Reina Montenegro has come a long way from being a young girl playing with food as her “form of art and escape during some unhappy times” to being a chef and business owner of the first Filipino vegan restaurant in the Bay Area. 

Taking from her Lola Irene who was always in the kitchen making something for everyone, she loves cooking for her family. When people started asking her to cook for their parties, she then made this into a side hustle until she finally decided to leave the corporate world to focus on this venture. 

Now popularly known as Chef Reina, this gal from Dumaguete City in the Philippines has turned her passion into a career and more – she strengthens the move towards veganism while upholding Filipino cuisine at its best. 

Read on for Hiraya’s interview with Chef Reina and be inspired by her journey.

When did you start creating vegan Filipino dishes?

I started creating vegan dishes 6 years ago when I turned vegan. My children suffer from eczema and have skin problems, so one day I decided to do research online about what causes it and stumbled upon a lot of articles regarding dairy being one of the causes. My evening of research turned into days of watching videos about veganism, and I had an awakening and turned vegan immediately. I was worried that I would be missing out on my childhood favorites, so I took it upon myself to veganize them. 

Did you find it hard translating those typical Filipino flavors into vegan versions?  

At first, I thought it would be difficult but the more I tested it and tried different variations, I found it really easy. Most ingredients are vegan, I just eliminate the meat and try it on meat substitutes. Most of my ingredients are available in all Asian grocery stores!

Could you tell us some of the biggest hurdles you’ve had to overcome as a vegan chef?

Yes, I am very lucky that veganism is embraced in the Bay Area but not necessarily in the Filipino community. Mind you, we have a large community here. When I first started, I was called an oxymoron, an abomination to the Filipino culture for taking out the meat and changing tradition. But it is definitely evolving and more of the younger generation is more aware of climate change and health issues that are caused by consuming meat and meat products. We still have a long way to go, but the movement is shaking up our community in a good way. I am so proud to be part of this. So exciting!

Your new venture (Chef Reina) is now open.  Congratulations on this momentous accomplishment!  Could you tell us about the most popular dishes on the menu?

Thank YOU! Yes, it is definitely liberating to come out as myself finally after hiding behind the Nick’s brand for so long. This year has been monumental for me in so many ways. I was finally given the opportunity to call the shots and share my story and food to everyone as myself.  The favorites are the Tocilog, Sisig and Lumpia Shanghai! My entire menu is my favorite. Only because I created it for myself, all my childhood favorites that I missed since I turned vegan. I just got lucky that everyone embraced it. For that I am grateful. 

Where do you see the future of Filipino vegan cuisine?

My goal is to take Chef Reina National, then Global. So, whether people like it or not, they will know about Vegan Filipino Food! I am aggressively working on this along with my team that this happens and that it happens soon. I think Filipino food is starting to get the recognition they deserve! I can’t wait for it!

For those who want to learn how to cook vegan Filipino food, could you suggest some resources to them, and do you teach vegan cooking classes?  

I would just look at some videos on YouTube. I just recently launched my channel, Chef Reina! Hope people check it out. I do teach classes but with COVID and its Delta variant, they are on hold at the moment! We do have so many projects in the pipeline right now which will come out sometime in September. Just make sure you follow us on Instagram at @chef.reina so you don’t miss out on anything!