Long before it became trendy to spotlight local ingredients, Margarita was already doing the work—quietly, passionately, and with deep respect. After training in Italy, she returned to Manila not to replicate Italian cooking, but to reinterpret it in a way that was approachable to Filipinos. Through her flagship restaurant Cibo, she introduced rustic yet refined Italian dishes that became a staple for a generation. But her vision didn’t stop there.