau

The man behind the successful fine dining restaurant Chateau had many quotable quotes when I got to interview him earlier this month. Ricky Guttierez is an entrepreneur who built his business, rather than inherit it from his parents. He did it through hard work, perseverance, and lots of luck.

Today, Chateau is celebrating 25 years in operation--a lifetime when it comes to the restaurant industry.

"When we put up our first location (in Malate), we didn’t know what we were doing, what we were going to do. The business took off shortly but it felt like we were a rocket ship launched but with parts falling off on the way up," he said. 

Now 59, Gutierrez is still very much hands on in the business. Until now, Gutierrez takes care of the finance side, accounting, marketing, business development, concepts, and location hunting, among many others.

Over the years, Gutierrez was able to add three more names in his roster of restaurant business including Sentro, Café 1771, and Sidebar.

"The restaurant business is very personalized. We rely on our people so we can't just leave it to the manager. It’s a crazy business so you really have to love what you’re doing so the hard work becomes worth it," he said.

Gutierrez is a classic example of an individual born to be become a successful entrepreneur. Even at a young age of 15, he was already selling fish around his neighborhood. He would also install wallpapers to earn extra cash.

He then took up Psychology at the Ateneo de Manila University. For a while he went into the corporate world (which he said isn’t for him because it boxes you up in a rigid structure). He also ventured into producing dried fruits.

Over the years, Gutierrez said many times they were just following their intuition and gut instinct. Prayers helped tremendously.

He recalled a time when he declined to accept the offer to put up his first restaurant in the location now occupied by Starbucks in 6750 in Makati, the first Starbucks in the Philippines.

"Back then, the 'it' market was in Malate. There's always a market that will grow. People move, new places are being developed all the time.We look at the lifestyle, the fashion of the people living in an area; what they do on weekends, what their jobs are. That's how we choose locations," he said.

When he initially put up the business, he had to shell out some P500,000 (which would be equivalent close to P10 million in today’s money). Today, with the success of his restaurants, that investment has surely been returned to him and his family many times over.

The secret for success and longevity is integrity. Timing and execution is key, he said.

“The fine dining business is already saturated. But we continue to believe in what we do. What’s important is do a good job every single time. It’s all about the craft and knowing what the core and soul of your business,” he said.

In his restaurants, the food is done from scratch. Menu is varied (there's some for those watching their carbs, there's some for the vegetarians) and is much healthier nowadays, thanks to the "going organic" trend. Gutierrez said that 65 percent of ingredients for Chateau are imported.

At the end of the day, doing business is what Gutierrez was meant to do. He gave this advice for individuals dreaming of putting up their own business ventures: "If you want money, enter business. Corporate boxes you in a structure. All you have to do is provide genuine hospitality and give customers a globally competitive experience."