ARA MINA UPSET OVER RESTAURANT ELECTRICITY-TAPPING ISSUE
By MJ Felipe

Ara Mina did not like the issue going around involving her now-closed restaurant Osteria88 in Tomas Morato, Quezon City. The fine-dining restaurant has been closed for over months now, but there are still unanswered questions why it closed down. In our latest interview with Ara Mina, she told us she cannot carry the rates of the restaurant’s rent anymore, that's why she and her partners decided to close it down.

Our showbiz insider, who is close to the owner of the space where Osteria restaurant is situated, told us that the rent is a non-issue because the owners were willing to lower their rates for Ara Mina. Instead of increasing it annually, they would give Ara Mina friendly rates. However, Ara still decided to move out.

Now another bomb has exploded with the rumors that some of Ara Mina's air-conditioning units are tapped to the adjacent restaurants. One of her airconditioning units was allegedly tapped to the coffee shop next to her own resto. The other air-conditioning unit was also said to be tapped to the other nearby restaurant. 

We caught up with Ara Mina during her press-con for her self-produced movie "Ate. Ara Mina, clarified one by one the rumors involving her restaurant.

The issue about rent: "I'm not complaining na mahal ang rent, (but) hindi naman ako ganoon kayaman. Kung yung iba, kayang magbayad ng ganoon, ako hindi. It's just that hindi na lang talaga kaya ng overhead ng restaurant ko. "

Her replies to the statement that the landlord even lowered the rent for her: "Yes, that's true. Nakikiusap ako na baka puwedeng ganito, gina-grant naman nila. (Pero) Siyempre, habang tumatagal, nagmamahal ang mga bilhin. Kaya sometimes we need to do cost-cutting. Ganoong lang yun. Hindi lang talaga kaya ng overhead ko."

The electricity-tapping issue: "That's not true. Alam mo naman, na kahit noong sinarado ko yan noong renovation, sinasabi nila nagsara na kasi nalugi na. Kumbaga, dapat hindi na iniintriga yung mag- landlord ko diyan, kasi hindi naman sila showbiz.”

"Saka kung naka-jumper yung kuryente namin, almost 2 years na yung restaurant bakit ngayon lang magrereklamo? Kahit ipa-check pa nila yan sa Meralco, malabo. Imposible "Nachea-cheapan lang talaga ako sa isyu. Na pati kuryente sa restaurant ko e ginagawan nila ng intriga," asserts Ara Mina
           
The closing of Ara Mina’s restaurant is not the end of her venturing into business.

Ara Mina is set to open a coffee shop in the Katipunan area soon, which will be called "Cafe Mina," obviously inspired from Ara Mina’s name. But as of the moment, Ara Mina is a little busy working as she appears daily in the afternoon TV soap "Prinsesa ng Banyera" and promoting her movie "Ate".