Filipino food sizzles in American capital

Among Asian cuisines, Filipino food may not be as revered as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or Korean. But for the past two years, Filipino food has been gaining popularity in Washington, D.C

Purple Patch, a Filipino fusion restaurant and bar co-owned by Patrice Cleary, whose mother is from Bicol and whose father is an American with Irish ancestry, has changed the way Filipino food is perceived in the American capital.

Patrice may have been detached from the Philippines for most of her life and cannot speak Tagalog, but it is through cooking and serving Filipino food that serves to link her to her mother’s homeland.

“As long as you can cook Filipino food, you will always speak the language of love,” Patrice, a self-taught chef, said.

Patrice’s menu has an array of staple Filipino dishes that not only fit the taste buds of Filipinos who miss the flavors of home, but also Americans and foreigners.

There’s chicken adobo, Bicol express, laing, pork sinigang, sizzling sisig, lechon kawali, pancit bihon, pancit canton, escabeche, and Mama Alice’s Lumpia (aptly named after her mother).

Once in a while, Patrice would make all-time Filipino dessert halo-halo and top it with Magnolia ice cream.

With no formal culinary training, Patrice’s cooking stays true to the recipes of her Filipina mother who lives in Texas.

“It’s remembering flavors, remembering ingredients that my mother taught me at a young age and translating that into my cooking. It wasn’t Googling a recipe,” she says.

It’s not only the Filipino food, it’s anything linked to Filipino culture that attracts people to this restaurant. Young professionals also come to Purple Patch for an ice cold San Miguel Beer. Others come for the food like celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, countless of NBA players and food critic of The Washington Post, have gone through the doors of Purple Patch to savor Filipino cuisine.

“They don’t come because they’re curious about Filipino food, but they share stories. They talk about being in the Peace Corps, being in the military or that their neighbor is a Filipino,” Patrice said.