Jun 27

Jun 27 The W+ Food: Pinoy Cuisine Report 2019 / Los Angeles & Manila

In line with yesterday’s post on Chef John Rivera from Melbourne’s Restaurant Lume, a truly special and sublime eating experience, I also wanted to touch base with notes on the other Filipino or “Pinoy” food establishments I’ve been able to savour in the other city’s within the last couple of months. When in LA, one must go and visit Sari Sari Store, a delicious grab-and-go and quick bites food stall in DTLA’s Grand Cetnral Market, from the brains of Chef Margarita and Walter Manzke of Republique and Wildflour fame. Chef Margarita, who has a cookbook by-the-way, knows exactly what she’s up to as she serves easy-to-eat rice bowl meals topped with a good representative range of “silogs” or main dishes over Garlic or White Rice with Fried Egg. Offerings are grilled, fried, and barbecued. While one would immediately be drawn to the House Adobo, we ventured forth and tried other dishes- namely the Lechon Manok (Grilled Chicken), Tortang Talong (Grilled Eggplant with Egg), and Sisig Fried Rice (Crispy Pork Head). We ended the meal with a home made house Buko Pie, positively the best coconut pie I’ve ever had on this planet, with each irregular hand sliced coconut meat falling off the stack as soon as the fork slices through the very soft pie- a far cry from the machine sliced and produced bulk pies one would get off the side of the road in Tagaytay- also a natural treasure, but not really to my own personal liking.

Pinoy Rice Bowls, Mango Shakes, and Coconut Buko Pie- what’s not to love at Sari Sari Store

Next we ventured over to the very cool Ma’am Sir in in LA’s Silver Lake District, the home of Pinoy Chef Charles Olalia. His dishes are fully Pinoy and based on his childhood growing up in Pampanga, Philippines and the United States. The Cocktail Menu is solid and the interiors are fun, light, and festive.

Lastly I want to mention an amazing restaurant in Manila’s Fort Bonifacio District- a Chef’s table concept by Executive Chef Josh Boutwood of Savage- called Helm. Helm is a 10-seater restaurant and serves up 3-4 menus a year which changes with the season. When I went in the Spring, his Filipino dishes were creative inventions based on Fairy Tales he grew up with- like Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty. Menus don’t necessarily state what key ingredients are in the meal- but the presentation, the aroma, the adjacencies of sweet and sour, re-create what it’s like to discover a new gastronomic experience all over again.

Chef Josh Boutwood at the helm—- of Helm,

This blog post was made possible with the Camera, Photo, and SquareSpace apps, all on the iPhone XS MAX and the iPad Pro 2018.

VISIT Sari Sari Store . 317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, USA. T: +1-323-320-4020 . W: http://www.sarisaristorela.com

VISIT Ma’am Sir . 4330 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, USA. T: +1-323-741-8371 . W: http://www.maamsirla.com

VISIT Helm . Arya Residences, G/F Mckinley PKWY, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines . T: +63-906-234-1900 W: https://www.joshboutwood.com.ph/helm

JJ.