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The Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh regularly serves Filipino comfort food and favorites at local festivals throughout the year.The lack of a stand-alone restaurant sparked the idea for the monthly “Café Filipino” fundraiser.”Always, people come up and say, ‘Hey is there a Filipino restaurant in Pittsburgh?’ And we always say ‘No, there isn’t a Filipino restaurant in Pittsburgh,'” said the organization’s president, Leilani Mears. “So we thought of an idea of doing a pop-up dinner. We wanted to have the guests experience fine dining, Filipino style.”The kitchen at the Philippine Center of Pittsburgh in West Mifflin was bustling on Saturday. The volunteers were hard at work bringing the menu to life: Lumpianitos and Lumpiang Gulay as the starters; Bistek, Chicken Afritada, Lechon Kawali, and Pinakbet for the main course; and Flan and Biko for dessert.”That’s the best way to share anybody’s culture, is through someone’s stomach,” said event coordinator Carlos Abola. “That’s the number one way to do it.”The Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh began in 1957 as an informal social group. It was formally organized in 1964, one year before Jun Calejesan joined.”To see that more people are coming in, beginning to have more volunteers getting excited to do these kinds of things. It’s very gratifying,” Calejesan said. “And it’s good to see the younger ones are taking over, because we’ve been around too long.”Calejesan says events like Café Filipino make him happy to see the organization comes so far.”In the past, it was easy to promote our culture through cultural activities like folk dancing and singing,” Calejesan said. “But we know that culture includes food. So it’s good that Café Filipino is moving in that direction.”Mears says we need to come together from all walks of life, all communities, and cultures, now more than ever.”I think, nowadays, especially with the cultural divide, Asian hate that’s been happening since the pandemic, it’s good to break bread with the community and talk about what we celebrate,” said Mears.The next Café Filipino is planned for Father’s Day weekend.
The Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh regularly serves Filipino comfort food and favorites at local festivals throughout the year.
The lack of a stand-alone restaurant sparked the idea for the monthly “Café Filipino” fundraiser.
“Always, people come up and say, ‘Hey is there a Filipino restaurant in Pittsburgh?’ And we always say ‘No, there isn’t a Filipino restaurant in Pittsburgh,'” said the organization’s president, Leilani Mears. “So we thought of an idea of doing a pop-up dinner. We wanted to have the guests experience fine dining, Filipino style.”
The kitchen at the Philippine Center of Pittsburgh in West Mifflin was bustling on Saturday. The volunteers were hard at work bringing the menu to life: Lumpianitos and Lumpiang Gulay as the starters; Bistek, Chicken Afritada, Lechon Kawali, and Pinakbet for the main course; and Flan and Biko for dessert.
“That’s the best way to share anybody’s culture, is through someone’s stomach,” said event coordinator Carlos Abola. “That’s the number one way to do it.”
The Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh began in 1957 as an informal social group. It was formally organized in 1964, one year before Jun Calejesan joined.
“To see that more people are coming in, beginning to have more volunteers getting excited to do these kinds of things. It’s very gratifying,” Calejesan said. “And it’s good to see the younger ones are taking over, because we’ve been around too long.”
Calejesan says events like Café Filipino make him happy to see the organization comes so far.
“In the past, it was easy to promote our culture through cultural activities like folk dancing and singing,” Calejesan said. “But we know that culture includes food. So it’s good that Café Filipino is moving in that direction.”
Mears says we need to come together from all walks of life, all communities, and cultures, now more than ever.
“I think, nowadays, especially with the cultural divide, Asian hate that’s been happening since the pandemic, it’s good to break bread with the community and talk about what we celebrate,” said Mears.
The next Café Filipino is planned for Father’s Day weekend.
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