Paolo Dungca

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome back to Rice and Egg. It feels so good to be back after a little

[00:00:16] bit of a break. And trust me, we're coming back with a bang. Ever tried Filipino food? Whether

[00:00:23] you're a die hard fan or just dipping your toes into it, today's episode is a must listen.

[00:00:29] We're sitting down with Paulo Dunca, a DC chef who's turning heads with his innovative

[00:00:35] take on Filipino classics. He's taking Filipino food forward. He's not just whipping up

[00:00:41] dishes, he's weaving stories and honoring heritage. And let me tell you his version of

[00:00:46] Sinegan, absolute game changer. We'll also dive into his latest passion project, a heartwarming

[00:00:54] spot in DC named Hiraia. So grab a comfy seat, maybe a snack or two and let's catch up

[00:01:02] over some delicious conversation.

[00:01:16] Hi, Paulo. Hi. I'm good. Good to finally meet you in person.

[00:01:24] Absolutely.

[00:01:25] To be here, you know, what's an honor to meet you? This is interesting because Paulo here

[00:01:36] is what I would call and see the thing is I'm just getting on the scene here with regards

[00:01:43] to Paulo Dunca. Am I pronouncing your last name right? Okay, good.

[00:01:49] It's phonetic in that it's just like my last name. It's Criaco, but you know, it's people

[00:01:56] butcher it. Yeah, especially telemarketers.

[00:01:59] Yeah, whatever is easy for you. Right.

[00:02:05] Paulo here, for those of you who don't know, he's a star, if not a rising star in the

[00:02:13] culinary world. And especially in the United States and more so in the Filipino cuisine

[00:02:20] space. From what I understand, Paulo, you're kind of a celebrity here in DC.

[00:02:30] I'm just trying to represent a heritage. I mean, if you perceive as celebrities and that's

[00:02:36] your own perception, right?

[00:02:38] Yeah, right. I'm just the humble cook and we just do what we love to do.

[00:02:45] Awesome. Well, it definitely comes through in your cooking because two days ago, thanks to you,

[00:02:55] you've treated me to the best sinegong I've ever had with brisket and granted my mom makes

[00:03:04] a mean sinegong. And so does my dad, but I've never had one with brisket. And that took it

[00:03:11] to another level of flavor and nostalgia. I'm nostalgia. But you know what's interesting?

[00:03:19] I'll describe it this way. It took me to the past. It took it, yes, yes, present in the sense

[00:03:27] that I was so savoring the moment of that flavor. But then with the brisket, I saw the future

[00:03:33] of what Filipino food could be. And what you did there. That's the goal. So that's awesome.

[00:03:40] Yeah, thank you. That's amazing to hear.

[00:03:44] It's delicious.

[00:03:47] It's great. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[00:03:50] Oh, yeah. So tell me about your journey and how you became a chef and where it all started.

[00:04:01] Let's start there.

[00:04:03] So after high school in California, I was working as some of the job at Disneyland as a dishwasher.

[00:04:12] And I was also doing nursing classes at a community college because that was the safest route after high school.

[00:04:21] I think it's for us Filipinos, that was your career path.

[00:04:28] It was to be somewhere in the medical field or like a nurse. That was always the Filipino way of doing things.

[00:04:38] And when I was taking the classes and all the pre-rex and all that, I just wasn't really interested in it.

[00:04:44] I would see myself skipping classes and I would just go to work, which is washing dishes.

[00:04:52] When one day I saw the chefs at the restaurants with their names on their chef coat.

[00:05:00] I thought to myself, maybe I could do a career with this. It's kind of cool to see your name on the chef coat.

[00:05:06] It's kind of like in the hospital when the doctors have their library called that like that code.

[00:05:13] Everyone has their name on it and I saw that as the same similarities.

[00:05:19] And I thought it would be cool to have your name on the coat and you kind of wear that with pride.

[00:05:27] I just made a transition and went to culinary school afterwards.

[00:05:33] Did you come from a family of cooks?

[00:05:37] Yes, actually my mom's on in the Philippines. She has like a little cut in the air.

[00:05:47] Typical mom and pop like the rural like restaurant.

[00:05:52] I mean growing up, I wasn't really cooking anything. That's why my mom was kind of shocked.

[00:05:59] I ended up cooking because I never cooked anything growing up or every time I would visit my mom's aunt,

[00:06:05] I would always be grossed out about the smell of food.

[00:06:11] It just so happened that I ended up being like a chef.

[00:06:16] I just kind of clicked that made you actually want to do that.

[00:06:20] Like I said, just seeing the chefs wearing their chef coat with their names on it that it would be cool to when they have that.

[00:06:30] That was just it. I just fell in love with the chaos and the restaurant business.

[00:06:35] Like for me, it's kind of like playing in a championship game.

[00:06:42] Everyone has to be in the service. Everyone has to buy in for us to kind of make it through service.

[00:06:51] In the same way a team wants to and let's say a championship, everyone has to play their part.

[00:06:57] I fell in love with that camaraderie with just the kitchen.

[00:07:03] Everyone has to do the roles in order for us to be successful or for us to have an easy night.

[00:07:10] I fell in love with that.

[00:07:12] Is it like the vision that I have in a restaurant back in the kitchen because I know I have no clue and it was just so interesting talking to your number one that Saadi Anzo about this.

[00:07:27] It feels to me that it's like a championship game every day.

[00:07:31] Yeah, I think life is a championship game every day. You wake up and you try to make a difference or you're always 1% better than you were the previous day.

[00:07:44] For us we try to just do that on a daily basis like play as if it's a championship game.

[00:07:55] I know that's just how we kind of perceive everything.

[00:07:59] It's either today or there's no tomorrow like you got to do it today.

[00:08:04] So that love that bar of quality, I can taste.

[00:08:10] Thank you. That means a lot.

[00:08:13] Yeah.

[00:08:15] It's interesting to because what he also told me was there's a certain kind of standard to that you set within your team to say.

[00:08:26] Well, I'll share the he told me this but I'll share with you and get get your thoughts on this too is because I think it came from you and you just share that with me.

[00:08:34] He said whatever you make.

[00:08:38] Make it for you.

[00:08:40] Right.

[00:08:41] And then it'll come through to the customer and client.

[00:08:43] So for us, you know like for restaurants, you know my joy at times you try to cook for the guests.

[00:08:50] I mean, obviously you have to satisfy them in a way where they come back and patronize you again but lately,

[00:09:00] like ever since we started doing like Filipino food, like I've always been saying this.

[00:09:07] I feel like lately we've been cooking unapologetically in terms of like the expectations of what the Filipino guests are trying to, you know, to achieve.

[00:09:19] I guess when they come to the establishments, I've always told my team that we cook for ourselves.

[00:09:27] If we think it's good, then we stay true to that.

[00:09:32] Like we block out the light noise that the guests are telling us like if it's not authentic enough, it's not what their mom made or whatever.

[00:09:43] We try to block that out because everyone cooks Filipino food differently and for us, if it satisfies us, then for me, that's perfect.

[00:09:54] That's good enough, you know like have to satisfy us. Like if it doesn't satisfy us, then we don't put on the menu.

[00:10:01] Like if it's good for us, then we put it on like has to be a collective like team effort where we all have our input and this is good.

[00:10:13] Then we put it on what who decides besides yourself because that's given you're the boss.

[00:10:23] Who decides what is good on your menu and actually what gets on it?

[00:10:28] Like I said, we all sit down and talk about like menu changes and see different perspectives based on their experiences and their palettes.

[00:10:39] You know, everyone has a different palette, you know, I tend to overseas and compare it to where he, you know, he's a little bit on the season side but

[00:10:51] we make it and then we have everyone try it and then see how else we can incorporate their feedback or suggestions or just things that we could do better.

[00:11:05] Like I said, for us, it's all about the collaborative effort of being one as a team.

[00:11:15] And you know, I've been in kitchens where the head chef was always like right, you know, I'm not always right.

[00:11:22] Like I can't ruin my place like that. For me, I want everyone, I want to cultivate a place where everyone is heard and feels creative in a way where they can give their direct input and we act on those specific things to help better the outcome.

[00:11:43] Cool. Yeah. That's cool. Let's talk about how it all started. Did you start, were you, where did you start becoming a chef in culinary school in California?

[00:11:58] No. So basically, you know, after washing dishes, you get moved up as a prep cook and then this was still at Disneyland.

[00:12:07] Yeah. So it was a prep cook and then after that being a prep cook for like couple months, six months, then they move you up to be like a line cook where you just cook on the line and you know, cook the orders and stuff and then eventually you just keep grinding and then move on up to be like a sous chef or the kitchen manager, you know.

[00:12:28] And that's just how it started.

[00:12:32] So you moved up through those positions at Disneyland? Yeah, basically I worked my way up from dishwasher to like the lead line cook at Disneyland and you know after a couple of years, you start to kind of question a lot of things, you know, and just the creative aspect of it.

[00:12:53] Working for Disneyland was such a fun experience to kind of get my career started because of just the amount of volume that you want to do.

[00:13:06] But with volume, it's hard to be creative like because you're feeding the masses, you know, like, you're just geared to do volume.

[00:13:17] And after a while, like I just wasn't really into just feeding the masses. I feel I felt like there was more to food than just feeding the masses had to leave that corporate structure like place where I needed to learn how to be more creative.

[00:13:38] And you know, I was very lucky to meet like I would consider him one of my mentors chef Kevin Mehan of Cali dining at the time, but now Cali restaurant in Los Angeles.

[00:13:51] And he took me under his wing and introduced me to the world of fine dining.

[00:13:56] And here we are. How many years has it been?

[00:14:01] So I started I think 21. Wow. It's been 20, 23 now. So 12 years. Yeah. What brought you to DC?

[00:14:16] Funny thing, like I was a troubled kid in California. You know, like I was just always party go out and get into a bunch of ruckus and one day my cousin who lives in Virginia just invited me out.

[00:14:32] And he was like, Hey, just come visit us for two weeks. You know, it's been like 10 years. I'm seeing each other and you know my aunt who lives here as well, just bought me a plane ticket.

[00:14:42] And you know, when I got here, I didn't know it was some kind of intervention to kind of like get my life together.

[00:14:49] So they told me they would help me out and get settled. And I never returned my flight back home.

[00:14:58] Really? How old were you? I was 24. Okay. Yeah, 2014. Wow. Yeah. So I ended up staying and I told my mom to ship my knives. And that was it.

[00:15:13] I didn't have any like as cliche as this sounds like I didn't have any money in the bank.

[00:15:19] I only had two weeks worth of clothes and nice my knives.

[00:15:25] As cliche as that sounds, that's the fact. And my cousin Kevin, you know, really helped me out.

[00:15:37] He put me on his credit card and that was my spending money, you know.

[00:15:43] And he was still in college at the time he's doing nursing by the way. So, you know, it was a fun experience for sure.

[00:15:54] Something you'll never forget. It's like a leap of faith.

[00:15:59] Which is always exciting. You just jump. Yeah. See what it's amazing and look at you now.

[00:16:07] So then let's still struggling, you know.

[00:16:15] How did how did starting your own restaurant come about here? How did that get started here?

[00:16:26] You know, when you're working for mentors and chefs and you learn a lot about their techniques and how they run like a restaurant.

[00:16:37] And you kind of see it eventually where you're like, I kind of want to be like them and do things my way.

[00:16:47] You always wanted like when I was working for one of my mentors, like, which I learned a lot from.

[00:16:54] And you kind of just want to do it your way, but sometimes you can't. So like those limiting factors of not being in control.

[00:17:04] Like in my Capricorn. So I like being in control. You know, so like eventually I wanted to venture out and do it on my own.

[00:17:12] So I can implement those things that you do. You know, see where it takes me rather than always just following commands and.

[00:17:22] Awesome. Awesome.

[00:17:25] I'm a weird control freak at times.

[00:17:29] I think those of us who are natural entrepreneurs.

[00:17:37] Yeah.

[00:17:40] I kind of have to be either you have to be or this is just in your nature to want to control and or ensure, I guess, ensure that your vision is executed and made reality.

[00:17:56] Right.

[00:17:58] Because there's like things you want to do.

[00:18:03] And if put in other people's hands, that kind of creativity is lost or diluted.

[00:18:10] I just hate going through the motions.

[00:18:13] You know, having it be a playbook.

[00:18:15] I hate routine stuff.

[00:18:17] Yeah.

[00:18:18] Like I like it to be more like different and new every time.

[00:18:23] I know I'm a little bit more dangerous.

[00:18:26] Yeah.

[00:18:28] Never.

[00:18:30] Let's talk about Herala then.

[00:18:32] Cause there's.

[00:18:33] Yeah, let's start with that.

[00:18:35] Right.

[00:18:36] What does Herala mean?

[00:18:41] So basically Herala is ancient.

[00:18:44] Tagalog word, which means fruits of one's hopes and dreams.

[00:18:50] And.

[00:18:51] It's like a fantasy show about just a bunch of superficial stuff.

[00:19:01] Kids dreaming and then they see mythical creatures.

[00:19:08] And for me, when I was thinking of a name for a concept,

[00:19:13] I thought that was a perfect name because this was my hopes and dreams.

[00:19:18] It was brilliant.

[00:19:20] Having your own, as a chef having your own place where you can express your creativity

[00:19:28] and your story and being able to educate others about your culture,

[00:19:34] like I thought that was perfect.

[00:19:36] So I've never heard you've educated me because prior to stumbling upon you

[00:19:42] and your restaurant in Haryah, I'd never heard that word before in Tagalog.

[00:19:47] It's not a commonly used word which is awesome.

[00:19:51] That's what we try to do.

[00:19:52] We try to be outside the box like this.

[00:19:56] Yeah.

[00:19:57] Same with our other concept names also.

[00:20:01] It's not just a name.

[00:20:02] There's a meaning.

[00:20:05] Mm-hmm.

[00:20:06] I appreciate that.

[00:20:07] We can very much appreciate that.

[00:20:10] So back to Haryah, this is not your typical turoturo obviously.

[00:20:17] And for those of you listening,

[00:20:19] right, who aren't Filipino or not familiar with the word turoturo,

[00:20:23] maybe follow, you can educate us on what that means as well.

[00:20:26] It means turoturo means like point point.

[00:20:29] So because you're basically pointing at the buffet table and,

[00:20:32] you know, there's just a bunch of,

[00:20:36] I guess, like on trays or?

[00:20:38] On trays.

[00:20:38] Yeah, yes.

[00:20:39] And then you just put in and they put in a box and that's your...

[00:20:43] It's like a semi buffet kind of thing.

[00:20:46] Yeah, it's almost like the cafeteria line in the sense.

[00:20:50] Yeah, the whole thing is it's not refillable.

[00:20:51] Correct.

[00:20:53] You can't come back for more.

[00:20:54] I think I'm going to come back for more.

[00:20:55] So, yes.

[00:21:01] This was your first foray and to find dining on your own, right?

[00:21:06] Yeah, I guess.

[00:21:07] Like, I don't really want to call it to find dining because I think

[00:21:09] find dining can be interpreted in many ways.

[00:21:16] I just want to do what we do.

[00:21:18] If you consider it find dining then that's your perspective of find dining.

[00:21:22] You know?

[00:21:23] What's interesting about Filipino food, you know, when I think about it

[00:21:27] and it goes back, I think, to our earlier conversation about access.

[00:21:32] It is not common.

[00:21:34] You don't see a lot of find dining restaurants that are Filipino

[00:21:38] forward as you put it in a similar sense as Italian.

[00:21:44] Well, even Chinese there aren't a lot of

[00:21:46] find that in the majority of Chinese restaurants out there aren't considered

[00:21:53] quote unquote, find dining.

[00:21:54] There's a bunch of just sit down restaurants, right?

[00:21:56] But Italian or American or steak houses or whatever you don't see Filipino food

[00:22:03] up there with that.

[00:22:05] You know, so what inspired you to make that connection

[00:22:12] with Filipino in level it up a bit, I guess?

[00:22:17] The experience in the food.

[00:22:19] I think working at a, you know, like I said,

[00:22:21] working at a find dining establishment,

[00:22:22] you kind of just know when you're plating something or cooking something

[00:22:26] you're like this is kind of like a nobo or this is kind of like

[00:22:31] a dish that we grew up eating but I think

[00:22:34] we can just manipulate it in a way where it makes sense for us, you know,

[00:22:38] and stay true to the tradition and the flavor.

[00:22:44] At the core?

[00:22:45] Yeah, the core, like the soul I guess,

[00:22:46] so what people would call it and you know,

[00:22:51] just working at a, I guess I just working and, you know,

[00:22:55] just seeing like the plate as your canvas and you're like,

[00:22:59] we can do this if Filipino food too and why not?

[00:23:03] It's always been our approach and like, why not?

[00:23:06] Yeah, let's do.

[00:23:07] For your items like at Haryah, how did the

[00:23:11] concepts come about?

[00:23:14] It's just some of the food that we like eating or you know,

[00:23:18] some of the food that we've had at home and we just try to incorporate our

[00:23:23] style into it where we just make it into a smaller portion rather than

[00:23:28] like a big, big bowl of, you know, that's good enough to feed 10 people.

[00:23:37] You know, it's really interesting that I was telling my mom about this and it's like

[00:23:45] I was telling her like, you see food as you just need to eat it,

[00:23:52] you know, like you need to be full and like that's just always been the mentality I feel like

[00:23:57] for Filipinos, I think.

[00:24:02] But for me, I kind of see food as a means of time travel or like a connection, right?

[00:24:11] Something that evokes like a certain feeling or like I said nostalgia, right?

[00:24:17] Like, I think that's what food does, or that's how I see food at least in perspective.

[00:24:24] That's why at Haraya what we try to do is, you know, how can we

[00:24:31] evoke that nostalgic feel but make it in a way where they're challenged a little bit, right?

[00:24:39] They see a dish and we call it like for instance lying

[00:24:43] but it's with fish, you know, like it kind of gives them this perspective of like,

[00:24:49] oh, like this is not what I'm used to.

[00:24:52] But it kind of is.

[00:24:54] When they dig into it, it tastes like it, you know, I think that's the goal that we're trying

[00:25:01] to do is we want to challenge the perspective of what Filipino food could be and

[00:25:11] I think it's just right because food evolves, you know? Like I think it's

[00:25:16] time for us to be in that wave too.

[00:25:21] Agreed.

[00:25:24] And make others who aren't used to Filipino food aware.

[00:25:28] Exactly.

[00:25:32] Because typically if you don't, I guess for those that aren't Filipino,

[00:25:37] the moments where they discover Filipino food is just someone either brings it

[00:25:41] to a party or they get invited to a party or someone's house or something like that.

[00:25:52] And then they might venture out into Filipino restaurant after that,

[00:25:57] that personal experience I guess you could say.

[00:25:59] I think for me, like our cuisine is very rich in culture and heritage,

[00:26:04] you know, there's a lot of influences from other countries with makes it,

[00:26:09] like for us a melting pot of different cultures. And I think that's what's really exciting about

[00:26:14] it, right? There's some Chinese influence in it, American, like Southeast Asian trading and

[00:26:22] Spanish for sure.

[00:26:25] I think that's what makes this very diverse. Like I hate to use this word fusion.

[00:26:30] I think but we are the fusion cuisine of the world.

[00:26:34] Like we have so many influences under our belt and I think we should capitalize on that

[00:26:42] and embrace that and pump it out and share it to the world.

[00:26:51] So, so Haryya started off as a pop-up.

[00:26:54] Right.

[00:26:56] And then it became very popular.

[00:27:00] I wouldn't say popular, but it's okay.

[00:27:03] It made waves, I guess.

[00:27:05] Yeah, surprisingly. To be honest, when we did the pop-up, like I was telling Enzo,

[00:27:11] I'm ready for the feedback, like the negative feedback that we're going to get, you know,

[00:27:15] like we're not Filipino and not whatever.

[00:27:17] Oh, right. Did you get that feedback?

[00:27:19] I'll surprisingly know.

[00:27:21] But you were prepared for that.

[00:27:23] We're expecting it.

[00:27:24] It's anticipating because that's just always been the perspective, right?

[00:27:28] Like when you're not familiar with something,

[00:27:31] you're not going to call it authentic.

[00:27:33] Like because it's not the norm.

[00:27:37] It's not traditional.

[00:27:38] Right.

[00:27:38] That's not the norm that you see on a regular basis or

[00:27:44] that's not your mom is cooking or like...

[00:27:47] It's not pure.

[00:27:47] Yeah.

[00:27:48] But surprisingly we didn't really get any of those feedbacks which is kind of a home,

[00:27:54] you know, different.

[00:27:56] I guess.

[00:27:57] Yeah.

[00:27:58] Yep.

[00:28:01] So the pop-up

[00:28:06] didn't exist anymore.

[00:28:07] So like it popped up literally and then...

[00:28:10] Yeah, it popped up and then...

[00:28:11] It was temporary.

[00:28:12] We were able to secure space in DC

[00:28:16] which we're trying to open up hopefully by the summer.

[00:28:21] Cool.

[00:28:21] Yeah.

[00:28:22] Cool.

[00:28:23] And then in the meantime, you have Saari.

[00:28:25] Yeah, we have Saari, Filipino, Casina and Anandelle, Virginia.

[00:28:29] That was also a pivot

[00:28:33] with my business partners.

[00:28:37] Saari basically is inspired by...

[00:28:40] I don't know if you've seen that iconic like...

[00:28:43] The rooster?

[00:28:44] The rooster, the color for...

[00:28:45] I see your logo, yeah.

[00:28:47] The rooster.

[00:28:48] So basically that's called like a Saari Mano.

[00:28:51] So we just called the play Saari.

[00:28:54] Because that symbolizes

[00:28:58] good fortune and wealth in, you know, like the southern part of the Philippines.

[00:29:06] So...

[00:29:07] And I really like the...

[00:29:08] What's the double meaning to it too?

[00:29:10] Yeah, double meaning also which means variety.

[00:29:14] Like you know, Saari's story.

[00:29:16] Like I said, the concepts we try to open up

[00:29:20] we try to find like a deeper meaning and a connection for us

[00:29:27] so we can really like...

[00:29:30] Connect with folks.

[00:29:32] Connect with folks and share our story.

[00:29:34] It's our platform to kind of tell them who we are and what we do.

[00:29:40] Awesome.

[00:29:42] How do you think...

[00:29:43] I think...

[00:29:47] How do you think you drew interest from important people in the food industry such that

[00:29:58] you're featured in food and wine?

[00:29:59] You have certain critics like what Enzo, who Enzo characterized as the critic from Rana Tui.

[00:30:06] That level of a critic who just comes and he's there and he tastes the food and he leaves.

[00:30:12] Kind of thing.

[00:30:13] How did that come about?

[00:30:15] I don't know, honestly.

[00:30:17] Every time we try to open up concepts, we never try to like

[00:30:23] like reach for the stars in a sense.

[00:30:26] You know, I've always told Enzo this too,

[00:30:31] don't chase the stars.

[00:30:32] Let the stars chase after you in a sense where...

[00:30:36] We don't call for like...

[00:30:38] like...

[00:30:38] recognition or act-lates.

[00:30:40] I think we just cook because we love what we do and we love feeding people

[00:30:44] and we love sharing our rich culture with them and not bringing in.

[00:30:50] For us, it's just a means for us to tell them our story.

[00:30:54] You know, and hopefully by the time they leave,

[00:30:56] they're connected with us and they're part of the family now too.

[00:31:00] You know?

[00:31:01] Amazing.

[00:31:02] That's always just been the Filipino hospitality, right?

[00:31:05] That's what we try to preach.

[00:31:08] It's never about

[00:31:11] you know, the awards or

[00:31:14] anything like that.

[00:31:15] I mean, if those things come, they come,

[00:31:17] you know, we'll take it but for us,

[00:31:20] it's never about that.

[00:31:22] Yeah.

[00:31:23] What has been the feedback?

[00:31:26] Yeah, talk to me about the spectrum of feedback.

[00:31:28] There's the people who presumably are like the...

[00:31:32] our parents kind of generation of people.

[00:31:35] Honestly, the feedback has been like...

[00:31:37] To those critics.

[00:31:38] Some of them love us, some of them don't and that's okay.

[00:31:42] Yeah.

[00:31:42] Not everyone's going to love us.

[00:31:45] Not everyone's going to think we're authentic enough.

[00:31:47] Right.

[00:31:47] You know, honestly,

[00:31:50] someone commented on like one of our posts saying

[00:31:54] we're culturally appropriating Filipino food and I was like...

[00:31:58] But you are Filipino.

[00:31:59] How am I culturally appropriating Filipino food when I'm Filipino?

[00:32:03] I was born and raised there.

[00:32:04] I speak the language.

[00:32:06] The language perfectly and I grew up there.

[00:32:09] I went to school there and I was born and raised there

[00:32:11] and I still have a Philippine passport,

[00:32:13] you know like...

[00:32:14] I'm not even an American citizen.

[00:32:16] Like how am I culturally appropriating Filipino food?

[00:32:19] But that's her own perspective and you just have to respect that.

[00:32:24] You just got to kind of kill them with kindness

[00:32:27] and that's always going to be what we do.

[00:32:29] We always take the high road and you know,

[00:32:33] it's just funny to me that people are saying we're culturally appropriating.

[00:32:38] You know, but I guess they don't know the real definition of proper appropriation.

[00:32:42] I guess not.

[00:32:50] How did...

[00:32:52] How in the world

[00:32:53] did you come about brisket in the city gong?

[00:33:00] Because I'm still remembering that.

[00:33:02] I can't forget about it and Enza told me the story about the smoker

[00:33:06] and it's...

[00:33:07] I think it's a story you should tell the folks listening.

[00:33:09] So the place that we did a pivot recently with Sari was a barbecue joint

[00:33:15] and, you know, the barbeque...

[00:33:18] So the original place before it became sorry it was a barbecue joint?

[00:33:20] Was a barbecue joint?

[00:33:21] Basically they do Texas style barbecue.

[00:33:24] The food was amazing, but I feel like

[00:33:29] it was just different, wrong, I guess wrong area.

[00:33:34] Right?

[00:33:34] Like as we were in, it's predominant Asian and...

[00:33:39] Is it?

[00:33:39] Okay.

[00:33:40] So Anando Virginia has a lot of like Korean population,

[00:33:44] Chinese and Filipinos.

[00:33:46] I didn't know there was a lot of Filipinos there,

[00:33:47] but apparently they're interesting.

[00:33:50] You know, I feel like it was a tough stretch for

[00:33:56] Asian community to kind of gravitate towards American barbecue

[00:33:59] when you're surrounded with a bunch of Asian places.

[00:34:03] There's an abundance of Korean barbecues in the area.

[00:34:08] Vietnamese restaurants, like fall places and

[00:34:13] there's not a lot.

[00:34:14] I mean, there's a couple of Filipino mom and pop

[00:34:17] like the Uroes, but that's about it.

[00:34:22] When we were doing like the collaboration

[00:34:26] with my business partners now,

[00:34:29] you know, I told them I think it'd be better if we just pivot this place

[00:34:33] and turn in to Filipino or shot.

[00:34:35] And surprisingly they kind of

[00:34:39] just trusted the idea and went with it.

[00:34:42] And we wanted to save the brisket because the brisket was really good

[00:34:47] and I would always tell them to like

[00:34:50] the sinegum has beef in it, brisket's beef.

[00:34:53] So why not?

[00:34:55] So we're like, let's try it.

[00:34:57] Pretty good.

[00:34:57] And then we just did it.

[00:35:00] You know, what we like, it's very different.

[00:35:02] Like I think the smokiness of the brisket

[00:35:06] kind of adds a different nuance to the flavor

[00:35:09] of the sinegum or even the kare kare which is

[00:35:13] you do brisket kare kare.

[00:35:14] Which is an ox tail usually, right?

[00:35:16] So you know, we just thought like a different added nuance

[00:35:21] to the dish would kind of just set it apart and make us different.

[00:35:26] Honors America too.

[00:35:28] Yeah exactly.

[00:35:29] Texas.

[00:35:32] Very creative, yeah.

[00:35:34] But we like being outside of the box though.

[00:35:36] Like people are like,

[00:35:37] that's cool and you guys really resourcefully just not like you go

[00:35:39] because ends up is telling me you don't want to get rid of the smokers.

[00:35:42] Yeah, we didn't want to get rid of the smokers to kind of flip the whole concept.

[00:35:45] Right.

[00:35:45] So we were like, let's just make it work.

[00:35:48] Well, we, I mean that's what we try to do all the time.

[00:35:50] We make your work.

[00:35:51] You know, like if something happens, we make it work.

[00:35:53] That's always a Filipino mindset.

[00:35:55] So we're taking that approach here.

[00:35:58] Let's make it work.

[00:35:59] Whatever.

[00:36:00] See where it takes us.

[00:36:01] Pretty good.

[00:36:03] Pretty good.

[00:36:05] And I saw it and I didn't get to enjoy this.

[00:36:08] But I'd song your Instagram.

[00:36:10] There was um,

[00:36:12] who the show pal.

[00:36:14] Yeah.

[00:36:14] Oh my god.

[00:36:16] Yeah, that was um,

[00:36:18] like I said, just something different.

[00:36:20] Pretty good.

[00:36:21] Who biz like my fave?

[00:36:22] Yeah.

[00:36:23] Yeah.

[00:36:24] So like I said, we just like being outside the box.

[00:36:29] People call us weird but we embrace.

[00:36:31] Weird's awesome.

[00:36:33] I love weird.

[00:36:34] I love being different.

[00:36:35] Yeah.

[00:36:36] Um, I hate being in the status quo of things.

[00:36:39] Right.

[00:36:40] Yeah.

[00:36:41] I like going against the great.

[00:36:42] Yeah.

[00:36:43] Yeah.

[00:36:45] Uh, so let's talk about like what you make at home.

[00:36:49] Do you do you actually cook at home even

[00:36:51] with with everything going on?

[00:36:53] It's kind of tough to cook at home sometimes.

[00:36:56] Like my wife actually hates me for it but uh,

[00:37:00] um, before I used to cook a lot but like lately given

[00:37:03] with my time schedule, it's just tough to cook.

[00:37:06] You know how do you eat then, chef?

[00:37:08] Very dirty.

[00:37:10] Like like junk food.

[00:37:11] Oh, okay.

[00:37:12] Let's talk about that.

[00:37:13] Very bad.

[00:37:14] Let's talk about that.

[00:37:15] That's easy access.

[00:37:16] You know, um,

[00:37:19] would you eat?

[00:37:19] Did you eat anything today?

[00:37:20] I haven't eaten yet actually.

[00:37:22] Is that is it because you fast?

[00:37:24] Yeah.

[00:37:25] I fast.

[00:37:25] I was waiting.

[00:37:26] You know, like how the rice you eat at home is

[00:37:29] do you typically cook Filipino food at home or do you

[00:37:32] are you sick of that because you have

[00:37:34] omicens in your restaurant?

[00:37:36] If my mom cooks Filipino food at home

[00:37:38] then I'll eat it just because um,

[00:37:41] what does she think?

[00:37:42] What does she think about your cooking?

[00:37:44] She loves it actually.

[00:37:45] Surprising me like um,

[00:37:47] I think my mom's the biggest critic out there

[00:37:50] and surprisingly she hasn't really given me

[00:37:53] like any bad feedback

[00:37:54] and she would just give me like tips and advices

[00:37:59] when it comes to like the flavor and stuff but like

[00:38:02] Surprising me she liked it.

[00:38:04] Well done.

[00:38:04] I think

[00:38:06] um,

[00:38:09] that's what we're going to try to do from now

[00:38:10] and just cook for my mom if my mom loves it

[00:38:13] so she's part of the team.

[00:38:14] Yeah, she's part of the team obviously.

[00:38:16] She's the biggest inspiration out there.

[00:38:18] Yeah.

[00:38:20] This is what we do what we do.

[00:38:21] Yeah.

[00:38:22] Yeah.

[00:38:23] Yeah.

[00:38:23] Make your mom a proud.

[00:38:24] Pretty much.

[00:38:25] And one in a piece.

[00:38:29] Okay, so back to what you eat.

[00:38:30] You said you eat dirty.

[00:38:32] Is that because of time convenience and you just

[00:38:36] are too busy?

[00:38:39] I don't want to make that as an excuse though.

[00:38:41] Like,

[00:38:42] is that the truth though?

[00:38:44] Like,

[00:38:45] I guess it's the accessibility of it.

[00:38:47] Like you don't have to think about it in a sentence

[00:38:50] where you're just like oh my god like Donald's

[00:38:52] I'm gonna get this this and that

[00:38:54] and you know it's gonna fill you up.

[00:38:58] Which is so interesting because we just talked about

[00:39:00] the fact that food to you isn't all about filling you up.

[00:39:04] But well, I yes, I guess but I'm saying like

[00:39:08] after a long shift

[00:39:09] yeah, you're hungry.

[00:39:12] I guess my brain capacity is like

[00:39:14] I don't want to think about what I want to eat or like

[00:39:17] your energy's too low to make something.

[00:39:20] I guess I'll just get this because it's

[00:39:23] I know it's gonna show me out

[00:39:25] or like I know I'm gonna be satisfied.

[00:39:28] You know

[00:39:31] at that point like I guess I'm just mentally

[00:39:33] drained exhausted.

[00:39:35] I don't want to use my brain.

[00:39:36] Yeah,

[00:39:37] to think about what I'm gonna eat.

[00:39:38] Do you find yourself in that mode

[00:39:41] more often than not?

[00:39:42] All the time.

[00:39:43] I feel like you have to allow me busy shift.

[00:39:46] That's where it's like

[00:39:47] ah

[00:39:48] like

[00:39:49] it's probably not food at home.

[00:39:52] Wow.

[00:39:53] And plus we get out late too right?

[00:39:55] Yeah.

[00:39:56] Only places available would be

[00:39:59] the typical fast food.

[00:40:02] McDonald's Wendy's

[00:40:04] you know on that stuff.

[00:40:06] Yeah.

[00:40:07] Like is that the way we want to eat?

[00:40:09] No, but that's the only thing available.

[00:40:11] Let me get out like 12 or 1.

[00:40:13] Is this um

[00:40:15] is this a common

[00:40:19] restaurant

[00:40:22] worker

[00:40:24] owner

[00:40:25] staff kind of

[00:40:26] culture of eating?

[00:40:29] I don't want to speak for anyone but I think.

[00:40:32] Right.

[00:40:34] Is it a common thing that you see?

[00:40:35] I just feel like we just got used to it

[00:40:37] since we're getting out late all the time

[00:40:39] that like that's the only thing available.

[00:40:41] Yeah.

[00:40:42] You know, like that's

[00:40:43] our only access at that time.

[00:40:45] So

[00:40:46] it's interesting.

[00:40:48] Yeah.

[00:40:50] That's another business idea is late night

[00:40:54] healthy.

[00:40:55] Food options for restaurant folks

[00:40:58] who feed us but then are too tired to feed themselves.

[00:41:02] Ah yeah.

[00:41:05] Because I mean, I'm envisioning all of you

[00:41:08] all of everyone who's trying to feed the healthiest of whatever

[00:41:13] and preparing this beautiful food but then you go home

[00:41:16] and it's not the beautiful food.

[00:41:17] You know, that's kind of a weird interesting situation.

[00:41:25] Yeah.

[00:41:27] Tough life we live.

[00:41:28] Hmm.

[00:41:30] Can I think about solutions for that?

[00:41:34] I've been trying to figure that out for the longest time.

[00:41:36] Yeah.

[00:41:38] Like

[00:41:40] for all those delivery food meal kit places like

[00:41:47] Extend your hours.

[00:41:51] You have a whole restaurant and food worker.

[00:41:53] Yeah.

[00:41:54] Community there that needs the solution.

[00:41:56] Yeah, actually, that's interesting.

[00:41:58] There is a place that's healthy and they close it like too.

[00:42:02] Yeah.

[00:42:03] That would be something big in-

[00:42:06] There you go.

[00:42:07] Okay.

[00:42:08] I'm going to note that.

[00:42:11] So what if and when you do cook at home?

[00:42:15] Like what would be the go-to quick thing

[00:42:19] or what was that growing up even?

[00:42:24] It's still bad though.

[00:42:26] It's fine.

[00:42:26] It does have to be good or bad.

[00:42:28] It's just what was it?

[00:42:29] I mean, I grew up on like, you know, the traditional like

[00:42:34] lucky me packets like the instant pensick and thong.

[00:42:37] Okay.

[00:42:40] Would you put on it?

[00:42:41] Yeah, spam and rice.

[00:42:42] It's spam and rice.

[00:42:42] Vienna sausage.

[00:42:43] Do you do Vienna sausage?

[00:42:45] I'm not a fan of Vienna sausage tonight.

[00:42:47] We did that as a kid.

[00:42:48] Yeah, we did that too though.

[00:42:49] I wasn't a fan.

[00:42:49] I like spam better corn beef.

[00:42:52] Yeah.

[00:42:52] Corn beef, you know, that's the staple growing up.

[00:42:57] Yeah, just the Filipino can gets because

[00:43:00] they kind of brought you back home.

[00:43:02] Very nostalgic.

[00:43:03] So yeah.

[00:43:05] Would you do with the instant bun sit?

[00:43:09] Sometimes when you're lucky we have bundes off

[00:43:11] and then we would toast it up warm and then cut in half

[00:43:15] and then put the bun sit in there.

[00:43:16] I guess I'm saying.

[00:43:17] Oh dang.

[00:43:18] Dang.

[00:43:19] I have not seen that.

[00:43:21] Just the noodles and the bundes off.

[00:43:22] Yeah.

[00:43:23] No soy sauce or whatever.

[00:43:24] Well, the sauce.

[00:43:26] The packet has like the soy sauce makes it.

[00:43:29] And then yeah, there you go.

[00:43:30] That's it.

[00:43:31] That's your day.

[00:43:32] I wish you like this whatever.

[00:43:35] It's actually pretty good.

[00:43:35] That something tells me you might do something

[00:43:38] like that in her life.

[00:43:39] Just kidding.

[00:43:42] That's I know.

[00:43:43] I'm just kidding.

[00:43:44] It'll just be getting to like something.

[00:43:46] Mm.

[00:43:47] This is all we put in there.

[00:43:48] We put cheese and that's kind of like

[00:43:49] your grilled cheese and a sense.

[00:43:53] Filipino spaghetti includes what for people who don't know

[00:43:57] what makes a difference.

[00:43:58] Rhett.

[00:43:58] Oh yeah.

[00:43:59] And it's it tends to be sweeter.

[00:44:01] Yeah, people put sugar in that thing.

[00:44:03] Yeah, sweeter.

[00:44:04] And then you spit a bunch of cheese

[00:44:06] and that's like around my spaghetti sandwich.

[00:44:09] And typically ground beef right?

[00:44:10] Like the pork rib.

[00:44:11] I don't eat for ground pork.

[00:44:12] But yeah.

[00:44:12] Yeah.

[00:44:16] Well awesome.

[00:44:19] What?

[00:44:20] So, Haryam opens.

[00:44:22] Hopefully it's June but

[00:44:25] the construction you want on right now

[00:44:26] everything is kind of delayed so.

[00:44:29] I don't open when it opens.

[00:44:30] Yeah, we're open.

[00:44:31] It'll open when it's ready.

[00:44:33] Mm hmm.

[00:44:34] We're ready.

[00:44:35] We're not trying to chase after

[00:44:38] time frame.

[00:44:39] We try to do things our time

[00:44:42] when we're in.

[00:44:43] When the universe says so.

[00:44:45] Yeah.

[00:44:46] Uh, besides Haryam,

[00:44:49] what are the things you cook in

[00:44:51] conceptually that we can all look forward to?

[00:44:54] Um, we're actually doing this, um,

[00:44:59] like Filipino fusion thing

[00:45:01] and for Washington, Maryland where we're doing, um,

[00:45:06] like tacos and burritos but with like Filipino proteins,

[00:45:11] you know, like chicken and dobo,

[00:45:12] it's a Cicero, Cicero.

[00:45:14] Like Cicero tacos, Cicero,

[00:45:15] it's like something you've seen in California or

[00:45:18] but like never really seen it here and he's

[00:45:20] go so something that you don't, I mean,

[00:45:23] you don't see a dobo tacos and you know how

[00:45:26] Korean barbecue had their thing with the taco?

[00:45:30] Korean taco, like pretty much similar.

[00:45:32] Yeah.

[00:45:34] Cool.

[00:45:35] Yeah.

[00:45:35] That's cool.

[00:45:36] Like I said, just different avenues to promote are

[00:45:40] flavors.

[00:45:41] Yeah.

[00:45:41] Yeah.

[00:45:42] Or heritage.

[00:45:42] Mm-hmm.

[00:45:43] So that's always one,

[00:45:46] cool one for me at least.

[00:45:48] Um, I also saw on your Instagram that you have condiments.

[00:45:55] Yes.

[00:45:55] Like working on it.

[00:45:57] What tell us more about that?

[00:45:58] Um,

[00:46:01] we're just working on this condiment thing where

[00:46:03] we're trying to sell it to like the markets,

[00:46:06] like Whole Foods, you know, hopefully.

[00:46:09] What kind of condiments?

[00:46:10] Like vinegar, like spicy vinegar or

[00:46:15] like banana ketchup or like

[00:46:21] crab fat or exo sauce or you know,

[00:46:25] like stuff that I had when I went back to the Philippines

[00:46:28] like

[00:46:30] for my hometown too.

[00:46:31] So just make it.

[00:46:32] Where'd you grow up?

[00:46:33] Um, well I grew up in Manila but I was born and raised in

[00:46:36] Bambanga and then when my father passed away,

[00:46:39] we moved back to where my mom was from which is

[00:46:41] Spananyaka.

[00:46:43] Okay.

[00:46:43] So I pretty much grew up there.

[00:46:46] Do you go back?

[00:46:47] I went back last 2019.

[00:46:50] Pre-pendemic.

[00:46:51] Pre-pendemic yeah.

[00:46:52] It was it was a game changer for me for sure.

[00:46:54] Like it was an eye opening experience that there's so much

[00:46:57] to learn about where we came from in just the different aspects of

[00:47:03] food and different family recipes and you know,

[00:47:07] different perspectives as well.

[00:47:09] It was fun.

[00:47:11] That's awesome.

[00:47:12] Do you plan on going back to like fill up your creative juices from time to time?

[00:47:16] Yeah definitely after um,

[00:47:20] hopefully before we open the restaurant but it's just really tight right now at time.

[00:47:25] You know,

[00:47:27] just a lot of things going on.

[00:47:30] I bet.

[00:47:30] Trying to figure out how to clone myself.

[00:47:34] Such as the entrepreneur life.

[00:47:37] Can't find the way to do that.

[00:47:40] Yeah.

[00:47:41] I guess you just got to keep on trucking.

[00:47:43] Yeah.

[00:47:44] I'm prioritized.

[00:47:45] Yeah.

[00:47:46] Which I don't want.

[00:47:47] I'm really bad at it.

[00:47:50] Well,

[00:47:51] I want to thank you so much.

[00:47:52] This has been awesome.

[00:47:54] It's pleasure.

[00:47:55] I've learned a lot.

[00:47:56] Yeah.

[00:47:57] Yeah.

[00:47:59] It's a power of Instagram.

[00:48:02] Yeah, the power of social media.

[00:48:03] I feel like we have the strongest tool in the palm of our hands and

[00:48:09] we just try to use that for good here.

[00:48:11] Yeah, to the best of our abilities to share.

[00:48:15] You know, our what we're proud of and yeah.

[00:48:19] So thank you for responding to my DM of course because this is how it all started.

[00:48:24] Yeah, thank you for much reaching out.

[00:48:26] You know, it's nice to that you're doing this and

[00:48:30] this is another avenue for us to share our cuisine.

[00:48:35] 100%

[00:48:36] This is another way for us to be

[00:48:39] in the mainstream to stay relevant.

[00:48:41] You know, so thank you.

[00:48:43] Absolutely.

[00:48:44] From one Filipino to another.

[00:48:46] Like it's awesome.

[00:48:48] It's your place and I put it on my latest Instagram post when I visited.

[00:48:52] Awesome.

[00:48:53] I have never

[00:48:55] and it's not that I've been to a ton.

[00:48:56] Okay, because they're to your point there.

[00:48:58] It's not really accessible where it really tastes like good

[00:49:02] home cooked food.

[00:49:04] Your place tastes like it and more.

[00:49:07] It leaves me going, oh dang, so that's what you can do with that.

[00:49:10] You know, versus they're not to knock the Dorotoro's or you know,

[00:49:14] the mom and pop places but it's not me knocking them at all.

[00:49:18] But I just feel like that's what people are used to

[00:49:22] because that, you know, when you left the motherland,

[00:49:26] you're in a foreign place and you were trying to look for something

[00:49:31] that would feed your nostalgia.

[00:49:35] Right?

[00:49:35] That was the case for the Dorotoro restaurants.

[00:49:39] Like that was the place for them to find home again.

[00:49:42] To find home again in a foreign place

[00:49:45] and the point of reference to what they're used to.

[00:49:48] But then again,

[00:49:51] for me, you know, it was,

[00:49:55] I wanted, I just wanted to do something different

[00:49:57] but still tap into nostalgia.

[00:50:00] To the roots.

[00:50:01] There we are.

[00:50:02] Yeah, it's amazing.

[00:50:04] If ever you come back to California,

[00:50:07] let us know and

[00:50:11] would love to see you do something in California actually too.

[00:50:15] It was actually a restaurant in Orange County that opened

[00:50:18] for a long time ago in downtown Santa Ana.

[00:50:22] What's it called?

[00:50:24] Irina or something like that?

[00:50:28] Not sure if it's though.

[00:50:29] I don't think so.

[00:50:36] But there is,

[00:50:38] you have to check out the Korean Lord though.

[00:50:39] Korean Lord in that life.

[00:50:41] All I will.

[00:50:43] Korean Lord.

[00:50:43] I will do that.

[00:50:44] Yeah, he's a good friend of mine.

[00:50:47] I think he cooks really awesome

[00:50:49] Filipino food from where he's from and

[00:50:52] amazing.

[00:50:52] Yeah, and another

[00:50:54] you've probably heard of him

[00:50:57] and he's quite

[00:50:59] a name

[00:51:01] in California, in Orange County in particular.

[00:51:05] And I may,

[00:51:07] he's on my list too.

[00:51:08] It's like a wish list of podcasts.

[00:51:10] His Ross Bungi Lee.

[00:51:13] He's from San Diego, right?

[00:51:15] I think so, but he and so he has

[00:51:19] a couple of restaurants in Orange County

[00:51:22] which are fine dining Filipino forward as well

[00:51:26] which are very

[00:51:30] innovative.

[00:51:31] Right.

[00:51:32] So if you're listening Ross,

[00:51:36] I'm going to try and reach out to you.

[00:51:40] So we'll see.

[00:51:41] Yeah.

[00:51:42] Yeah.

[00:51:43] It's amazing, but thank you again.

[00:51:45] Yeah, for appreciate the time and you coming out

[00:51:47] and I'm so glad we got to do this

[00:51:49] and meet you in person.

[00:51:50] Yeah, cheers.

[00:51:51] Thank you so much.

[00:51:52] Cheers.

[00:51:57] It's amazing.

[00:52:07] And that wraps our delightful conversation

[00:52:10] with the incredibly talented Palo Duma.

[00:52:13] A huge shout out to Paulo for sharing his passion stories

[00:52:16] and culinary magic with us.

[00:52:18] If you're ever in DC or planning a visit,

[00:52:20] make sure you stop by both of his restaurants

[00:52:24] Saadi, Filipino, Cousina, and Hiraia.

[00:52:27] Both are sure to be culinary experiences

[00:52:30] you won't forget.

[00:52:31] And for those of you who can't make it in person,

[00:52:34] well you can still get a taste of what Palo's up to

[00:52:36] by following him and Hiraia on Instagram.

[00:52:40] Trust us your feed will be filled with dishes

[00:52:42] that'll blow your mind, heart, and belly.

[00:52:46] And while you're at it, don't forget to follow us too

[00:52:50] at Rice and Egg Official for more behind the scenes

[00:52:53] and updates on upcoming episodes.

[00:52:57] Thanks for tuning in.

[00:52:58] And until next time, keep exploring delicious stories

[00:53:02] about people who feed people.