Larry Cruz
{{Infobox person
| name = Larry J. Cruz
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|9|17|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Commonwealth of the Philippines
| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|2|4|1941|9|17|mf=y}}
| death_place = Washington D.C., U.S.A.
| other_names =
| known_for = founder of LJC Restaurant Group
| occupation = journalist, restaurateur}}
File:0179jfRemedios_Circle_Fountain_Cycling_lanes_Buildings_Malate_Manilafvf_10.jpg]]
Lorenzo "Larry" J. Cruz (September 17, 1941 – February 4, 2008) was a Filipino restaurateur who founded the LJC Restaurant Group, which operates several restaurants in the Philippines.{{Cite web|date=2008-03-12|title=The Manila Times Internet Edition {{!}} OPINION > A harmful distraction|website=The Manila Times |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/feb/06/yehey/opinion/20080206opi1.html|access-date=2021-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312003736/http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/feb/06/yehey/opinion/20080206opi1.html |archive-date=2008-03-12 }} Among the restaurants in the said group include Café Adriatico, Cafe Havana, Bistro Remedios, and Abe, which was named after his father, the writer E. Aguilar Cruz.{{cite news|author=Larry Cruz |title=My Mother Fely J |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/may/13/yehey/weekend/20070513week2.html |publisher=Manila Times |date=2007-05-13 |accessdate=2008-04-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005233036/http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/may/13/yehey/weekend/20070513week2.html |archivedate=October 5, 2008 }} Cruz was also a journalist and magazine publisher.
Career
Before entering the restaurant business, Cruz was a reporter for the Manila Times and the Philippine Herald. In the 1960s, he joined the staff of a Hong Kong-based magazine. In the early years of the administration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Cruz was a member of the presidential press office.{{cite news|date=2008-02-06|title=Larry J. Cruz|work=Editorial|publisher=Manila Times|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/feb/06/yehey/opinion/20080206opi1.html|accessdate=2008-03-18|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312003736/http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/feb/06/yehey/opinion/20080206opi1.html |archivedate=2008-03-12}}
Cruz, who was not a chef himself, established Café Adriatico in Malate, Manila in 1979. The venture proved successful and helped revitalize the Malate area other restaurants and cafes within the area. Cruz expanded this venture by opening of several other restaurants within Metro Manila. At the time of his death in 2008, he had opened fourteen restaurants in the Philippines. Several of his restaurants featured Filipino and Kapampangan cuisine.
In the late 1980s, Cruz published Metro Magazine, a city guide/political/lifestyle magazine inspired by New York Magazine and Vanity Fair.{{cite news |author=Thelma Sioson San Juan |title=Larry can't cook |url=http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080207-117427/Larry-cant-cook |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=2008-02-07 |accessdate=2008-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212061829/http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080207-117427/Larry-cant-cook |archive-date=2008-02-12 |url-status=dead }} He later sold the magazine to Eugenio Lopez Jr. in order to finance his business expansion.
He died on February 4, 2008, of complications from cancer. He was hailed as the leading Filipino "pioneer in theme or concept restaurants" and the man who had "shaped Philippine café society".{{cite news |author=Thelma Sioson San Juan |title=Larry Cruz, restaurateur, journalist, dies in US; 66 |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080205-116845/Larry-Cruz-restaurateur-journalist-dies-in-US-66 |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=2008-02-05 |accessdate=2008-03-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207055843/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080205-116845/Larry-Cruz-restaurateur-journalist-dies-in-US-66 |archivedate=2008-02-07 }}
References
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External links
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Category:20th-century Filipino businesspeople
Category:Filipino company founders
Category:Filipino restaurateurs
Category:Filipino publishers (people)