Local Filipino chef puts catering on hold to focus on COVID-19 hospital work

In the week before social distancing became the new norm, we shared a story on Dallas’ first Filipino Food Festival and how young entrepreneurs are fueling a boom of the cuisine in North Texas. But John Richard and Marie Manansala, the couple behind Mekeni Filipino Kitchen, were attending an overseas wedding during that time and were left out of the talented lineup at the popular March 8 event.

Last week in an Instagram post, the couple paused Mekeni’s catering services and pop-up events, prolonging our wait even further. John Richard’s full-time job is a phlebotomist and lab assistant at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen. He shared that, for now, he was trading in his apron for an isolation gown. "Needles, tourniquet[s] and test kits" are taking the place of "knives, pans and pots" until "we defeat the ‘invisible’ enemy."