Filipino Food Goes Top Tier at Spoon & Pork
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The Spoon & Pork Sawtelle restaurant has a sign of LA’s labor crisis. (Photo courtesy of Spoon & Pork)
To experience Filipino food in its finest incarnation, try Spoon and Pork in the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Silverlake and Sawtelle. Co-owners Jay Tugas and Ray Yaptinchay, both age 43, have put their Adobo Belly Nigiri ($8) in the prestigious Michelin Guide.
Jay was born in the Philippine City of Parañque and grew up in Ayala Alabang. At five years old, he met Ray through their mothers who were pursers for Philippine Airlines. In 2004, he left mom, Lorna, and dad, Lorenzo, in the Philippines, for New York City. Five years after that, he moved to Los Angeles where he briefly shared an apartment with Ray before moving to the Westside with his Filipina wife, Rochelle. They have a five-year-old son named Hunter.
Every item on the menu is familiar to the Filipino palate. “The flavor is still there, but it’s not traditional,” says Jay. For example, “our Fried Chicken Adobo ($16) is brushed with a sweet chili vinegar glaze. It’s the bed of adobo rice that provides a majority of the familiar adobo flavor. The plate is modern and presentable.”
“Presentable” is a catchword for the social media generation. Every plate on the menu pops on Instagram. Jay didn’t have to read the University of Oxford study to recognize that food tastes better when it looks appetizing.
Jay has an eye for aesthetics developed during his four years as the owner of an apparel company specializing in martial arts uniforms. After he sold the business, his best friend Ray left the diamond trade to join him in a successful food truck in 2017; two years later, they opened their first brick and mortar restaurant in Silverlake.
A Star from the Start
Critics took an instant fancy to the “modern Filipino comfort food.” In 2019, The New York Times named the vegan Coco Jackfruit one of the ten best dishes in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times followed with praise for the Adobo Pork Belly ($16) before listing Spoon and Pork in its 101 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles in 2020. For the frugal minded, Eater rated the restaurant one of its 16 Fantastic Budget-Friendly Restaurants. The lovefest played on until March 16, 2020, the day Governor Gavin Newsome limited all California restaurants to takeout or delivery.
Jay remembers, “We survived the early months of the pandemic by doing deliveries between 5:30 and 6:30 in the evening on my route home from Silverlake to the Westside. Ray delivered to Eastside addresses on his drive home to Pasadena.”
By sheer will and support from the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund, the Silverlake restaurant flourished. Ray and Jay were emboldened in early 2022 to open the Sawtelle Boulevard location in West Los Angeles.
Their food truck roots endure in their individual rice plates. The problem is more plates require more hands. Keeping two restaurants staffed is a constant challenge during a lasting labor shortage that was further aggravated by COVID-19 restrictions and fears.
Spoon & Pork at Silverlake (Photo courtesy of Spoon & Pork)
Oh Lumpia with Family Style
The friends are ready to implement a common-sense remedy.
“We’ve noticed that lots of our diners share food, as you’d expect with Filipino meals. It’s common for a table to order three proteins (main items) with rice and appetizers.” Based on this observation, Jay says, “Offering platters as an alternative to individual plates is a better option for our business. Our menu will become family style in the future.”
Under normal circumstances, a conservative estimate of 83 percent of new restaurants in the United States survive their first year. Last year, a third of all restaurants — some venerable, others upstarts — in Los Angeles collapsed due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Ray and Jay are the perpetual optimists. To them, a glass that’s a third full has a two-thirds upside.
The Silverlake restaurant is at 3131 West Sunset Boulevard (phone: 323-922-6061), and the Sawtelle District location is at 2121 Sawtelle Boulevard (424-248-3352). Reservations are recommended for parties of six or more. Open for lunch and dinner on all days except Monday. Feel free to summon Jay from the Sawtelle kitchen to test your Tagalog fluency.
Spoon & Pork’s Gising-gising (Photo courtesy of Spoon & Pork)
See their take on Gising-gising in The Happy Home Cook: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-happy-home-cook-spoon-amp-porks-gising-gising
Anthony Maddela wrote government grants for more than 11 years at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. He was a Staff Correspondent for five years for Filipinas Magazine before reporting on everyone and everything for Positively Filipino.
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