Joel Torre recently expanded his Bacolod chicken inasal business to Dubai.
With the newly opened branch in Dubai, the actor's JT's Manukan Grille has now three international branches.
"Twenty percent of people in Dubai are Filipinos. For every five persons, may isang Pinoy. Imagine? Twenty-one percent if you have to be exact," the actor relayed in an interview with chef JP Anglo in his latest YouTube vlog.
The two other branches of Joel's chicken inasal business are located in Singapore. "We have two in Singapore. We just opened last month our second branch. It was our partners who wanted to maybe push it so we did," he shared.
JP expressed how proud he was of Joel's recent branch opening in Dubai. "I am so proud of what's happening with Filipino food. I am so proud of JT's, you guys grabe like and tingnan mo 'yung food court na 'to, 90 percent are customers of a Filipino brand," he highlighted.
The chef believes that Joel's chicken inasal business will thrive in Dubai. "Sigurado ako 'yung pila na ito ay hindi mawawala. Palagi siyang magkakaroon ng pila because maliban na masarap because konti lang ang true to form dito. 'Yung iba kasi, 'Ah sige pwede na.' Or 'pag may obstacle, liliko na. Ito dere-derecho, nilampaasan niya 'yung pader or kung anong obstacle and ginawa niya 'yung kanya...That's why I strongly believe in us. If we do it this way then magtatagumpay talaga tayo," he remarked.
For Joel, being a restaurateur and an actor are both his passions. "I'm doing both my passion. Because of my mom, I started out with food at a very young age. I used to be her sidekick, she brings me to the market. And I started theater with Peque (Gallaga) at the age of 7 so these were growing up, both my passion. And that's why I'm so happy na [naco-continue] ko 'yung both," he said.
In an interview with Maricel Soriano for her YouTube vlog in May, Joel shared the inspiration behind his food business.
"Taga-Bacolod kami eh naisipan namin na restaurant, so awa ng Diyos tinangkilik ng tao, talagang nagustuhan ng tao," Joel remarked.
The actor is grateful to be in the inasal business, which is considered one of the top chicken recipes in the world. "Number five chicken recipe siya in the world... so tamang-tama nandito tayo sa negosyo na ito so thank you Lord talaga," he stated.
Joel said that his mother trained him early on about the food business. "We had a food business sa bahay, so bata pa lang ako nagte-train na ako sa nanay ko. Dinadala niya ako sa palengke so naging parang second nature sa akin. Sabi ko gusto ko rin sana na magkaroon ako ng isang restaurant," he recounted.
When asked how he manages to balance acting and entrepreneurship, Joel explained that both are connected in many ways.
"Ang acting is business din eh. I mean ang acting by itself art, pero may business side of it kaya nga kumukuha tayo ng manager,” he stated.
He went on: ”Before dalawa ang major ko sa college kasi mahilig talaga ako sa theater. Eh sa theater ang talent fee hindi masyadong malaki. Sabi ko kailangan ko ng negosyo para mag-supplement ng art ko kasi akala ko magiging theater actor ako for the rest of my life. So pinag-aralan ko 'yung negosyo."