International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York
Topic: Chicken Adobo Served in a Cali Burrito Culinary Demonstration
Location: Javits Convention Center – Center Stage
Date of Meeting: Monday, March 5th, 2018, from 2 – 3:15 PM
Sponsor: New York State Restaurant Association
Name of Speaker: Chef Jordan Andino
Credentials of Speaker: Jordan Andino’s first experience in the culinary world was at age 9 when he began working in fine dining kitchens with his dad. He eventually attended Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, where he developed hospitality skills that were integral in opening his restaurants, and later gained experience working at acclaimed restaurants such as The French Laundry and Jean Georges. Jordan Andino is now the chef and owner of the Filipino restaurant, Flip Sigi, which has two locations in NYC (West Village and Upper East Side), as well as a pop-up that will be opening in Soho this Spring. He developed the Flip Sigi restaurants using a chef-driven, fast-casual concept with a focus on quality service, fun music and good food in an atmosphere that is the opposite of fine dining culture (in a good way). Flip Sigi combines traditional Filipino cuisine with elements of cuisine that are more familiar to Americans. The restaurant serves Mexican fusion dishes, Filipino dishes served in Mexican vessels, and specializes in tacos, burritos, rice bowls, burgers, bao buns, and his original Filipino Taqueria. The most popular item on the menu is the Cali Burrito, which contains his chicken adobo – he prepared both during this cooking demonstration.
The main points of Chef Andino’s presentation were the introduction of a Filipino style of cooking, which included a cooking demonstration of his Chicken Adobo and Cali Burrito, ways in which he incorporates Filipino food into his restaurants, and the role that Filipino cuisine plays in today’s restaurant world. Other topics covered included Chef Andino’s credentials, how he became a chef, what inspires him to cook the way he does, his views on Filipino food, and the different food and cooking shows he’s been on. For the cooking demonstration of his Chicken Adobo, he used a traditional Filipino recipe that was given to him by his grandma when he was a teenager. Throughout the demonstration, he explained what he was doing and why, and different modifications that could be made for specific dietary needs and preferences (e.g., different cooking techniques, ingredient substitutions). While the chicken was he cooking, he prepared the most popular item on the Flip Sigi menu, the Cali Burrito, a Mexican fusion dish that consists of his traditional chicken adobo combined with fries, guacamole, and pico de gallo wrapped in a tortilla. There weren’t enough copies of the recipes for everyone, so I had a hard time following along and I didn’t know the exact measurements of ingredients. Throughout the presentation, he took the time to answer questions from the audience including his cooking style, cooking tips, the experiences and challenges he faced while working in a restaurant, how these differed from the experiences and challenges he faces owning a restaurant, and advice on overcoming those challenges.
This presentation was definitely biased because the it was based on his own taste, culture, and style – he prepared foods from his own culture, family and restaurants, and talked about his personal cooking style, so there wasn’t any evidence that he could have provided to back-up the things he was saying. He was also obviously biased when talking about his restaurants, only saying positive things about the quality of the food, the service, and the atmosphere. However, he did make sure to emphasize that even though Flip Sigi is considered a Filipino restaurant, the food served is not authentic Filipino cuisine. Instead, he alters the traditional Filipino dishes of his culture to be more palatable to a Western Audience. He believes that by combining traditional aspects of Filipino cuisine with elements more familiar to Western cuisine, Flip Sigi offers New Yorker’s the perfect introduction to the tastes, textures and traditions of Filipino culture. I thought it was good that he did make sure to mention restaurants in NYC that do offer traditional Filipino cuisine for anyone interested in an authentic experience.
Even though it was biased, I do think it was a very successful presentation, and that it was a very authentic representation of Filipino food and Chef Andino’s twist on his cultures’ cuisine. He was very passionate and engaging and did a good job transitioning between cooking, explaining what he was doing, discussing the topics I mentioned earlier, and answering questions from the audience. Another thing I felt made it a really good presentation was that it fit in well at the International Restaurant and Food Service Expo, a major focus was food trends and the fusion of Filipino and Mexican cuisine used in Chef Andino’s restaurants is a big trend right now. The goals of the meeting were met – he demonstrated how to prepare the two dishes and discussed different topics related to Filipino cuisine.
There isn’t much I would do differently, I’m a terrible cook so I can’t really think of many ways that he could have done the demonstration better, he did a great job of multitasking and explaining things in lament terms so people from all backgrounds could easily understand and follow along. One thing I did notice was that not everyone was able to see what he was doing, so if I were to present this session I would set up a projector or TVs so people further in the back could get a good look at what’s going on. The only other thing that really bothered me was that they ran out of copies of the recipe, so if I were going to present this session, I would find out how many people were signed up to attend and bring at least that many copies of the materials to be given out.
Towards the end of the presentation, samples of the chicken adobo over garlic rice was offered to everyone in the audience. It was cool to watch him prepare the dish and then have the chance to try it. I really enjoyed it, the chicken was tender and had perfect amount of seasoning. Providing this dish was very appropriate because it was the Filipino dish we had been listening to him talk about and watching him prepare throughout the presentation.
Applies to: CRDN 1.4: Evaluate emerging research for application in nutrition and dietetics practice, CRDN 1.6: Incorporate critical-thinking skills in overall practice, CRDN 2.2: Demonstrate professional writing skills in preparing professional communications, CRDN 2.9: Participate in professional and community organizations
