Chef Tatung goes beyond cookbooks, online shows
Chef Tatung’s popular online cooking show “Simpol” has undergone a dramatic transformation. Beyond its roots in online cooking classes, “Simpol” is now a full-fledged integrated media company with ambitious goals: to achieve high editorial standards in its reporting across a wide range of lifestyle and business features.
Michael “Myke” Giovan Sarthou, better known as Chef Tatung, has expanded his award-winning cookbook series and cooking channel into a multiplatform content hub. Sarthou said the Simpol.ph website is an ecosystem acting as a central magazine shared across all its social media channels, offering not just recipes but other topics covered by a lifestyle publication.
Sarthou began his media career began as a columnist, copy editor, photographer, and editorial assistant for Sunstar Cebu. He still contributes recipes to the newspaper. He rose to national prominence when he guested as a chef in national TV shows. He authored cookbooks under ABS-CBN Publishing, with his first, “Philippine Cookery: From Heart to Platter,” winning the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2017 for “Best TV Chef Book Outside Europe.” He has since authored three other cookbooks that have also garnered awards in what is often called the “Oscars of Cookbooks.”
When ABS-CBN lost its franchise, Sarthou acquired the rights to his books. In 2021, he founded Vertikal Kreatives, a video and content production company that has published five other “Simpol” books. Last year, he released “Simply Simpol,” featuring easy international recipes, and “Simpol Young Chef’s Cookbook,” designed for children age 8 to 13, which has been nominated for the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. The children’s book follows the signature “Simpol” format of breaking down recipes within a recipe, but with added illustrations.
Wide reach
With some three million followers on his cooking channel, Chef Tatung saw his monthly reach across all his social media platforms reach 20 million views. “Simpol” initially revolved around Chef Tatung’s persona, from his cooking demos to his food reviews.
“In the past, the content was centered on me,” he explains. “Now, more creators and contributors are involved, presenting different perspectives. We were just shooting and sharing recipes. Now, the stories will also discuss the prices of goods, but from a lifestyle perspective. I don’t want this to be like ‘The Stepford Wives,’” Sarthou says, referencing the film that satirizes an overly perfect community obsessed with image.
“Everything is so polished without feeling the pulse. When you’re cooking at home, that’s one of the fields affected by the economy. Cooking and dining exist in a much bigger reality. I’ve reached an age of maturity; I don’t want to be so trivial anymore.”
Sarthou observes that, despite the rise of influencers, much of the public still relies on traditional media sources. He points out that while influencers and digital content creators have a large platform, their content often lacks ethical and professional standards.
“I want to elevate Simpol,” he says. “It’s not just because you are famous that we will trust your content. Our office has its own code of ethics, signed by all staff. We promise to be responsible in our content creation.”
Shift in trust
“Media institutions have been shaken by the emergence of so many influencers,” Sarthou continues. “But we’ve noticed a shift in trust, especially with influencers who don’t observe journalistic principles. You are paid to endorse something; it’s very difficult to position yourself in a market where everyone is an influencer. Just because you own a cell phone and have a social media account, you can cover an event and say, ‘Hello, I’m an influencer.’ There’s no regulatory body that determines who is an influencer and who isn’t. Now, trust is returning to institutionalized media outlets. So, we want to elevate Simpol to that level. We want to earn the public’s trust not through fame, but by investing in responsible content creation. We’re not chasing virality; we’re creating a community.”
Sarthou admits it was emotional for him to step back as the lead host and allow a professional team to take over. The Simpol.ph editorial team comprises former staffers from major media organizations, led by Edison Joseph Gonzales, a former lifestyle editor from a daily.
He cites The New York Times as Simpol.ph’s inspiration, recognizing it as a leading news source across social media platforms while maintaining high journalistic standards.
“We are very sensitive to the changes in media,” he says. “We know that you can easily become obsolete with the development of technology and AI, which is why we decided to go in a journalistic direction. We’ll be able to share more authenticity when we talk to real people and reach out to more communities. We even have liaison offices in the Visayas and Mindanao because we want to share more stories from the South.”
