Sixta Evangelista Ongpauco "Mama Chit"
Barrio Fiesta Restaurant
Since 1952, Barrio Fiesta has provided the Filipino people with the authentic taste of true Filipino cuisine.
It must have taken a lot of courage when Sixta Evangelista Ongpauco, founder of Barrio Fiesta, decided to turn her home on what was then Highway 54 (now Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or Edsa) in Caloocan City, Philippines, into the first Filipino fine dining restaurant, with a menu made up almost entirely of native delicacies
Like the Filipino tradition it has been named after, Barrio Fiesta was, for a whole generation of Filipinos, a place for festivities, celebrations and the gathering of families and friends. Many milestones were marked by a visit to a Barrio Fiesta branch in the Philippines.
Barrio Fiesta became the venue of choice for events and occasions people hoped to remember for a long, long time, if not forever. Weddings, graduations, christenings, birthdays – celebrations were not true celebrations unless they were held at Barrio Fiesta.
Milpitas, California
In 1992, the Ongpauco’s brought and opened The Original Barrio Fiesta of Manila in Milpitas, California. Since then, Filipinos and their friends have come to love the taste of authentic Filipino cuisine.
Once inside the Barrio Fiesta Restaurant in Milpitas, California, you will be transported back in time to the Philippines with its ornate and festive ambience – each piece originally brought here from the Philippines and geared towards complementing the sumptuous feast you are about to partake in!
Filipino way
Barrio Fiesta enhances bonding among kith and kin by serving food in typical Filipino fashion. Everything is placed in the middle of the table to be shared by everyone, the way it is done in homes, instead of being served portioned out on individual plates.
The cooks at the Barrio Fiesta Restaurant in Milpitas, California, were all trained extensively from the Barrio Fiesta Restaurants in the Philippines. This is our way of making sure that you really enjoy the “Taste of Home!”
2) Aristocrat
Engracia Cruz-Reyes “Aling Asiang"
Alex, on the other hand, was a well educated University of the Philippines law graduate who finished fourth during the bar exams of 1914. He pursued a promising career in the judiciary and rose quickly from Assistant Clerk of Court at the Municipal Court of manila immediately after graduation. Although Alex became Undersecretary of Justice in less than 15 years, the Reyeses produced more children than a civil servant’s salary could support comfortably. At final count, there were all thirteen of them – Andy, Arturo, Teresita, Esperidion, Mario, Jose, Herminia, Ma. Lusia, Alex, Jr., Consuelo, Armando, Benjamin, and Victor. This turned out to be quite a problem since Alex was a man of impeccable integrity who would not augment the family income through nefarious means. Aling Asiang showed her love for her husband by valuing principles. This was the driving force behind her putting her culinary talents to entrepreneurial use.
Decades later, Alex would become Solicitor General, and climb all the way up to Associate Justice at the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Associate Justice. Even then, he would apologize to his wife, “Pasensiya ka na hindi kita ginawang mayaman.” But Aling Asiang would brush away this concern focusing instead on what they have – a good name and a loving, harmonious family.
Even if there was little money to go around the Reyes household, Aling Asiang always made sure that the needs of the children were met – clothing education, and, of course, great food. But Aling Asiang’s soft side was balanced by the disciplinarian in her. Aling Asiang inculcated into her children the dignity of work and the value of putting together for household chores.
The eldest polished their narra floor to a mirror-like gleam before going out to play. Another one scrubbed the bathrooms, and the girls helped in the kitchen. Every Reyes child was an expert in peeling onions and mashing garlic – the prerequisites to most delicious native dishes – before they grew tall enough to touch their chins on the dinner table. Paydays were special for the Reyes children because Alex would treat the family to a special meal in one of the panciterias in Chinatown. During these eat-outs, Aling Asiang, ever the cooking genius, would do a running commentary on which dishes she gave a passing grade and which ones failed to meet her exacting standards plus what ingredients should have been added.
Still, there was the problem of supporting the needs of a growing brood with an honest civil servant’s salary. Thus, on the matrimonial bed one night, Aling Asiang broached the idea of food for sale to generate additional income. Although the family kitty was much depleted from expenses for their new house, Alex obliged and coughed up the necessary capital. He would also serve as somewhat of a publicist for the restaurant by bringing in his friends from government and other social circles.
Thus, with neither visions of grandeur nor much fanfare, Aling Asiang opened a kiosk – the ‘Lapu-Lapu’, a name that honors the first Filipino hero with a culinary connotation. The Lapu-Lapu aimed to entice the hundreds of colegialas from St. Theresa’s College just across their newly built home at Marquez de Comillas (now Romuladez St.) which was then a rather fashionable residential district of the city.
The colegialas of St. Theresa’s immediately took a liking to the specialties of the Lapu-Lapu, dinuguan at puto, arroz caldo, pancit luglug, banana fritters (now known as turon) and lumpiang ubod. Word spread far, wide, and fast about Aling Asiang’s delicacies and soon, even Alex’s prominent friends in the legal profession and government service became faithful customers of the small restaurant.
As it turns out, a ladle in the hands of Aling Asiang was as good as any magic wand to save the day. But somewhere in the future, there still lies an enchanted carriage in waiting.
Every Sunday morning, Aling Asiang prepared a car load of food for their family’s weekly Luneta excursion. Even for such outings, Aling Asiang would never settle for ordinary sandwiches made with ham and cheese. She would put a distinct native twist to the American favorite by using adobo, or fried fish fillet as filling. This was complemented by vessels of pancit, dinuguan, kare-kare and rice wrapped in banana leaves good for twice the number of people in the family.
Luneta during Sunday afternoons was the melting pot for everybody who was anybody. As such, the Reyes children would often invite their classmates to eat with them. Pretty soon, these classmates will make it a point to look for the Reyeses at Luneta because, after all, Aling Asiang’s “Pino” sandwiches was a winner over cold hotdogs in buns puddle by rolling vendors in the area.
On one particular Sunday excursion, Aling Asiang figured that perhaps there was future in putting up a rolling store to compete with those already in Luneta.
Fidel Reyes (not related to the family of Alex and Asiang), a suitor of the eldest daughter Teresita, perhaps in attempt to gain favor with his future in-laws, offered his battered Ford which would be converted into a rolling canteen at a cost of seventy pesos.
The enchanted carriage was ready and it was to be parked along Luneta. Now, if only it had a name.
Originally, the idea was to name the store “Andy’s” after the eldest Reyes son. Andy, however, did not relish the idea of attaching his name to the family rolling store. Digging into her deep sense of irony, Aling Asiang named their mobile canteen “The Aristocrat” – a place oriented to Filipino families with small incomes and large appetites.
The name “The Aristocrat” would turn out to be very well suited to what Aling Asiang was doing – using the freshest premium ingredients to turn ordinary Filipino food into culinary fare so good that it is fit for royalty.
Whenever Aling Asiang cooked food for customers, she would put in the same love and care as though she were cooking for her own children. In their poorer days, Aling Asiang remembered how food was an integral part of family gatherings. Even in the simplicity of a breakfast of pandesal with butter o a merienda of kakanin, the Reyeses gathered and were together physically and in spirit. This is why The Aristocrat has always been oriented to the family.
More than just selling tasty creations, The Aristocrat was a place where the common folk could expect to get good service and hefty portions at reasonable prices. Eventually, The Aristocrat would also give their mass-based clientele a taste of continental and Chinese cuisine which used to be available only in pricey hotels.
A sign that read “The Aristocrat” was mounted on the salvaged Ford and its windows were opened to literally give customers an inside peak on how their food was being prepared.
“Masarap, malinis, at mura” – these were the three tenets of Aling Asiang which she dutifully impressed upon her food server at The Aristocrat who was trained to prepare native sandwiches without touching any of the ingredients by hand.
Thus, the deft manipulation of knife and fork to produce adobo and fish fillet sandwiches became an attraction
No one has ever bothered to verify whether it’s was the taste or the showmanship that caused the long endless queues. On one July fourth celebration, The Aristocrat sold 8,000 adobo sandwiches at cost 20 centavos each.
Eventually, Aling Asiang looked at elevating her rolling canteen into a bonafide restaurant and struck up a deal with the landowners to put up The Aristocrat at the same street corner where they have faithfully served and satisfied thousands of customers.
3) Congo Grille
Dominic, Kenneth and Rommel Sytin
Congo Grille was established in 1999 by Kenneth Sytin and his brothers. That year, the business had as many as 13,000 customers a month and was dubbed "the fastest growing grill in town." In 2006, Congo Grill participated in the Annual Sisig Festival held in Angeles City, Pampanga. Their pork sisig and two other sisig dishes won first prizes in the major categories.
The restaurant operates based on three concepts; a Philippine restaurant in an air conditioned environment, food without monosodium glutamate, and a mascot (an ape in a safari outfit) for entertaining youngsters.Congo Grille was opened for franchising in 2008. Kenneth Sytin remarked;
| “ | Our planned franchisee support will guarantee that new restaurants offer our guests consistent services. Our comprehensive systems approach and company philosophy has been designed to support our future partners in every aspect of running their franchised stores. | ” |
The first franchised-operated store opened at the Araneta Center in 2009.
