Family owned: Juwin Rodrigazo runs Judith’s Cafe with his mother and the eatery’s namesake, Judith Johnson.
Judith’s Cafe, a quaint eatery on Seymour’s Wallis St, incorporates Western cuisine with traditional Filipino food and hospitality.
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Its homely interior is reminiscent of a breezy dining room in a Philippine province, with mellow music fused with modern countertops and display counters.
Juwin Rodrigazo manages the café, which he named after his mother, Judith Johnson.
Mr Rodrigazo has worked in hospitality in Australia for the past 15 years, but in 2022, he ventured into opening the business with his family.
Now he works as an events manager in Melbourne, but visits Seymour once or twice a week to manage the café.
“It’s always a dream for me to open a café and restaurant,” Mr Rodrigazo said.
“Filipino food wasn’t ... a concept in my mind because I live in Melbourne, but I guess it comes down with the family.”
He said Filipino food was a challenging cuisine to build a business around, even in Melbourne.
“It’s still under-represented as a restaurant,” he said.
Filipino cuisine is heavily influenced by Spanish, Chinese, American and Malaysian, which makes it unique, according to Mr Rodrigazo.
“We’re not a fusion restaurant because we are representing Filipino food and Australian restaurants,” he said.
“You want the signature of the Philippines to be sort of ... integrated to our concept.”
Exquisite: Traditional Filipino sizzling sisig paired with fried rice and atsara, a palate cleanser made with pickled papaya, ginger and carrots, and a cup of ube latte. Photo: Faith Macale
Photo by
Faith Macale
Judith’s Cafe serves signature Pinoy dishes like sisig, a main dish made from finely chopped pork jowl, pork belly, liver, onions, calamansi and chilli peppers, traditionally served with rice and egg; pancit, which is stir-fried glass noodles; Filipino-style pork barbecue skewers; and a Pinoy-style breakfast called silog.
It also serves coffee, sandwiches and pastries, but what stands out from the menu is the ‘ube latte’, an aromatic blend of purple yam extract found in many Filipino desserts, and a creamy latte.
“We know it works for Australian (palate),” Mr Rodrigazo said.
He said cafés were all about creative and innovative ways of doing things differently, so he used emotions to create unique experiences.
“Whatever the traditional Filipino food, that makes them (Pinoys) sort of an emotional trigger,” he said.
“It makes a unique sort of concept.”
When moving to a different country, food is something that people miss a lot.
Brighter with big smiles: (L-R) When Juwin Rodrigazo is in Melbourne, the cafe is in the capable hands of (from left) Ranni Ranilo, Judith Johnson, Ayoko Miki and Danniel Shilvock. Photo: Faith Macale
Photo by
Faith Macale
In her essay titled Where’s the Patis (fish sauce)?, Filipino writer Carmen Guerrero Nakpil said Filipinos remained — gastronomically, at least — always Filipino, for they loved their country with their stomachs.
“That’s what we wanted to create ... that kind of experience,” Mr Rodrigazo said.
“We’d want a great experience, like they feel like they know that we are family.
“Creating that experience for Filipino community ... or even to Australian, that you know we have something unique to offer.”
Judith’s Cafe had a rough start.
Only two months after opening, it was devastated by the October 2022 floods, but that didn’t stop Mr Rodrigazo and his family from striving for more goals and making their visions a reality.
Mr Rodrigazo said he had four main visions for Judith’s Cafe’s future.
“The vision is that we want to make a difference to the community,” he said.
“Creating something different to the Filipino ... a cultural experience.
“Be good at something we can really be the best of.
“(And) innovate something unique that not many other cafés are doing.”
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