As certain ethnic cuisines
have become more familiar, hyperethnic restaurants, like Kalienne’s Fil-Am BakeShop and Eatery, feed more adventurous diners locally.
In the three months since opening Kalienne’s Fil-Am BakeShop and Eatery, Thess Hubilla and her husband and daughter have learned that letting consumers taste their food first is the best way to educate them about Filipino cooking.
One bite of Jonathan Hubilla’s longanisa, a sweet sausage made from marinated pork, typically has diners coming back for more. If that dish doesn’t do the trick, some of Kalienne Hubilla’s quintessential bakery desserts such as tiramisu may appeal to them.
“Orlando is a pool of diverse people and what we’ve found in the short time we've opened our kitchen is that a lot of them are open to new foods,” said Thess Hubilla.
As certain ethnic cuisines such as Italian and Thai have become familiar, hyperethnic restaurants such as Kalienne’s in Altamonte Springs feed the more adventurous diners.
These eateries serve dishes made with ingredients from specific regions or countries that are unfamiliar to an area, such as Orlando.
Fans of Filipino cuisine have driven from as far as Jacksonville to Kalienne’s. The Hubillas strive to keep their food authentic, with powerful sweet, sour and salty flavors.
For customers new to the cuisine, Thess Hubilla says she and her family explain the dish in more detail such as highlighting a certain ingredient. In some cases the family has had to tone down the seasoning, but they have to be careful not to alienate those familiar with the fare.
“We’re going to have a whole bunch of people who will call us on it if we change a dish,” she said with a laugh.
Diners find that authenticity appealing, said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant industry analyst with the NPD Group, a market research company. Customers want to try new and different flavor profiles.
“Going to a restaurant is kind of replacing going to a concert,” Riggs said. “It’s so expensive. We want that experience to be as unique as possible.”
Consumers are more knowledgeable about food than ever before because of the internet, as well as cooking shows that fea-