Chef Kevin Tien at the Wharf. Photograph courtesy of Moon Rabbit
When Moon Rabbit chef Kevin Tien saw the recent reports of elderly Asian Americans being attacked and even killed while going about their daily lives, he didn’t just see vicious hate crimes. He saw victims who could easily be his parents and grandparents, friends and colleagues.
“Since Covid started, we have chef friends in LA who’ve been threatened,” says Tien, an American of Vietnamese descent. “Even talking to my staff who’re Asian in background, they are scared walking around in public because of these random attacks. Everyone is worried about their mom and grandmas.”
Filipino-British chef Josh Boutwood awarded La Liste Young Talent of the Year
Award-winning Filipino-British Chef Josh Boutwood is known for his progressive dining concepts. Photo from La Liste.
Filipino-British Chef Josh Boutwood of The Test Kitchen in Manila has been honored with the “Young Talent of the Year” award by La Liste, a restaurant finder and gastronomic ranking system based in France.
Boutwood is among the 2021 awardees for “Young Talents of the Year”, La Liste’s choice of promising chefs under 35 years old.
The 34-year-old chef was praised by the international culinary guide for juggling “constant innovation” at homegrown restaurant The Test Kitchen, his concepts Helm and Savage, as well as his job as executive chef at The Bistro Group managing over 130 restaurants across the Philippines.
Department of Tourism / MANILA BULLETIN
Puyat on Tuesday personally attended the launch of an 82-page cookbook entitled “Negrense Heritage Cooking” held at the historic Casa Gamboa in Silay City. She said the project will greatly contribute to the Department of Tourism’s continued promotion of culinary tourism despite the on-going pandemic.
The DOT-led event was in partnership with the Slow Food Negros Community, Negros Museum, and Provincial Government of Negros Occidental.
“My heartfelt congratulations to everyone who worked on this wonderful cookbook. Negros Heritage Cooking is a testament to the culinary traditions of the region, filled with recipes that tell the stories of ingenuity, creativity and passion,” Puyat said.
Clarity chef/owner Jonathan Krinn. Photograph courtesy of Krinn
Clarity chef/owner Jonathan Krinn has shown his creativity since the beginning of the pandemic, launching drive-through tasting menus and building an all-outdoor kitchen. Now, the Virginia chef is hoping to help his DC friends. They’ve suffered a particularly difficult week between the usual ban on indoor dining (slated to lift January 15) and the loss of businesses due to the Capitol mobs and curfews.
“You know when you talk to someone and their voice is spent? That’s what I heard,” says Krinn after talking to chef friends. “They’re just getting beat up every single day. It hit home.”
Pogiboy s riff on a bloomin onion. Photograph by Paolo Dungca.
Chef Tom Cunanan spent five years leading the tiny kitchen at Bad Saint, the famed Filipino destination in Columbia Heights that got attention from all over the country and earned him a James Beard Award. But after leaving in August, he’s looking beyond the Philippines for his own restaurant.
It’s easy to forget that Cunanan, who shot to fame when Bad Saint opened, has actually been cooking in DC for 21 years. His resume hops around several American and French restaurants. There was Corduroy (his first job at age 17, thanks to the Boys and Girls Club); then the historic Occidental near the White House; then La Chaumiere, the venerable Georgetown bistro. Along the way he made stops at many now-closed dining rooms that were big deals back in their day: Southern fine dining restaurant Vidalia, seafood-focused Hook and DC Coast, and tasting-menu spot PS7’s. When Cunanan finds a restaurant space in DC, he hopes to d