Maria Elena meets Cecile Ysmael who’s been spicing up Manila with two new Thai restaurants.

When she was growing up, Cecile Ysmael would always observe her mother each time she cooked for the family. She grew up in a family that loved to eat. A trip abroad after graduation opened her horizons and exposed her to different kinds of cuisine. She started to experiment on her own and would observe enly the dishes she tasted each time she ate out with friends.

Her marriage to Louis Ysmael, a man with an adventurous palate who is a whiz in the kitchen, opened her eyes to the world of food. He would take her on trips to different countries where they both enjoyed the cuisine. They both enjoyed Tai cuisine and would go to Thailand often just to eat authentic Thai food. Back home she experimented with Thai food and would invite friends for Thai home cooked dinner. Her friends encouraged her to take up Thai cuisine which she did intermittently. On other occasions she would travel to Thailand to study the cuisine. In the span of six years, she studied Thai cuisine in different schools in Thailand: Phuket Thai Cooking School, Chiang Mai Cookery School, The Khaohom Culinary School in also in Chiang Mai and The Oriental Hotel Cooking School in Bangkok.

In November, 2006, Cecile Ysmael finally realized her dream of opening her own Thai restaurant which she named SILK. It was a very successful venture and after two years she decided to diversify by opening a second restaurant, The Terrace at 5th which serves popular Filipino and continental dishes.

The success of her two restaurants has inspired Cecile Ysmael to raise the bar. “It is so inspiring and rewarding to see people patronizing both my  restaurants and as a wife and mother, I feel blessed that I am able to blend my work with my family life as well. My foray  into the restaurant business is the culmination of my dreams. My husband has encouraged me  to dream big and helped me realize them and for this I am grateful!”