Groundbreaking Filipino American restaurant Bad Saint closes its doors

Customers line up in the rain for a meal at Bad Saint.

Bad Saint ,the Washington DC restaurant that opened eyes to Filipino cuisine, closed its doors permanently, a victim of the pandemic economy. 

The Filipino American restaurant that drew national attention in 2019 served its last meal July 9.

“The attitude that I think we and a lot of people had in the beginning (of the pandemic) was ‘We’ve just got to make it to the other side of this,'” co-owner Genevieve Villamora told Eater. “At some point, probably in the last nine months, I was like, there’s no getting on the other side of this. This is it. This is the new reality.” 

At it's height, people would line up and wait up to three hours to get one of the 24 seats in the tiny restaurant.

The restaurant was an instant hit when it opened in 2015 under the direction of chef Tom Cunanan, who left the restaurant in 2020. 

Serving the cuisine of the Philippines, the Bad Saint (named after Saint Malo, the first Asian American community in the US) gained national attention by ranking No. 2 best new restaurant in America by Bon Appetit in 2016 and earning Cunanan a James Beard award for best chef in the Mid-Atlantic in 2019. Despite Cunanan's departure,  the restaurant was able to maintain it's high standards.

Bad Saint's culinary success lent a new air of credibility to the long-neglected food from the Philippines. While adventurous diners flocked to restaurants of numerically smaller Asian American communities like the Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese and Malaysian, Filipino restaurants failed to depend on the loyalty of Filipino clientele.

Since Bad Saint's breakthrough, other restaurants have opened up offering high-end versions of Filipino dishes. The Chicago restaurant, Kasama, became the first Filipino American restaurant to earn the coveted Michelin star this year. Chicago Tribune critic Louisa Chu proclaimed Kasama, owned by Tim Flores and Genie Kwon, one of the best restaurants in the world.

On the other end of the dining spectrum, food trucks offering Filipino fare, offering meats in familiar taco and burrito forms have helped introduce the cuisine to more casual foodie fans.

The tight quarters of Bad Saint worked against the restaurant during the pandemic which required social-distance dining. Other business strategies: patio dining and takeout, didn't produce enough profit to save the restaurant.

The pandemic hurt Villamora physically, as well. She came down with COVID-19 during this critical time.

“All of the pressure and anxiety of the restaurant trying to survive in this environment really ratcheted everything up a few notches for me,” Villamora told Eater “It was only a few months ago that I was honest with myself about how much I was struggling and how much I really needed help and finally got that for myself… It’s challenging but we have to find ways to take care of ourselves and take care of other people.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

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.

* * *

FACEBOOK

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.

* * *

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.
________________________________________________________________________________