Filipino fare in San Francisco.

-It's very much crushable.

-Contemporary Mexican cuisine in Oakland.

-Perfectly cooked, super fresh.

-And a hidden hideaway with panoramic views in Tiburon.

-You're a part of the club when you're there.

Just ahead on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

-We ordered way too much.

-Alright, we're here.

[ Laughter ] [ Indistinct conversations, jazzy rock music plays ] -Hi, I'm Leslie Sbrocco.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Bay Area" -- the show where Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants.

Now, we have three guests and each one recommends one of their favorite spots, and the other two, go check them out to see what they think.

Joining me at the "Check, Please!"

table today are VP of Sales Scotty Bastable, Non-profit Operations Director Cynthia Washington, and Strategic Partnerships Manager Alejandro Correa.

Welcome, everyone.

Whoo!

-Thank you.

-Let's go.

-Alejandro gets us started with his new go-to for umami-rich apps and entrees paired with crushable cocktails.

Offering contemporary takes on traditional Filipino favorites, his spot may entirely change your outlook on dining at a hotel restaurant.

Located inside the Kimpton Alton Hotel on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf -- It's Abacá.

[ Upbeat music plays, indistinct conversations ] -Do you have more truffle gravy?

Abacá is a contemporary Filipino restaurant that pays respect to old traditional recipes, but with California ingredients.

-Our menu is based on seasonality and what we miss eating back home.

-Good job.

[ Cheering ] -Oftentimes, Filipino food has a stigma of just being rich, fatty, a lot of pork, but really, there's a lot more complexity to it.

It is 7,000 islands, and there is a lot of different regional cuisines.

-In the Filipino culture, you see that hospitality is a huge thing.

-Any favorite so far?

-All of it.

-All of it.

-And that's what we try to have with the vibe.

Having the music just enough, where it's like, you can still talk, have that conversation, but also you can kind of feel it.

If you want to, feel like dancing in your seat, that's fine.

-Now, I can dance.

[ Laughter ] The Kamayan Dinner, it's a eat with your hands feast.

-That looks so pretty!

-No utensils allowed.

It's a fun experience, and you get to have a good time while sharing something with people that you love.

-We treat desserts and pastries equal to the rest of dinner.

We married the bold, traditional Filipino ingredients, flavors, and a lot of French training and different techniques that I've gathered throughout the years.

-I'm craving chocolate muron.

So, it's from my province, and it is one of the kakanins that I really love to eat.

Traditionally, it's made with chocolate, sticky rice, coconut, and peanuts.

I would ask him, like, "Um, I miss this dessert.

Can you make this for me?"

-And then, we added texture and different flavors.

-You made the dish and asked me to taste it, if it's good?

It's amazing.

Good job.

[ Laughs ] I think, he did a really good job.

One of things I love is to educate people of who we Filipinos are, experiencing our culture.

-I'm going to let you do this one, okay?

That's the best part.

-Throwing a party every single day, having new guests.

[Boing!]

[ Laughter ] Every day.

That's the fun part for me.

-Alright, Alejandro, how did you find this place?

Were you staying at the hotel or you just sort of wandered in off of Fisherman's Wharf?

-No, so, it's actually hard to do that.

The place is really hidden in plain sight.

A couple of friends of ours were actually having a staycation at the Kimpton Hotel.

They wanted to grab a drink.

They were going through the lobby, and they were like, "What is this place?"

-Because it's so visual.

-Absolutely.

It's gorgeous when you actually walk in, you feel like you're kind of on vacation.

There's skylights, there's hanging plants, and the mood is just really cool and fun.

So, I always start off with the Ube Colada If you're not familiar with ube, it's this beautiful, purple-hued yam.

It's actually native to the Philippines.

And the drink is Ube mixed with coconut cream, as well as pineapple and rum.

So, tropical, but also just not cloyingly sweet.

It's very much crushable.

But it's also beautiful to look at.

It's something that kind of gets you excited about the rest of the meal to come.

-I must have been following you, 'cause I had the same darn thing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

-You had the same cocktails?

-Oh, yeah, big chunk of pineapple on the side there, so, you could take a break and bite, get right back to it.

-I mean, it's healthy, right?

-Yeah.

-You got the pineapple.

You got the Ube.

-Do I need a straw?

I don't think so.

So, it was great.

-Wow!

We went straight in for appetizers.

So, we had a couple of the barbecue sticks, which we really, really liked, the mushroom bistek, and we also tried the longganisa pork sausage.

-Yes.

-I loved it.

It was smoky.

It was sweet.

And they served it with a cane vinegar with an egg inside.

It really helped to add umami without going, like, soy heavy on the sausage.

And it just was a really great just dipping sauce for the sausage.

-Did anybody have the vegetable lumpia?

-Oh, absolutely.

-Yes.

-It's so good.

-That pineapple chili stuff.

Yeah.

-It was so crisp.

And it was hot, but just right enough.

So, the chili would go on there and chill it down just enough, but give a pop to it when it got to your mouth, so... -Mm-hm.

-What I think is really good about it is just the mixture of flavors.

You know, heat coming from that chili oil.

There is the umami from the mushrooms inside of it.

I just think it's a really well-composed dish.

-Mm-hm.

-We also had the fritters.

The squash fritters on the side.

So good.

The crunchy, the salty.

And then, the thing that really got us was the little sauce, which we thought was some sort of, like, banana, pepper sauce or something, and come to find out it's a fermented vinegar, like, turned into a gel.

Like, if we could have purchased a jar of that to go, we were fighting over the bits with the sauce.

But yeah.

-So many good sauces there.

-So many good sauces.

-And et voilà!

-Did you get anything to drink?

-I had the punay cocktail.

Highly recommend.

Tequila, soursop, citrus, beautiful, went really well with all of the salty crispiness that we were partaking in.

-I think, the dish that is not to be missed is one of the only dishes that continues to be on their menu day in, day out.

It is the sisig fried rice.

And if you're not familiar with sisig, it is chopped up bits of pork and spice and peppers.

In this version of it, it comes with some chicharrones that's not actually crispy.

It's more stewed.

It provides a nice texture, a good meatiness to it.

And then, there's also topped with pickled red onion and poached egg.

And whoever's feeling extra bold at the table can kind of take a spoon and break into that egg and just kind of mess it all up and get it all combined.

-I had that, as well, and it was fun because you said, "Okay, boys dive in," and you start to serve it up.

-Yeah.

-Quite frankly, I could've ran that back and just had that the whole night.

[ Laughter ] I mean, it was.

It was like, "Okay, I'll share," but no.

-We have trouble not getting two.

-There we go.

-The thing that I'm always really excited about that menu is the QR code, the secret menu on the menu.

So, did you get a chance to take a look?

-I saw that.

-Oh.

I missed it.

You got it or you missed it?

-I missed it.

-Typically, it has offcuts, and offal, different skewers.

So, one of the skewers that I saw there that I got recently is called the isaw.

And it is pork intestine, which is not for everyone, right?

But, my God, if you're into that type of thing, it was like meat mochi is the only way I can describe it.

But again, it was cut with vinegar.

It had nice crispy elements to it as well.

It was just a really well done skewer.

-Okay, I love that.

A secret menu for the offal.

[ Laughter ] -Yes.

-How is San Francisco, alright?

-Very much so.

Yes.

-I love it.

And what did you think of the ambience?

-The vibe was really nice.

Like, very groupy.

The one thing I regret is that we didn't go with a bigger party, because they have this amazing -- I guess, it's like a chef's choice -- -Yes.

The Kamayan dinner.

-Oh, gorgeous, so, we were sitting there waiting for our appetizers and these large, just planks of things with trees and I mean, candles, it was gorgeous.

-Yeah, you get plate envy a little bit.

Yeah.

Definitely.

Definitely.

Yeah.

-What about desserts?

-Yes.

-You were on date night.

-We were on date night, and we went in with a mission to try as much as we possibly could.

So, we ordered two desserts.

We had the chocolate muron, which was a chocolate sticky rice served alongside passion fruit and mango ice creams.

Delicious.

We also had the apple pie à la mode, which actually wasn't apple pie.

It was a white chocolate stuffed with jack fruit and lemongrass that was spiced.

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-And it's covered in this red glaze.

Like, it looks like this beautiful, little candied apple served with a little, just dollop of vanilla ice cream.

I don't think there was actually apple in it.

Very, very good.

-I saw that at the table.

I thought it was an apple.

-You just didn't have any room?

-I guess not.

[ Laughter ] Coming back.

Come on.

-All right.

Would you go back again?

-I'm gonna get all the homies together, and we're gonna go in for that chef's menu.

-And dessert.

And dessert.

-And dessert.

-Two.

Yeah.

-All right.

If you would like to try Abacá, it's located on Jones Street in San Francisco.

And the average tab per person without drinks is around $75.

Cynthia's up next with her modern Mexican eatery, featuring farm-fresh flavors and culinary methods that celebrate the Chef's Chicana heritage paired with a lively, neighborhood vibe.

It's fast become Cynthia's favorite week night hangout.

Located in Oakland's Diamond District -- It's Bombera.

[ Chicano music plays, indistinct conversations ] -[ Speaking Spanish ] Bombera means, literally, "female firefighter."

And this used to be a fire station.

And I also work with fire.

I work with mesquite and oak wood.

And so, I feel like I'm also the keeper of the flame, as well.

Everything as much color and luxury as possible.

My family has been working and connected to the food industry in California for over 100 years sharing that Mexican American pride of what we do here.

[ Speaking Spanish ] Right now, we have about three tortilla masters working with us who've been studying and practicing this art for their whole lives.

We've been doing all of our own corn nixtamalization, so, that we have it ready for the soup and for the tortillas, for the moles and for the spicy side sauces.

There's a lot of time that goes into all that cleaning and searing and toasting and grinding and rehydrating.

You know, we're not taking shortcuts here at all, ever.

-It's very special, and you just, "Mmm."

-You know, a lot of my dishes are food memories that I'm trying to share with the community.

The smoked trout tostadas, it's something that reminds me of Baja California.

You can find a lot of smoked Marlin.

Also reminds me of when I was living and working in New York and having smoked trout salad on a bagel.

So, I was always trying to see, like, "How can I put these memories together?"

And people love it.

The portions are kind of big.

I just can't help myself.

'Cause we're just all moms in the kitchen, most of us.

So, we're just kind of like these moms, like, over feeding their kids.

[ Indistinct conversations ] Everything is pretty sharable.

It's called "para botanear," just for appetizers and just to have a little bit of taste of everything.

I definitely want people to remember that Oakland used to be a part of Mexico and cooking has always been here and it'll always stay here, and we're just kind of happy to be a part of that food culture of Oakland.

-Alright, Cynthia, this is fun, because it's located in an old firehouse.

-It is.

It is.

And the funny thing about the space is, I never knew it was there.

I've lived in Oakland for over 20 years, and just, you don't pay attention, I guess, to firehouses when you're driving around.

But now it's a restaurant.

And I'm pleasantly surprised that it's so close.

-And what is it that draws you in time and time again?

-Yeah, well, food-wise, the smoked trout tostadas.

-Mm-hmm.

-The smokiness with the avocado crema on top of the tostada, and all the masa is made in-house.

So anything that you have from a chip, to a tortilla, to tostada, it's all made right there.

-So good.

-With some beautiful shaved radish on it just to give, like, a little bit of a bite and some freshness to it.

Yeah.

-And I'm a big fan of smoked fish.

And, like -- And this was next-level.

So yeah, I mean, the crema avocado, don't sit on that one because that was just right.

The tostada was probably my favorite, quite frankly, because it really gave me that crunch.

-Mm.

-We ordered way too much.

So we had the entire... -Alright, we're here.

-We had all the appetizers.

But the queso fundido is really, really, well done.

It comes with a side of tortillas, which are fantastic.

Her tortillas are great.

You have the cheese.

It's melting and intermixed with some pickled jalapeños.

You kind of slather that on a tortilla, and you're off to the races.

-Right.

-So the fire continues with the spicy carrots, which are amazing.

Pan-roasted, beautiful heirloom carrots, sliced thin, and then they're served over a bowl of these giant white beans that are steeped in this spicy chili sauce.

So you get through the carrots, and then you realize there's a whole other world of, like, flavor underneath there.

Any time I go, we get an extra order of carrots just to go home.

-Really?

They're that good?

-Absolutely a must-have.

-Beans are super-creamy.

-Unbelievable.

-Yeah, yeah.

And every time you go in, you're getting something different.

-For me, it was the salsa macha with the almonds on the top that kind of incorporates with the rest of the dish as you eat through it.

Just an unbelievable dish.

Like, expectations were pretty low ordering a carrot dish.

-But in the hands of a great chef.

-Oh, she knows what she's doing.

Yes.

Yes.

-Absolutely.

The swordfish is another favorite of ours.

It was served over, like, a salsa verde with white rice and black beans and a little bit of greens on the side.

Perfectly cooked, super-fresh, tender.

You know, swordfish isn't something that I cook regularly at home, but I will eat it every time I'm there.

-So, first time I'll go to a rest-- This was my first time.

I'll judge it by its carnitas.

And so I ordered that, and it was -- started cooking probably before I was born.

It was... -Just a few years ago.

-There you go.

Yeah.

Just the right amount of garlic in there.

So that told me this is the place.

-The carnitas are definitely a standout for me, as well.

Again, like, the food is just simple, amazing, great-ingredient Mexican food, which is a lot harder to find than one would assume.

The mistake, or probably the best thing that happened, is that I tried to make everything into a taco.

The tortillas would come out, and I'm like, "What else can I shove in this tortilla?"

-Put a little tequila on your taco.

-Oh, why not?

Add some more.

Why not?

-Did you have anything to drink?

-Oh, yes.

Always.

-Definitely.

-So I always start with a margarita.

That's my favorite.

And I don't know if this is sacrilegious, but I actually like a spicy margarita made with mezcal.

The Paloma is another favorite of mine.

Again, citrus with the clear liquor.

Amazing.

My sister loves the Vampiro.

She described it as grown-up fruit punch.

-The hibiscus in there.

Yeah, yeah.

-Oh, so good.

-The tamarind was kind of in the back end.

But yeah, the hibiscus was also just so refreshing.

-I sat at the bar, so I was pretty eye to eye with tequila.

-'Cause usually tequila's up here, and you're down here.

-Exactly, yeah.

The list wasn't crazy, but the quality -- fantastic.

The bartender just took care of me.

-So, a good place not only for date night, but to bring groups and to sit at the bar.

-Yeah.

-Even just walking by the kitchen, Chef will look up and say, "Hi."

Just, like, anyone that you walk by, they greet you warmly.

I just feel very welcome there, even when there's so much going on.

They do a great job with hospitality.

-And since you said you ordered almost all the menu, did you have any desserts?

-We took home the chocolate chip cookies.

-Okay.

-We had them next day.

They were really good.

-Do you ever get dessert?

-Oh, yeah.

Any time it's on the menu, I get the Mexican chocolate pot de crème, which basically is a thick, creamy version of Mexican hot chocolate.

Delicious.

Served with some whipped cream and some chocolate shavings and chopped pecans on top.

We also had the spicy cardamom cake.

-Yeah.

-And I happened to notice this huge cast-iron pan with this beautiful golden cake.

And we ordered that.

So good.

Really great with a cup of coffee.

We actually couldn't get through it because we ate so much.

So we took it home, and I had it for breakfast the next day with coffee.

Delicious.

-Is that what you had?

-I had it, and I crushed mine.

Which was a shame, but there was nothing left.

And it was that savory kind of cake.

It was tender, but flaky, as well.

So it was well done.

-What did you think of the price?

-Unbelievable.

The flavors that were presented, they could have absolutely been more expensive, but yeah, it was a great value.

-And you'd be back?

-100%.

-Yeah.

Real good vibe.

Music -- fantastic.

Everything about it.

-I know I'll see you at the bar, huh?

-Yeah, that's right.

-Alright.

If you would like to try Bombera, it's located on Champion Street in Oakland, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $50.

Scotty's a longtime San Francisco resident.

But when he's looking to celebrate something special, he heads north to a historic little gem perched right on the bay.

Tucked away in the picturesque town of Tiburon since 1956, it's The Caprice.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Ooh!

Look at that!

-This is The Caprice Restaurant.

The restaurant has been here for decades.

As you can see, we have one of the best views in the Bay Area.

We can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island.

It's amazing for me.

I live in San Francisco, and just coming to work here, the drive, I enjoy it every day.

All our food, you know, is classic and comfort food.

You can see in our menu, we have salmon, we have sea bass, we have steaks, we have pasta.

We have a little bit of everything.

One of the things that I like a lot is cooking with a cast-iron.

It gives a nice crust to the meat, you know, on both sides.

You can control temperature better than in a regular frying pan on a grill.

One of the things that I really enjoy, and I have to have it every time I come myself, is the abalone.

It's very rare to see in restaurants nowadays.

The abalone is prepared the classic way.

You know, it's Abalone Doré.

We cook it very quick, you know, 1 minute each side, and it's very tender.

We try to make it a high-end restaurant that people can enjoy and feel special when they come in.

Our servers all dress up in tuxedos.

Nice to have you today.

I love when I come out of the kitchen and I see the guests enjoying themselves.

And when the plates go by sometimes, you know, and they just look, and they're, "Wow!"

We get a lot of comments from people that come in and they say that they didn't know this place existed here because they think that downtown ends 100 meters away.

And when they walk this way, and they see the beautiful place, they always say, like, "Oh, wow," you know.

"We didn't know that this place is here."

And people enjoy it.

-Alright, Scotty.

You know, a lot of people don't know about this place, and it's been around since the '50s.

-Right, absolutely.

And they recently renovated.

So I think that's the reason that I got there in the first place.

It was on a tip.

I'm a recent empty nester.

And I wanted to take my honey out for something special.

So I headed up there, and from the moment we walk in, you know it's on.

-Right.

-When you get the wink from the bartender.

-You feel like Sinatra's playing in the background.

-You're part of the club.

You're a part of the club when you're there.

And there's not a bad seat in the house 'cause you're right on the water.

I mean, you could probably dip your toes in if you stuck out the window.

-Right.

-Start out with a ice-cold Gibson, and you're off to the races.

-What was your experience?

-So it was -- -Had you been before?

-Never been.

-Have you heard of it?

-Never heard of it.

It was -- It is, like, in the vein of my favorite type of restaurant in San Francisco, these kind of old-school martini spots.

Gorgeous view.

We went a little bit too late, and so it was dark.

But we were seated by a window.

We could kind of, you know, make out, but, you know, you're sitting next to your date.

-You could make out the city or you could make out?

-You could do both.

-Whoo-whoo!

-You could do both.

And we did!

No, just joking.

But we absolutely started with the clams escargot.

And my fiancée is actually allergic to shellfish.

-Oh, wow.

Okay.

-So I had to try to eat as many as I possibly could.

-Brave soldier.

-It was unbelievable.

Really, really great dish.

Just a great way to start.

The only thing I felt was missing was, I really wanted some bread.

I really just wanted to kind of soak up some more of that.

Yeah, absolutely.

-I started with the clams escargot, as well.

We did order the epi, the baguette.

That came out nice and warm and toasty.

-See?

-Pretty-looking bread, too.

-Absolutely gorgeous, fresh.

I'm not a huge fan, usually, of starting with bread, but you had to have it to get all those juices.

The clams -- I mean, the only complaint I have about the clams is, I wish there were more of them.

They were so good.

And we just dipped the bread to get the last bits of sauce.

Even as the server was coming to clear our plates, I was still, like, trying to dab the bread in the sauce.

Really, really good.

-But then the next thing that's coming is kind of the game changer for me.

And those are the Italian pot stickers.

I mean, you got that savory sausage.

You got the ginger.

You got the seasonal vegetables and the citrus bright sauce are on there.

So you're kind of battling -- I want to take my time eating it, but I want another one.

So it's kind of back and forth.

-That's pretty divergent dishes.

-It is.

-Escargot and then over to Italian pot stickers.

-And you can't stop.

So it's fun.

-The tuna carpaccio, I think, was our next dish, and that is really, really, well done.

So it's thin slices of tuna.

The grade of the tuna was almost like otoro.

It was so fatty.

It came with ponzu, some really quality olive oil, and, like, chopped-up jalapeños.

And what I thought was interesting was also chopped-up red bell pepper.

-Loved it.

We were marveling at how thinly, delicately sliced it was.

-You could read the newspaper through it.

-Yes.

Beautifully cut.

-I had the same.

Yeah.

-Are you sure you guys didn't all go together?

-No, no.

-Okay.

What's the next dish?

-So, for me, I had the tomahawk pork chop.

Kurobuta is a certain type of breed.

It was crazy, tender, juicy.

There was a crisp kind of crust to it, so there was a crunch.

It has no rival.

And I'm not even kidding.

It was so tasty.

And it's pretty, too.

It's a little fattier, but not too fatty on that size.

So it's got the bone, which brings flavor to it.

-Did you share at all with your date?

-One bite.

It was one bite.

[ Laughter ] -Token bite.

-I start early.

I offer the bite up, and then after that, it's all mine.

-That's right.

That's right.

What else did you have?

-I had the pork chop, that Kurobuta pork chop, and side of -- I think it was zucchini mash.

-Yeah.

-That pork chop, in terms of texture, like, I've never had anything like that.

It was the best pork chop.

I just wanted to, like, gnaw on that bone.

-Well, you can.

-I probably should have.

But then it's gonna affect the making out, so... you know.

-[ Laughs ] -Yeah.

-And don't tell me you had the tomahawk chop.

-I did not.

I did not.

-Okay, okay.

-So, I went with a couple of girlfriends of mine.

There was no making out.

But we ordered the ribeye.

That ribeye was just juicy, perfectly crusted on top, nice and medium well in the middle.

-Yeah.

-A really great steak.

And we also had the sea bass.

-Yeah.

-The skin on the bottom of that fish -- so good.

And it had a chili smoky, spicy kind of sauce to it.

Added a really great flavor to the fish, but it wasn't overpowering.

I didn't taste just the sauce.

I tasted the fish with a little bit of a nuance of the sauce, and it was really, really good.

And then we had the mushroom herb gnocchi.

Super-plump, super-creamy.

Delicious.

-And you were sharing all of these?

-We were sharing.

-And then you rolled out.

-Then we rolled out after dessert.

-After dessert.

Alright.

We're gonna get there next.

Any other dishes?

-The Abalone Doré.

Love it, love it, Love it.

Lightly floured and just enough butter and garlic.

The umami of it that I've never experienced with seafood before.

So, you grab your lemon, you squeeze it on there, and you get after it.

And the citrus brings it to life, and it's as if you're tasting the sea.

-Okay, now we can get to dessert.

-They had pancakes on the menu for dessert.

And when I see something like that, I'm like, "Who thought that this was a good idea?

And now we have to try them."

And they were so good.

They were swimming in this maple butter sauce.

And you'd think after all that food, there was no way you could put, you know, dough in your body, but we were fighting over the pancakes.

I would go back for brunch just to have those pancakes.

Mm-hmm.

-Wow.

I like that.

-Did you have room for pancakes?

-No.

I mean, next time.

That sounds great.

I love pancakes.

But we had the cremè brûlée cheesecake.

And I was expecting, like, that cremè brûlée action where it kind of cracks and stuff.

It's none of that, but it's all of the flavor.

The cheesecake itself was just one of the best cheesecakes I've had.

It had really great crust, buttery, it didn't overpower.

It had some of that cremè brûlée sauce on the bottom, so you're just, like, getting it with every spoonful.

It was such a good cheesecake.

-Oh, yeah.

-What about service?

-Service was great.

I thought it was also interesting how in order to serve the dishes, they would wheel, like, a cart to you.

-Such a presentation.

-The cart, I was just like, "Oh, this is so cute."

Yeah.

Just that warm, cozy, old-school.

-Was it worth the price?

-Absolutely.

Yeah.

I think this is very reasonable.

-This is not, you know, "Hey, kids.

Let's all go..." -Right, right.

No, it's high-quality.

It's the whole package.

-If you would like to try The Caprice, it's located on Paradise Drive in Tiburon, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $80.

Looking for more Bay Area bites you've just got to try?

-[ Laughs ] -Check out "Cecilia Tries It" -- online at kqed.org/checkplease.

I have to thank my fantastic guests on this week's show -- Scotty Bastable, lover of the tomahawk pork chop at The Caprice in Tiburon... Cynthia Washington, who savors the smoked trout tostadas at Bombera in Oakland... and Alejandro Correa, who crushes the Ube Coladas at the elegant Abacá in San Francisco.

Join us next time when three more guests will recommend their favorite spots, right here on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

I'm Leslie Sbrocco, and I'll see you then.

Cheers!

-Cheers!

-Cheers!

Whoo!

-Yeah!

-Nice.

-Cheers.

♪♪ -In the Filipino culture, as well, you always need a bit of starch.

So you can have white rice at home, but we have our java rice with a little achuete.

And, you know, when you eat certain rice dishes, some of the best part is that coating on the bottom that has that really nice crunchy texture.

So we add a bit of toasted quinoa, as well as puffed rice, kind of give that crunchy texture to it.

I remember fighting for those, that last bit of piece, you know, with my siblings or my cousins.