Margarita and her mother
WHEN Fr. Carmelo “Tito” Caluag celebrated Mass recently in the 21st branch of Cibo at U.P. Town Center, he recalled blessing the first restaurant at the Glorietta bridgeway in 1997. Back then, chef and founder Margarita Forés profusely thanked her mother, socialite Ma. Lourdes “Baby” Araneta Forés, who lent the capital for Margarita to venture into her dream business.
Knowing that Margarita was more of a creative person, her mother insisted on having her finance- and operation-savvy siblings watch the bottom line. The children paid back their mother in a year. Thanks to Baby, the restaurant involved the entire family—siblings Victoria (Veana), Mercedes (Bledes), Jose (Joe), and Jorge (Oye), and their parents.
This 26-year-old homegrown Italian casual dining restaurant has evolved into one of the most popular food chains in the Philippines. Margarita has become a multi-awarded culinary artist, was named Asia’s Best Female Chef in 2016, became a recognized envoy of authentic Italian cuisine, a resource speaker for Filipino gastronomy, and a proponent of community support for local growers.
Margarita Fores after winning Asia’s Best Female Chef 2016, with mother Baby and son Amado
The newest Cibo marked the first opening of the restaurant chain branch without Baby, who died of complications from lung cancer last March 25. She was 84 years old.
“She had faith in me,” says Margarita. “Mommy was real. She never held back to find her joy. She taught us how to live and to make the most of our lives. That was the biggest gift for us.”
A fashion icon, Baby was known for quiet elegance and for celebrity friends when she lived in New York from 1972 to 1985. Her panache was evident in the impeccable fit and fall of her high-fashion clothes, the pulled-back hair, and the oversized sunglasses that became her signature look. Though she had a collection of foreign couture, she tapped Filipino designers such as the House of R.T. Paras. As a regular client of the House of R. T. Paras, she would do fitting with the founder’s daughter herself, Josefina “Inang” Gonzales; her son, Roy, who was a fashion designer based in Paris; and her niece, Clarita. When Roy was chief designer of Jean Patou, Baby would buy clothes from the French fashion house. In her later years, she wore clothes by Inno Sotto and the late Pepito Albert.
Her unfussy panache was evident in the impeccable fit and fall of her high-fashion clothes, the pulled-back hair, and the oversized sunglasses
Even long before Margarita became an accomplished chef-restaurateur, she was already singled out by media as a fashion plate, and she’s always acknowledged her mother as her main fashion influence.
Beyond fashion, Baby is remembered by her children as the proverbial wind beneath their wings. She saw their potential for independence and success, and gave them the impetus.
Baby came from one of the leading families in Philippine business and industry. The patriarch Jesus Amado Araneta was a Negrense businessman with diverse interests in agriculture and commerce. Before World War II, he made his fortune in sugar plantations at the height of the sugar boom. In the post-war era, the sugar baron ventured into real estate by developing Cubao’s commercial center, building the Araneta Coliseum (now Smart Araneta), then the world’s largest indoor stadium, in 1959. The “Araneta Cubao,” as Filipinos have known to call this veritable city within the city, is one of the biggest commercial developments and landmarks in Metro Manila.
Being the youngest child, after siblings Jorge and Judy, Baby was pampered by her father Don Amado. At 13, she went on a tour with him, and came home with 14 suitcases.
At age 18 in 1957, she married prominent physician Raul Forés after a whirlwind courtship. He became one of the founders of Makati Medical Center and its president and CEO. Their wedding reception was held at the Bahay na Puti, the resplendent Araneta family residence in Cubao, another city landmark.
Through the years, the Araneta children became involved in the family’s real estate business. Acknowledging her unerring taste, Don Amado appointed Baby as creative director when he bagged the franchise of Matsuzukaya department store in the late ’60s and later the New Frontier Supermarket. Tasked to select the merchandise, Baby went on buying trips to Japan.
In 1972, Don Amado and his wife Ester were traveling in California when President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law on Sept. 21. The couple decided to stay in America and Don Amado ran his businesses remotely. Baby, who was at a crossroads in her life, decided to be with her parents and bring her children to the US.
Don Amado and Ester moved to the Upper East Side in New York. Baby rented an apartment close to them. She enrolled Veana and Margarita at Marymount School of New York and Joe at Saint David’s School on the Upper East Side. Two years later, the younger siblings followed them to New York.
For her high school graduation gift in 1976, Margarita traveled with her mother for two months in Europe—a month in Paris, billeted at the grand landmark hotel, George V, and the rest in London and Sardegna, Italy. Baby exposed Margarita to the finer things in the Old World. They immersed themselves like locals, even going on double dates. The best part of her trip: she had her mother all to herself.
Prince Egon vonFürstenberg, with wife, Diane vonFürstenberg, who would become one of the famous fashion designers of the ’80s on to the 2000s, attended Margarita’s debut
“Mommy shared how she enjoyed being alone with her dad at 13. She was his favorite. She went to New York and major cities with him during the sugar boom. The dollar exchange rate was very low then,” recalls Margarita.
Margarita and her mother in 1976
In New York City, the well-connected Baby was a habitue of Studio 54, the era’s iconic disco of music and affluent and bohemian patrons. Pop artist Andy Warhol, a regular, wanted a sitting with her, but Baby was turned off by his secretary. Spanish artist Salvador Dali wanted to paint her, but Baby refused to be captured as a surreal image. Once, real estate billionaire Donald Trump fetched her from their apartment. Her close friends included film director Roberto Rossellini, director Oliver Stone’s mother Jacqueline, and German banker and interior designer Prince Egon vonFürstenberg. Prince Egon, with wife Diane vonFürstenberg, who would become one of the famous fashion designers of the ’80s on to the 2000s, attended Margarita’s debut in 1977 at El Morocco, another landmark of the night life in Manhattan.
Margarita’s debut at El Morocco with her mother (center) and her ‘wawa Esther’
Baby’s foray into the fashion business was a story in itself, says Margarita. As a regular customer of American designer Roy Halston, she would have her fittings with his consultant, French-Latin aristocrat Diane de Beauveau, Halston’s muse, who made a dent in the social circle through her partying and pedigree. Her parents were Marc de Beauveau, the last Prince of Craon, a municipality in France, and Cristina, daughter of Bolivian tycoon Antenor Patiño. Her maternal great grandfather was Simon Patiño, known as the Latino King of Tin.
De Beauveau wanted to free herself from the clutches of her parents in Paris by applying for a job with Halston. Lured by the idea of having a princess in his design house, Halston offered her a contract as an adviser, whose only job was to give feedback on his designs. The designer paid her in jewelry instead of cash, to avoid legalities.
After three years with Halston, she launched her namesake brand Diane de Beauveau in 1977 at age 22. With generous financial assistance from the Aranetas, Baby bankrolled the business. The launch at the Plaza Hotel was attended by Baby’s circle—Diana Vreeland, Truman Capote, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Lee Radziwill, Nan Kempner, Cristina Onassis, Robert Rauschenberg, and Ian Schrager, to name a few.
The 60-piece collection featured slinky and shimmery clothes, long and short unitards, sheer dresses and skirts, and a wedding finale of the bride and groom in contrasting sparkly bodysuits. The video of the launch is immortalized in YouTube.
De Beauveau had a showroom at 16 West 57th Street. However, the fashion trade required not only creativity, but also solid business skills and discipline. Though the business was short-lived, Veana and cousin Ria Araneta Roxas had fond memories of working in the showroom.
The launch at the Plaza Hotel was attended by Baby’s circle—Diana Vreeland, Truman Capote, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Lee Radziwill, Nan Kempner, Cristina Onassis
In 1980, with only a year to go before graduating from Mount Holyoke College in New York, Margarita pleaded with her mother to let her come home to the Philippines to follow her boyfriend. Baby was distraught. Yet, she couldn’t hold her daughter back, probably seeing a younger, albeit impulsive and headstrong version of herself in her. Margarita made up for it by graduating magna cum laude from Assumption in 1981, with a double degree in accounting and management.
“She was convinced that wherever you put me, I would make the best of it,” says Margarita. “There were many decisions in my life which she couldn’t understand. In a way, my mom lived her life like that—to the fullest. Some decisions may have disappointed other people. In the end, you make the most of those choices.”
When her relationship ended, Margarita went to Hong Kong to work as intern at Axona International Credit & Commerce Co. When the office moved to China, Baby got Margarita a job at the Valentino fur licensing office in New York. A client of Valentino Couture, Baby asked her friend, Alfonso Telese, an executive, to facilitate her daughter’s employment. The office, which also handled communications, was close to the Forés residence at 733 Park Avenue.
Margarita Fores and mom by the Christmas tree at the Peninsula Hong Kong, 2018
Margarita gives her mother credit for giving her opportunities for growth. In her two-and-a-half year stint with Valentino, she traveled to Paris, learned about marketing and licensing, and brought dog food and flowers to Valentino’s apartment whenever he visited New York.
Off hours, Margarita shared her enthusiasm for cooking and setting the table. “Mom was happy that I was enjoying New York,” she says. “From the people whom I met through her, I got wonderful opportunities and worked in such a life-changing environment. It gave me the chance to cook for them and invite them over to my mom’s house and family place in upstate New York. That got me started in what I’m doing today. I discovered that cooking for others made me happiest. But I still love fashion. I learned that from my mom.”
When Don Amado Araneta died in November 1985, his remains were brought to Manila. Baby saw no reason to remain in New York. She gave up the apartment, while her two siblings maintained theirs. Most of the cousins returned to the Philippines, while Margarita and cousin Mar Roxas, then an investment banker, stayed behind.
The following year, Margarita told her mother that she wanted to pursue culinary lessons in Italy. Baby paid for the trip. “She was worried that I would be by myself,” recalls Margarita. “In the end, she felt it was an exercise in trying to discover myself. She wanted to give that experience to me.”
‘In the end, she felt it was an exercise in trying to discover myself. She wanted to give that experience to me’
Rebooting her life in the Philippines, Baby stayed as board director of the Araneta Group and socialized, but not as extensively as in New York. Lending glamour to the disco scene, she partied with younger patricians such as Inigo Zobel, Louie Ysmael, and Bong Daza.
“She enjoyed being with young people,” says Margarita. Margarita’s own son Amado, her nephews and nieces, and their friends have wonderful recollections of clubbing with Baby.
Over time, Baby grew weary of the nightlife and preferred to stay at home to be with her little grandchildren. The entire family, including Dr. Forés, would gather for Sunday dinners at the Bahay na Puti.
Since 1990, Baby had been active with the Laura Vicuña Foundation in Cubao, a center which looks after children’s welfare. “She spent time with those kids. Not many knew that Mommy kept it close to her heart. She was generous but never showy,” says Margarita. “Mommy always listened when they asked for help. Learning from her, we would like to continue the way she lived as we get older, and, in turn, give those lessons to our children.”
During the pandemic, Baby stayed at Bahay na Puti while her children continued to go to work. Despite businesses hampered by COVID restrictions, she was confident of the independence of her children and grandchildren, and that their food businesses would remain afloat.
Two years ago, Baby was diagnosed with lung cancer. Her children made the most of the precious time by taking turns to be with her. Last August, they organized a joint birthday celebration for Margarita and Judy.
Margarita will always cherish her mother’s unconditional devotion to her children. “She wanted us to have the best of everything. Though the five of us had different challenges growing up, she always understood us. She supported us when we weren’t sure of what we wanted, and when we made choices that were not the best for us. She wasn’t rigid. Her nature was very giving. She and my dad made sure we lived not for ourselves, but for everyone who was around us. Mommy taught us how to live with open hearts.”
