Leonardo's Lechon History

One may asked how three generation of family business continued to survive up to this day when clearly an old saying has rebuke that idea. But it wasn’t the business that continued to survive rather the love that revolves around this family. Yes, it may sound unrealistic but truly the passion and love for the legacy that was Leonardo’s has increasingly help it become the better and solid lechon house one could ever imagine it would be.

Leonardo's lechon is in the food business for almost 60 years now. The family’s humble beginnings started with “Tatay Leonardo” or “Totoy” to his friends and “Nanay Josefina” or “Pinay”. They used to live in a small shack owned by a relative and they operated a stall in the local palengke (market). They sold various items like sugar, milk, rice and canned goods.

During fiestas and special occasions, their relatives and friends always asked Totoy and Pinay to cook for them, since they knew that their specialty dishes were always a hit in gatherings. Totoy would be given a whole pig and roast it the way they his father taught him from the province. Pinay would be with the other ladies preparing big cauldrons of kaldereta, dinuguan, kare-kare and other dishes for the fiesta.

Totoy then realized that he can earn from his talent of cooking and roasting lechon. He started with a small capital the couple had saved from their market stall and started to sell lechon. His initial staff were his seven children; Jimmy, Danny, Beth, Marlon, Sonny, Allan and Cris. The whole family would help in the preparation for cooking, the roasting itself and the delivery to the customers. The kids would balance their studies and help out with the business. Pinay together with their only daughter Beth continued to keep their small store in the Palengke.

Soon, the business grew and Totoy started to expand the business. He was able to buy a property where he built his house and a lechonan. Then he hired other personnel to be able to cope with the demand in lechon and food orders. He invested in delivery vans to be able to deliver to his customers faster and cover a wider market. Totoy’s and Pinay’s hard work slowly paid off when they were able to build the first supermarket in San Juan right beside the palengke. They were also able to build apartments and invested in other businesses.

After years of cooking and roasting, Totoy perfected how Lechon was cooked, starting from the special preparations and flavorings, slow roasting and coal-burning, that way he ensured the deliciousness and crispiness of Lechon to his customers.

Today, Leonardo’s Lechon continues to invest on what it truly knows best, which is love and passion towards food. That love which continued for three generation helped improved relationships with their employees and customers as well. It even brought more value to their dishes for it was made with such passion and love for food.