Lorenzo "Larry" J. Cruz (September 17, 1941 – February 4, 2008) was aFilipino restaurateur who founded the LJC Restaurant Group, which operates several restaurants in the Philippines.^[1] Among the restaurants in the said group includeCafé Adriatico,Cafe Havana,Bistro Remedios, andAbe, which was named after his father, the writer E. Aguilar Cruz.^[2] Cruz was also a journalist and magazine publisher.

Before entering the restaurant business, Cruz was a reporter for theManila 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 ofPhilippine PresidentFerdinand Marcos, Cruz was a member of the presidential press office.^[3]

Cruz, who was not a chef himself, established Café Adriatico inMalate, Manila in 1979.^[4] 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 withinMetro Manila. At the time of his death in 2008, he had opened fourteen restaurants in the Philippines. Several of his restaurants featured Filipino andKapampangan cuisine.

In the late 1980s, Cruz publishedMetro Magazine, a city guide/political/lifestyle magazine inspired byNew York Magazine andVanity Fair.^[5] He later sold the magazine toEugenio Lopez Jr. in order to finance his business expansion.^[5]

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".^[4]

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