TGIF Feature: Notes while waiting in line for Filipino food

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Francesca Manto interviews Bad Saint chef Tom Cunanan in the newest episode of 'Halo Halo.'

I DON'T KNOW about standing in line for three hours waiting for a restaurant to open is something I can do, but apparently lots of other people are doing it in order to eat at perhaps the best-known Filipino American restaurant in the U.S.

There are only 24 seats in the Washington, D.C. restaurant and no reservations are taken, which explains why people line up early for the 5-star restaurant. "Half the people who come in have never eaten Filipino food before," co-owner Genevieve Villamora says proudly.

It's been two years since Bad Saint was named as one of the best new restaurants in the country but it appears that high standard has been maintained as the waiting line keeps getting longer. Eater, the food-lovers website includes Bad Saint as one of the 38 best in America.

GENEVIEVE VILLAMORA

Eater's Halo Halo, hosted by Francesca Manto visits Bad Saint in its newest episode and speaks to owner Genevieve Villamora and chef Tom Cunanan, who visited the Philippines for the first time only last year. His standard and ideas for cooking come from his late mother. "I think, she'd be proud of me," he says.

Note: The name of the restaurant Bad Saint is derived from Saint Malo, the earliest Filipino settlement in North America, and quite possibly the first Asian American community, founded in 1763 in the Louisiana bayous. Its earliest inhabitants were reportedly Filipino sailors who deserted the Spanish galleons that used to sail to the Philippines from Mexico.

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DENNIS VILLAFRANCA

SOME OF THE POPULAR Filipino food trucks, which are playing an important role of exposing Philippine cuisine to the general public, are taking the next natural step towards brick-and-mortar restaurants.

The Bay Area food truck, Jeepney Guy, will be operating out of a new place in West Oakland to serve its delicious lechon, roasted pig, with its potato-chip-like skin, and other Filipino dishes.

Called 7th West, (1255 7th St.) the space will include a permanent kitchen for Filipino food purveyor Jeepney Guy owner Dennis Villafranca, an outdoor beer garden, a small dog park, and Filipino-inspired cocktails.

The restaurant/bar/event center will allow Villafranca to spread his wings and offer a including fun bar snacks like fried pig ears and chicken nuggets dredged in mochi flour and coconut milk, plus larger rice plates piled with adobo ribs or buttery shrimp. There are a couple of vegan options, too.

The space is a huge 8,500 square feet, with about half of it being an indoor warehouse space that’s part art gallery, bar, restaurant, and arcade. The other half will be transformed to an outdoor event/eating space. The space will open later this summer.

The founders are all Oakland business owners: Pancho Kachingwe is a cofounder of The Hatch, Assan Jethmal is the founder of Good Mother Gallery, and Kevin Pelgone and Donna Brinkman are both from the Overlook Lounge - the latter three are Filipino Americans.

Together, they came up with the idea of having open, outdoor space that can host community events as opposed to a typical bar. “More of a social hub, and we want it to be accessible,” Kachingwe said. “A lot of spaces charge a lot of money to have events. That’s not what we’re going for.”

In addition, there will be a dog run outside. “We want to be so inclusive that even your pets will want to come and hang out,” Pelgone said.

At some point, the owners hope to serve halo-halo, the Filipino shaved ice dessert made with ube ice cream, coconut, sweet beans, and more.

Note: Murals by local artists decorate the inside and outside of the building. West Oakland was once a thriving arts district flush with African American blues and jazz venues, but many local Black-owned businesses were pushed out with the creation of the West Oakand BART station, the post office, and the elevated freeway, as well as more recent redevelopment. 

“We really wanted to do something that revitalized the area, but we’re also cautious of what the area used to be, and not create a space that gentrifies the area, but supports the area,” Kachingwe said.

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Hometown Heroes features the food of Likha.

A COUPLE of miles north of 7th West in Emeryville, the Hometown Heroes sportsbar is sporting a new menu. Likha will take over the kitchen serving a menu of modernized Filipino classics like kare kare and lumpia.

Bobby Punla and Jan Dela Paz are the two chefs behind Likha, which is Tagalog for "to create."

Bobby Punla and Jan Dela Paz.

Punla is a first generation Filipino American from Richmond, while Dela Paz is a native of Manila who has been living in the United States for the past 15 years. Both chefs have extensive fine dining experience: Dela Paz spent almost a decade in the Michelin-starred kitchen of Napa’s La Toque, while Punla worked at NYC’s NoMad restaurant, from the team behind Eleven Madison Park. Eventually, the two met while cooking at Oakland's Ramen Shop.

Inspired by Bad Saint, Punla and Dela Paz are trying different techniques they’ve picked up in fine dining kitchens, and experimenting with plating to add color and texture to classic Filipino dishes — a new shortrib kare kare, a peanut stew with fermented shrimp paste, is topped with crispy, fried tripe, and a longanisa “spam,” is their take on a popular sweet and savory Filipino sausage.

“We thought Filipino food really needed a voice here, something to keep the tradition but show how we could modernize the food,” says Punla. “Filipinos are the second biggest population in the bay area but there are very few Filipino restaurants, unless you go to Daly City where food is coming out of a chafing dish.
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