Today we’d like to introduce you to Ralph Hsiao and Andrew Marco.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
rctngl came about while we were sitting around our table brainstorming ideas for a name. We thought about how we started with hosting pot lucks at our house to stay in touch with our friends. We threw around ideas until we looked down at the table, a simple rctngl.
Far more than a flat surface upon which to dine, the table can be the heartbeat of a family. It’s a place to gather, to talk and to reconnect. The dining table has always been a symbol of many things: the place where we nourish ourselves, where we come together, celebrate important milestones, share experiences, and create new understandings.
Regardless of other differences, all cultures across the world (and through time) view the dining table with the same significance. The table represents connection.
As for our journey, we started off as amateur home cooks. We didn’t have this intense passion for cooking growing up. We would help our parents in the kitchen as a way to spend time with family, but nothing crazy. During the pot luck era, we just cooked anything that we thought our friends would like to eat: po boys, hamburgers, pastas, just messing around and reading recipes off the internet. Really no direction.
It was not until a trip to Italy for a friend’s wedding that we had an epiphany. We have never had Italian food like we did in Italy. That made us realize that we will never be able to discern what the best cacio e pepe or bolognese is. But, Marco growing up Filipino and me growing up Taiwanese, we do know Filipino and Chinese food. This trip honed our focus to the style of food that we do now. Filipino inspired, Los Angeles influenced.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Throughout our journey we’ve been relatively blessed with a great community, without them we wouldn’t be where we are today. Whether it be attending and booking our dinners or helping our art direction, the least difficult thing for us to do was to find support. I would say our largest obstacle came from within — our confidence.
Though we’ve been doing this for over two years, our first year and a half was riddled with complacency and doubt in our own skills. With no actual kitchen experience, we felt like we were the perfect example of imposter syndrome. Do people just eat our food because they feel bad for us? How are people actually letting us cook for them? Is our food even that good? This lack of confidence made us complacent and unmotivated, and within the early stages, it was common to have two months (sometimes longer) in between our pop-ups.
However, throughout time, when our dinners evolved from familiar faces to people we’ve never met before, we knew that we were on the right path. In order for us to truly progress, we needed to believe that we were the chefs that people believed we were. By no means are we fully over this struggle, but each day that we move forward we are learning to deal with it. By putting that energy out that we wanted this, people vibed out with us, and we’ve been rolling with that momentum ever since.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with rctngl – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We’re just two dudes from Los Angeles that have been hosting Filipino family style dinners out of our humble abode. We have no proper training. We have no proper experience.
We only have our hands, minds, and hearts. We’re not here to change the game, but we are in the pursuit of culture, a culture of food. We believe food is the first barrier of entry to another person’s world. Food gives us the first taste of someone else’s history, experiences, and culture. The table we share is what brings people together.
People bring shared experiences. Shared experiences bring community. Community brings belief. Belief brings change. We have been given the privilege of creating a space that fosters connection through Filipino food by our community of friends and peers. We want to share this energy with everyone that walks through our doors.
“Filipinos are born into a tradition where eating should bring happiness. Naya Naya means both serving a meal and being happy. As elders will remind, when the appetite is satisfied, the heart can love.” – Felice Prudente Sta. Maria
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking to scale up and become a legitimate business. We have been hosting underground pop up dinners for the past two years. Though fun, we don’t think it is a sustainable way of living.
So we put down a down payment for a commissary kitchen to have a proper space to do all of our prep for the catering side of our business. We will also try our hand at servicing as a delivery only restaurant under different food concepts.
We believe these are plausible steps for us to invest, make money, and grow our brand to lead to our dream goal of opening up our own brick and mortar.
We are Los Angelenos that are proud of our city. Ultimately, we want Los Angeles to be proud of us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rctngl.la
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: rctngl
Image Credit:
MB Maher
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