Choy Calaquian, Paolo Derroca, and Hadley Mariano tried doing the 9-to-5 in a company thing, and it didn’t really work out for them. That’s fine, considering this generation is starting to get more and more disillusioned with the lifestyle. So they decided, after one failed venture, to start their own fried chicken place, Birdmen, and just go to town with it.
“It’s really about the passion of doing something you want to do, and not waking up hating Monday mornings,” says Paolo. “We work, we do errands for the business during weekends, so it’s doing what you really want to. You’re not forced to do a routine you’re not satisfied with. We didn’t feel like taking the route that didn’t give us the satisfaction.” And they put up a restaurant because everybody loves food—it also doesn’t hurt that it’s also their passions.
By the time you read this, Birdmen has already brought that Southern fried chicken flavor, a type of chicken Filipinos aren’t too familiar with, to the Yard Underground food park in Kapitolyo, Pasig, but also check your nearest food bazaar or Backyard Grill at the Park (#HingeBYG). Go find them wherever and whenever you end up in these parts. Zero regrets.
This article is part of our January-February 2017 story entitled “Your New Favorite Places” and has been edited for web.
Photography by Patrick Segovia