Monday, November 28, 2011

El Toro - An Interview With Joy Mahbubahni

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Murugiah Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

El Toro, part 2 (Intro to Salad Bar in the diet)

On Thursday, 22nd Nov, last week, we were at El Toro to witness the launch of 'The Salad Bar Buffet' on Thursdays in the restaurant, in support of a healthy diet in food. Later on, we took the salad which was on an exclusive table which just cost only $9.90. We found the taste delicious. There were other friends of ours who came to eat at El Toro. It is in part one of the blogs. 

Introducing the salad means that people will get more vitamin C from the diet and also have many anti-oxidants for the body to recover from fatigue, stress and workout bout from exercise. In a way, using studies done, many lower the chances of getting cancer and would be able to use this as a weight loss programme. I found that the taste nice and the salad tasted fresh. 

As part of El Toro's philosophy of giving back, Managing Director, Joy Mahbubani has done some activities that encourages giving back by her doing selfless service to the society. Hence, this made me interview Joy Mahbubani on her intentions in doing some of the actions. I found her intentions to be noble and thought that others could do likewise.












What is the name of your restaurant and how did this name come about?
El toro means "the Bull" in Spanish. This was the name of the restaurant when we took it over. We liked the name and how it is so much a part of the Latin American countries that we share through our food at the restaurant.

Can you tell us about the history of your restaurant? 
the new el toro, without alcohol and removing all pork and lard from our menu was part of our revamp when we took over the restaurant a few months ago. We had our official launch in August this year.

Can you share with us about yourself as the Managing Director of this restaurant? 
I have run many businesses in my life and for the first time, this business is a restaurant. The same entrepreneur spirit is required as in most business.  It is a new experience and I am very blessed to have a great team that are our two pillars at the restaurant through the service and the kitchen, I am learning the specifics of this business and enjoying it very much.

What are the Community Involvement Projects that you are doing to serve the community? 
We have worked with ONE Singapore, TWC2, Mother and Child and other smaller groups with their specific cause.

Can you tell us about the assistance that you are doing for SEA prostitute? 
We had a recent collaboration with this group from the US, Together we can change the world, you can find more about this through www.joyful-women.com. They go on tours to help these young women. In our recent concert that we held for them, we raised money for them.

Can you elaborate on the Family Day for your staff and doing voluntary service of the restaurant by volunteers? 
We want to share about what it means to volunteer so we invite young people to assist when we have our give-back programme to feed those we invite to el toro during our Upper Room programme. We hope to bring food out to the needy and having the help of the volunteers is very important.

Share with us the reason for coming up with a salad bar buffet for $9.90 on Thursdays? 
We want to expand our menu to include more dietary requirements. Having a great vegetarian selection is very important for us and for our patrons. We met up with the Vegetarian Society here in Singapore to share about our direction forward. They shared us about the Veggie Thursday movement and it connected with us. The Salad Bar Buffet is the best way to share this message.

Can you share with us in detail on the artifacts that are displayed on the wall of the restaurant? 
As part of our philosophy to give back, we commissioned Mother and Child who is a group here in Singapore who works with single mothers to allow them a means to support themselves through sewing fashion pieces, accessories and gifts. They produced all the wall coverings that are around the restaurant.


http://flexifitness.runningcoachsg.com/


Note:

By Narayanan

Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.