The history of Concha’s Garden Cafe and Alden Richards

- Alden Richards and Gemma Sembrano shared the history behind their partnership for Concha’s Garden Cafe.
- Alden also named some of his favorite dishes in the restaurant.

Concha’s Garden Cafe is one of the most talked-about restaurants of this generation, not just because of their partnership with Kapuso actor Alden Richards, but also because of their promise to serve quality food.

According to Gemma Sembrano, the founder of the business, one of the reasons they have tasty meals is because they don’t have any MSG in them. So how did her partnership with Alden start?

“So 2014 nag start ang Concha’s. March 2014. Naging customer namin si Alden, siguro isang buwan, hindi lang siya 5x bumabalik. Halos twice a week bumabalik siya sa Concha’s. Ang first branch namin is sa Silang, Cavite.

“Actually tayo yung lugar kung makikita niyo, hindi siya mukhang restaurant. Mukha lang siyang bilihan ng halaman. Bahay na maliit. Hindi mo akalain.”

Gemma said that Alden has been their regular customer even before he shot to fame through the AlDub tandem. She added that the actor even used to joke about how the food there are all delicious to the point that he asked “Ano ba yung hindi masarap dito?”

Then in 2016, the businesswoman offered him the chance to be their partner.

“So walang dalawang isip, nag okay agad siya. Naglagay kami sa Tagaytay, 2016. So business partner ko na siya sa Tagaytay.

“Then same year, inopen namin ‘tong sa Tomas Morato December 10. So the same year, dalawang restaurant yung binuksan namin.”

So what dish does Alden love the most?

“Yung Shrimp Gambas siguro nakaka dalawang order siya. Laoya. Minsan iba-iba kasi yung araw na ganito, ito lang. Sa susunod na araw iba naman. Like yung Bangus Sardines.”

On the other hand, Alden said that the reason why he agreed to be involved in the restaurant is because of the quality of the food.

“Kasi siyempre I’ve eaten in different kinds of restaurants and since I’ve started eating sa Concha’s, almost twice a week or three times a week, kumakain kami dun.”

He also added Okoy as one of his favorite dishes in the restaurant.

Alden admitted that he doesn’t really know anything about businesses as he didn’t have any background in the industry. But despite the cluelessness, he described the partnership as “the best risk he took so far.”

On a lighter note, when the star was asked if what he will order in case he will take a date to Concha’s, he answered, “Siyempre we’ll start with Okoy. Tapos yung Shrimp Gambas, yun. Kasi ako I really believe good food really gives you good mood eh. Iba yung nagagawa ng pagkain pag busog ka, pag masarap yung food. When you start the day with good food, throughout, maganda good mo.

“So yun din yung isa sa mga kino-consider namin. For our customers to feel, you’ll have good food, and pag-labas nila, happy sila.”

Concha’s Garden Cafe currently has three branches, one in Silang, Tagaytay, and Tomas Morato.