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New Filipino restaurant in NY offers unique 'Kamayan' experience

A new Filipino restaurant in New York City is making waves for its 18-course gastronomic tour of the not-so-usual Filipino flare.

Article (news)

Don Tagala

TFC News

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gRLsJSb1fmU?&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>It takes a well-oiled kitchen and a seasoned chef like Filipino-American Eric Valdez to run an unapologetic restaurant like &quot;Naks!&quot;The new Filipino restaurant is making a name for its 18-course &quot;Kamayan&quot; feast in East Village in New York City.&quot;Naks&quot; offers a symphony of sumptuous tasting menu that is not often showcased in most Filipino restaurants.     Just like the Filipino word, equal to the English expression “Nice!&quot; Valdez and the team behind the new restaurant meticulously prepare each dish to spark joy and amazement with every bite. “I just want a word that excites you,” said Valdez. “I think that’s the beauty of our cuisine. [It’s] very exciting, very vibrant, and that’s what we want to showcase.”After six months of research and immersion in the Philippines, Valdez is focusing on Filipino dishes that are not highlighted enough in the U.S.That includes the &quot;Bas-uy,&quot; its beef flank and beef tripe cooked in cow’s blood, which he described as a more soupy &quot;Dinuguan.&quot;   There&#x27;s also the &quot;pritong bola,&quot; made with chicken and shrimp dipped in fishball sauce found in street food carts. &quot;Naks&quot; also puts a spotlight on “Swaki,” a sea urchin roe with red onion and vinegar sauce.   “When we went to Cebu, there was an eatery that served the Swaki,” Valdez recalled. “It was inside a liquor bottle and they put the sea urchin meat inside. You pour it over corn rice and you put vinegar in it.”The Filipino restaurant also serves appetizers such as chicken skin barbecue, grilled scallop, as well as the “Lapu-Lapu” or steamed fish with mayonnaise, and “pancit batil patong” from the Northern Philippines.&quot;Naks&quot; is co-owned by Indian-American restaurateurs in NYC: Chef Chintan Pandya, and Roni Mazumar of the renowned “Unapologetic Foods.”  The restaurant visionaries hired Valdez when he was just a newbie, and he has since continued to work with them for more than 10 years now. That’s why Pandya and Mazumar gave Valdez a chance to create his very own take on Filipino cuisine. “He was actually the very first employee of this company, a kid who was 24 years old at that time,” said Pandya. “We had a very rocky start, with [only] a few people who believed in us and stood by us. He was one of them.”Valdez, meanwhile, said he wants to encourage other Filipino chefs to make Philippine cuisine more known to the world. “I want to open doors for other chefs,” he said. “I want the world to know what makes up genuine Filipino food.”

A new Filipino restaurant in New York City is making waves for its 18-course gastronomic tour of the not-so-usual Filipino flare.