Jim’s earliest memory of the original Max’s on Scout Tuazon Street in Quezon City is not of the “House That Fried Chicken Built.” Instead, it’s recollections of playing with tadpoles in the water feature up front that still exists in the complex today. Jim’s maternal grandmother, Nanay Ruby Trota, created the recipe for Max’s famous fried chicken back in 1945 at the café established by her uncle, Maximo Gimenez, to feed hungry American troops. In the 1970s, Jim recalls how Nanay Ruby encouraged all her grandchildren to perform at the cultural shows at Max’s Makati branch in the old Lising’s arcade. “Every Friday night we’d dress up in Filipiniana and dance the tinikling, the singkil, and the maglalatik with the coconut shells,” Jim recalls. “We had no choice. There were no ifs, ands, or buts. We just had to do it.” Later, however, when it came to working in the..
