Reminds Me Of Home: Kuya Ian's Bistro

A turo-turo (point-point) or buffet style setup that you might see in a
Filipino restaurant or household hosting a big celebration

One of my adjustments in coming to Ohio several years ago was the changed demographics: as I found out at the Asian Festival, the Central Ohio region as a whole had up to 15 times less Filipino-American residents when compared to certain Bay Area cities. The lack of Filipino-oriented businesses of any sort was a little jarring, especially when it came to food: dishes that were both part of growing up and easy to obtain were things I would have to cook myself if I wanted them.

Then Red Velvet Cafe, owned by Krizzia Yanga, came to Downtown Columbus in 2015, with first a modest introduction of Filipino cuisine (sandwiches featuring Filipino-styled meats like lechon and bistek.) Later came the Filipino silog-style breakfasts (featuring an over-easy egg, garlic fried rice, and a Filipino-styled protein), which brought me memories of home and were eagerly consumed by both me and a host of others.  This success led to the opening of Bonifacio, whose modern Filipino fusion menu items as well as more traditional takes into the cuisine (with their region-focused and Boodle/Kamayan events) plus uniquely-styled cocktails have also been well-received by the public

With that said, many people don't know there's a second Filipino option on the northern end of the metro area, and it's an option that reminds me a lot of home for more than one reason.

Kain Na Tayo! Bonifacio Modern Filipino

Much of the history regarding Bonifacio and my personal relationship to this Filipino restaurant can be found at this prior blogpost, which detailed the experiences of my spouse and I at their July 2016 preview event. At that time, I was eager to for the restaurant's grand opening, but in many ways I wanted to fully digest how Krizzia Yanga's somewhat bold venture into a full-service restaurant, largely spurred on by the success of their Filipino-oriented silog (featuring a fried egg) and panini brunch and lunch offerings at her Downtown Columbus-located Red Velvet Cafe and in a region largely unfamiliar with Filipino cuisine.

Well, almost two years later after the restaurant's opening, and after landing a "Best New Restaurants of 2016" from Columbus Monthly and grabbing national press in media sources like NPR and Southwest: The Magazine, I figured I had more than enough time to take it all in. In some ways, this post is somewhat exemplary of the concept of Filipino Time, a concept not unlike Hawaiian Time where folks (or in this case, this blog post) are known to show up fashionably late to events.