A Filipino Restaurant for Filipinos
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Bebot Team in front of the restaurant for soft opening in September (Photo by AC Boral)
AC doesn’t ascribe any significance to keeping his harmonies within the Filipino cookbook. “The ideas behind menu development have no real rhyme nor reason. I simply thought of things I would be excited to try myself,” he explains.
“Something like Sinigang Lumpia can easily be done as a mediocre novelty, but we take our time and have built an intricate process to make sure it is a dish that stands on its own outside of the buzz.”
Sinigang Lumpia, Mushroom Pancit, and Laing (Photo by @adri_p on Instagram)
He was born in Guam to parents from Bulacan and Quezon City. True to his immigrant roots, AC’s professional life has stayed within Filipino boundaries. Rather than formal chef training, he says, “I learned from watching my father and a lot of my own research to recreate flavors I grew up with.”
Located at 2741 East Fourth Street, Bebot had a soft opening in September 2019 in one of the rare spots in the heart of Long Beach with parking. Its grand opening is scheduled for early January 2020, around which time the menu will expand beyond lunch and dinner when Rice and Shine Brunch with an a la carte menu invades the weekends.
The Borals in Philippines (Photo by AC Boral)
Being a neighborhood restaurant isn’t settling for less to the proprietor of the much-admired pop up and caterer, Rice and Shine. “A brick and mortar restaurant needs to be a place people want to come back to, a place where they can expect good service and in our case as a Filipino restaurant a feeling of family and home. Buzz about our restaurant or food will bring people from around the area here, but it will be the residents and friends we make in Rose Park that will keep our doors open.”
‘Care and Technique’
That’s a phrase AC repeats when he describes his entrees, which run in the $12 range. “There’s a lot of technique and care put behind the Adobo that takes two days to make, or our Lechon Kawali (crispy pork), which we cook three times to get it to where we want it. This restaurant is run by chefs who want to bring the care and technique they’ve learned in other kitchens to Filipino food, but in an unpretentious way.”
The extra time factors into the “Filipino Soul Food” tag. “American soul food is about making the best of what you have, whether it’s undesirable cuts of meat or limited resources. The Filipino food tradition evolved in much the same way. At the end of the day, soul food is about the love put into the dish.”
Banana Ketchup Ribs (Photo by AC Boral)
Welcoming Filipinos
All the restaurant and dessert shop owners who are featured in these profiles appreciate fellow Filipinos and the over 170,000 readers of Positively Filipino. AC Boral belongs to this genial group of chefs who unabashedly cook Filipino food for Filipinos. These astute restaurateurs realize that ideal customers value people who descended from other ancestral trees. It’s an evidence-based attitude.
For over half a century, Americans have proved to be more open-minded than unadventurous chefs assume. For example, Chicken Chow Mein and Broccoli Beef became standard fare thanks to diners who drove to local Chinatowns to find restaurants that were popular within the Chinese community. If the ultimate arbiters of Chinese food love a particular restaurant, it must be good. Bebot, with its Filipino soul, exudes the same authenticity without tweaks to please domesticated tastes.
Handpainted wall by Top Notch Signs (Photo by AC Boral)
As for the restaurants that court everyone but Filipinos, they either go extinct or unwittingly attract proud Filipinos who seek knowledge of why others like their food. In a perfect world, successful restaurants gravitate toward equilibrium between Filipinos and non-Filipinos, and the best ones, like Bebot, are enlightened from the start.
Bebot — Filipino Soul Food
2741 E 4th St Suite A, Long Beach, CA 90814
Open 11 AM to 9 PM, Tuesday through Thursday, 11 AM to 10 PM, Friday to Sunday, closed on Monday. No reservations required. Call 562-342-6008.
For a taste of Bebot’s Mushroom and Kale Laing, check out: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-happy-home-cook-mushroom-amp-kale-laing
Anthony Maddela
Anthony Maddela was born and raised in Seattle. He reports on his home turf of Los Angeles.
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