“The flavors of the Philippines are interpreted inventively in the hands of Jappy Afzelius, a Filipino executive chef who worked at high-end kitchens in France, Italy and New York. Starters, called pica pica, include pinsit fritos or pork dumplings, fried vegetable spring rolls called lumpia, and kale laing sautéed with shrimp paste and replacing taro leaves with kale. Mr. Afzelius adds Filipino ingredients to a Caesar salad; uses French-cut chicken breasts in his chicken adobo with turmeric soy sauce; includes salmon in sinigang, a typical tamarind soup; and serves traditional Filipino milkfish belly called bangus, fried with chayote and quinoa. His halo-halo dessert uses coconut sorbet in place of shaved ice. Not only does the menu expand your Filipino vocabulary, but you may also note that the name of the restaurant is a play on the Spanish word chisme, or gossip. The intimate room has a tropical feel, a copper bar and a chef’s table with eight seats facing the open kitchen. Philippe Segura, the beverage director, selected the wines and sakes. The owners, Stephen Young and Reggie Aguinaldo, have Filipino roots.”
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“Burgers have been a top item ordered at U.S. restaurants for decades, but chicken sandwiches have come on strong over the last several years, according to The NPD Group receipt-harvesting service, Checkout, which tracks the same buyers’ purchasing behaviors over time. It found that although chicken sandwiches were still behind burgers in the sandwich pecking order, they were gaining ground. Over the 12 months ending February 2019, chicken sandwich orders were up 4% at 4 billion serving, but burger orders were flat at 8.6 billion ordered.
paigepapers.com 