This chef turned a painful setback into a Michelin milestone

When Frances Tariga closed her restaurant in the United States in 2024, she came back to the Philippines carrying the weight of a dream she thought had come to an end, unsure if she would ever find her way back to the kitchen. 

Tadhana had earned a place in the Michelin Guide in New York, but unfortunately even that could not shield a small business from the financial realities of running a restaurant in one of the world’s most competitive cities.

“I closed Tadhana in New York. It was really heartbreaking. I am a small business; there are 10,000 businesses in NYC. If you don’t have the funding, it won’t last… Everyone is the best of the best there,” she said in an interview during the Michelin Guide 2027 ceremony held in Pasay City, Thursday. “After a heartbreak, I thought I’m not going to ever open a restaurant.” 

But Tariga did not know then that the end of her dream in New York was just the beginning of another.

“I have never worked in the Philippines,” she recalled. “Moving to the Philippines was hard for us. I moved back to the Philippines because we were going through a lot.”

Back home, she again took chance on the dream she had once thought was no longer in the cards.

“Guess what, after heartbreaks and heartbreaks there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.

That light came just five months after they opened their doors, when Tadhana was recognized with the Opening of the Year in the 2027 Michelin Guide Philippines as well as earned a place on its Michelin Selected list.

“It feels validating. it is a teamwork. On behalf of the young team, thank you for letting us show what Filipino food can be…With all the creative efforts of the staff Dangwa, Divisoria, Quiapo, that is where all my staff came from,” she said.  

The restaurant currently offers a contemporary tasting menu of 10 courses and 17 small bites, reflecting Tariga’s own culinary journey and her desire to bring familiar Filipino flavors into a fine-dining setting.

“Right now it is my culinary journey so if you want good Filipino hip-hop music, Tadhana marririnig niyo Hev Abi in a fine dining restaurant,” she teased.

Tadhana, however, is more than the food on the plate. As a lesbian, she also hopes to make room for people who may not always see themselves represented in professional kitchens.

“As a Filipino lesbian who grew up in Sampaloc… follow your dream. To all the lesbians and LBTQIA, you guys deserve a spot in the kitchen. You deserve respect. You deserve everything. Aim high,” she said.

“The gays and lesbians, they think we are the clowns. This is validating. It is everyone’s game.”

Following the Michelin recognition, Tariga, who once struggled to imagine a future beyond a dream she thought she had lost, is now looking forward to busier, brighter days in the kitchen she once thought she would never return to. Through every dish they serve at Tadhana, she hopes to inspire others to keep believing that their own stories, too, are far from over.

“I am a living statement of dreaming. Kung may pinagdadaanan kayo laban lang,” she said.“I just want to inspire everyone, I want everyone to know sky is the limit.”