My Culinary Chapter began when I decided to move from the city to immerse myself in a farm by the sea, where I worked for a farm – to – table café in 2021.

I began as a barista and a baker, making fresh pies, ciabatta bread and other pastries; along with third wave coffee.
Eventually, my main station was in sauté.

the longer I stayed, the more I witnessed the humility and silent hard work of local farmers, growing and nurturing the food we ate and served.

When this chapter came to a close after almost three years, I found myself allured by the dimly lit delis and bistros of Salcedo, Makati.
Back in the city I grew up in.

I cross – trained different roles and stations when I dove into café deli services, commissary kitchen production and semi – fine dining bistro operations.

It was all exhilarating and exhausting. The hustle culture, and ego dominated environment was a stark contrast from my experience in a quaint farm café, working with farmers and a team of maternal women.
Nonetheless, it was a great learning curve.

I loved what I did. I just needed to find a way to do it while practicing the principles that serve Mother Nature and our own nourishment in the process.
It was normalized to sacrifice your well being as a chef, and to go blindly into extreme consumerism.

There was a dissonance between the F&B Industry and Nature.

Food is precious. More than a leisure, it is our life force. It takes a village to get one ingredient into your hands, and should be treated with respect, intentionality and soul.

I walked out of the scene with nothing much but a dream… and a handful of hard learned lessons. When I came home to rest and recalibrate by the sea, I began my own edible garden and studied through my grandmother’s library of cookbooks.

In my self studies on ingredients, herbs, humanely farmed animals and cuisines that felt close to my heart, I found my niche and began

Mary L.

Naming it after the line of women in my family tree who set every table, for every wholesome meal that was cooked with immense love for food, family and gathering.

We all share the name Mary. And this, is my Ode.