Enrico “Rikki” Dee is an accomplished business mogul known for dining favorites like Mesa, Hawker Chan, and Chin’s Express, among many others—but who would’ve thought that his biggest achievement isn’t a restaurant, but his family?
Or at least, that’s what Rikki would say, according to his son and Foodee Global Concepts COO, Eric Dee.
“We all live together so the line is very blurry when it comes to work and family,” Eric shares, mentioning how every family dinner, every outing, somehow becomes a business discussion. And with how easily conversations around the table drift from “how’s the food?” to expansion plans and new opportunities, it’s clear that business isn’t just something the Dees do—it’s something they live for.
That seamless blend encapsulates who Rikki Dee is, as both a father and a business mogul. Early on, Eric describes him as a “guiding force,” someone who taught by letting his children learn through exploration and even mistakes. That approach, shaped by Rikki’s own early experiences in business, often came in the form of “tough love” as Eric describes it. “We never actually got that ‘good job’,” he shares. Instead, the absence of constant praise pushed the next generation to keep striving, reflecting the same grit that defined their father’s own beginnings.
How Family Became the Foundation of Rikki Dee’s Restaurant Empire
Rikki Dee’s journey began young. He opened his first restaurant when he was just 20 years old, with Eric quite literally growing up alongside the business. “I was one year old when he had his first restaurant,” Eric recalls. “So I grew up in that environment. I saw the growth from one restaurant to what we are today.” And that growth is astonishing—what started as a single branch along Pasay Road has expanded into an empire of both homegrown and international brands.
But numbers alone don’t define Rikki’s success. At the core of his empire is a philosophy rooted in family. “Family is our strength,” Eric explains. “We’ve been living together ever since I was born… even now, we’re about 21 in the household.” While unconventional to some, this tight-knit structure has become the foundation of their business as decisions are made collectively, risks are shared, and support is constant.
That same mindset extends to their employees. “We treat our employees like family,” Eric says. One employee, he notes, started as the family’s yaya or nanny and has been with them for 42 years. “Knowing that we have people that lasted that long is good enough for us.” For Rikki Dee, taking care of the business is inseparable from taking care of the people within it.
How Rikki Dee Turns Failure Into Business Growth
Failure, too, is part of the family cookbook. Rather than punishing mistakes, Rikki reframes them. “He makes them a learning experience,” Eric says. After setbacks, they would break down what went wrong—from timing and location to pricing or concept—turning each mistake into a lesson. “Success is actually easy. It’s picking yourself back up from failure that’s harder.”
In the end, it’s the thought of legacy that drives Rikki Dee. Beyond restaurants and revenue, the goal is longevity—something that lasts across multiple generations. “How do we go beyond three, four, five generations?,” Eric reflects. “We want to be remembered as a family that contributed something.”
The Legacy Rikki Dee Wants to Leave Behind
And while Rikki Dee might point to his children as his proudest achievement, Eric sees both the family he raised and the food empire he built alongside them as his father’s greatest wins. “Growing it from a single store to what it is today—that’s a story,” he says.
But more than scale or success, it’s a story of grit passed down, of lessons learned the hard way, and of a family that grew in step with the business. In the end, what Rikki Dee built isn’t just a restaurant group, it’s a legacy where work and family are inseparable, each shaping the other into something meant to last.
Frequently Asked Questions
Rikki Dee is a Filipino restaurateur and business leader known for building Foodee Global Concepts, the company behind brands like Mesa, Hawker Chan, and Chin’s Express.
Rikki Dee is associated with several successful restaurant brands under Foodee Global Concepts, including Mesa, Hawker Chan, Chin’s Express, and other dining concepts in the Philippines.
Rikki Dee is known for a family-centered leadership style focused on resilience, hands-on learning, accountability, and long-term legacy building.
Rikki Dee opened his first restaurant at the age of 20 along Pasay Road, eventually growing it into one of the country’s leading food groups.
The Dee family combines business and family life closely, making decisions collectively while maintaining a strong culture of loyalty and shared responsibility.
Foodee Global Concepts is a restaurant and hospitality group behind several well-known dining brands in the Philippines.
