Jackie's Love Kitchen: A passion served one plate at a time
Former national tennis player Jackie Castillejo built Jackie's Love Kitchen, a Philippine pop-up serving thoughtfully sourced dishes. Order via Viber; purchases of ₱2,000+ support animal welfare
TASTE
PJ Valenciano
7/6/20266 min read
The many sides of Jackie Castillejo
Behind every memorable meal is something even more meaningful—the friendships we nurture, the stories we share, and the simple joy of spending time together
People know Jackie Castillejo through the many chapters of her life. She represented the Philippines as a national tennis player, built a career as a writer and journalist, and expressed her creativity as a television artist. Each chapter reflects a woman who meets new experiences with curiosity, discipline, and a willingness to keep learning.
The Jackie I know, though, is someone whose eyes light up whenever the conversation turns to food.
Whenever she visits us in La Union, our home naturally becomes a gathering place. She loves hosting just as much as she loves cooking, and before long the kitchen fills with conversation, laughter, and the smell of a meal slowly coming together. I've watched her move around it — tasting, adjusting, paying attention to the smallest details with unmistakable excitement. Long before anyone sits down to eat, she's already enjoying the act of creating something for the people around her.
That's part of what makes cooking with Jackie so hard to describe. Preparing the meal is only one piece of it. What she truly loves is welcoming people to the table, telling stories while she cooks, and watching everyone enjoy what she's made.
Our friendship has always run through food — recipes, memorable meals, restaurants, travel, the ingredients that give a dish its character. Neither of us is a professional chef, but we share a genuine love for cooking and the quiet satisfaction of doing it with care. Those conversations rarely stop once the meal is finished. Before long, we're talking tomatoes, olive oil, herbs, cheeses, seafood, vegetables — how one ingredient can completely change a dish.
Over time, I realized Jackie doesn't simply enjoy cooking. She enjoys understanding food. That curiosity has always been part of her; the kitchen just gave it another place to live.
Good food has a way of bringing people together. Around every table, conversations are shared, memories are made, and simple moments become lasting ones.
Cooking is an art
I've always believed cooking deserves to be recognized as an art form — that artists simply see the world a little differently. Writers shape stories through words. Musicians express emotion through melody. Painters bring ideas to life through color and texture. Cooks begin with ingredients, and through patience and care, turn something ordinary into a meal that nourishes not just the body, but the conversations and memories shared around it.
Like any art, cooking rewards attention to detail — a touch more seasoning, an ingredient's freshness, the balance between acidity and richness can change everything. It's one of the reasons Jackie and I have always enjoyed talking about food: the creative process behind a meal, and the way even a familiar recipe leaves room for the person making it to put a little of themselves into it.
Jackie's Love Kitchen grew from that same spirit — understanding ingredients, respecting the process, and creating food that people genuinely enjoy sharing with others.
Where simple ingredients, thoughtful preparation, and a love for good food come together—one dish, one story, and one shared table at a time
Respecting the ingredients
Fresh ingredients, vibrant flavors, and thoughtful preparation come together in every bite—proof that the simplest meals are often the ones we remember most
Jackie's appreciation for food begins long before the cooking starts. She wants to know where ingredients come from, how they're produced, why they work so beautifully together — sourcing, freshness, quality, flavor, all the small details that shape what eventually lands on the table.
Learning never stops
Another quality I've always admired in Jackie is how willingly she keeps learning. After sharing a meal, she almost always asks for honest feedback — were the flavors balanced, did the ingredients complement each other, what could be better next time. She isn't fishing for compliments. She genuinely wants to grow, the same way an athlete trains, a writer revises, a journalist keeps asking questions because every conversation reveals something worth understanding.
Cooking has simply become another expression of that same mindset. Feedback lets her recipes evolve, and lets her keep learning through the people she cooks for.
More than a meal
Reading the comments from people who've tasted Jackie's cooking, I found myself lingering on the words they chose. One described her puttanesca as "perfectly balanced, savory, tangy, and super satisfying." Another appreciated its simplicity, calling it "simple, satisfying, and delicious."
That feedback pointed to something beyond the dish — an experience shaped by care, by ingredients chosen thoughtfully, by food made by someone who genuinely loves the process. Those are the qualities hardest to measure, and often the ones people remember longest..
A passion served one plate at a time
Comforting, hearty, and prepared with care—food has a way of nourishing both the body and the moments we share with the people around us
Jackie has always believed food should be fun. It shows in the themed meals she creates, the rotating pop-up menus she introduces, even the playful names she gives her fresh juice blends. There's real respect for the craft — but always room for curiosity and play.
As Jackie's Love Kitchen has grown, so have the moments that come with it. At the unveiling of the Philippines' first WTA 125 tournament in Manila, Jackie prepared her signature sub sandwiches for guests — a small but meaningful moment that tied together two parts of her life: her roots in Philippine tennis, and her enduring love of cooking.
Meals have a way of becoming part of our memories. A celebration, a conversation between friends, an ordinary afternoon — shared around a thoughtfully prepared table, any of it can take on new meaning. The food eventually disappears. The experience tends to stay.
Food should bring joy
Her philosophy is simple: good ingredients deserve respect. Rather than masking flavor with unnecessary complexity, she lets ingredients speak for themselves — fresh vegetables, good olive oil, herbs, cheeses, seafood, each one contributing its own character to the final dish.
Listening to her has reminded me that memorable cooking starts long before anything reaches the pan. It starts with paying attention, choosing thoughtfully, and appreciating what each ingredient brings to a meal that feels balanced, honest, and satisfying.
Jackie's Love Kitchen began with something wonderfully simple: a genuine love for cooking. As it continues to grow, it still carries everything that inspired it — respect for quality ingredients, care in preparation, a willingness to keep learning, and the joy of sharing good food with others.
The word "love" in Jackie's Love Kitchen has never felt decorative to me. It lives in the way she talks about ingredients, the excitement she brings into the kitchen, the openness with which she welcomes honest feedback, and the generosity she extends to everyone who gathers at her table. For me, this kitchen has never really been about a menu or a list of recipes — it's her, finding one more way to express who she is. In the end, that might be the finest ingredient of all: a passion served one plate at a time.
Rich, comforting, and thoughtfully prepared, this is the kind of dish that invites you to slow down, savor each bite, and enjoy the simple pleasure of good food shared with good company
Continuing the story
Jackie's Love Kitchen keeps growing through rotating pop-up menus, themed meals, and seasonal creations inspired by her love for good food and quality ingredients. Whether you're gathering with family, celebrating something special, or simply craving a thoughtfully made meal, Jackie welcomes you to come experience it for yourself.
Current menus, pop-up schedules, and orders are available through Viber at +63 917 162 1964. Orders of ₱2,000 and above also help support animal welfare — a small way of extending kindness beyond the table.