Highlights
- John and Maria learned appreciation for Filipino food from their fathers.
- The couple find that festivals allow them to better promote Filipino food and to showcase the theatrics of the cuisine.
- Lechon, barbecue and ube soft serve are some of the business' bestsellers.
"Cooking Filipino food makes us feel more Filipino even if we're not in the Philippines. It helps us delve into our culture, our traditions," The Filipino Project owner John Viojan shares.
"And nostalgia," his wife and business partner Maria adds.
Nostalgia plays a big part in the food the couple creates. Not only is their endeavour a way of showcasing the food and heritage they grew up with, it has also become a loving tribute to the fathers who taught them to appreciate the cuisine.
John and Maria Viojan [looking at camera] Source: John and Maria Viojan
I owe it to dad
Maria, who admits to only being swayed to attend Filipino parties if lechon was served, shares that some of her fondest memories of food involved her dad cooking in the kitchen.
"I remember him cooking arroz caldo [rice porridge with chicken], nilaga [soup with beef and vegetables], bulalo [beef shank and bone marrow soup]...a lot of hearty food," she recalls, adding, "He still likes cooking for us now even if we don't live in the same house anymore."
While Maria can still enjoy her dad's cooking, John keeps the memory of his father alive with the food that he taught him how to make.
"He taught me how to cook my first egg. He taught me how to make kilawin [ceviche] and the process of curing the fish," John shares.
John and Maria with their respective fathers Source: John and Maria Viojan
"But my fondest memory is cooking barbecue with my dad. He was a very experimental cook. He loved diving into Filipino flavours but also pushing boundaries by using ingredients we have here in Australia."
Naysayers
As their way of pushing boundaries, John and Maria opted to get into the Filipino food business despite naysayers telling them that the move would be too risky.
"There wasn't much Filipino food in Adelaide. I think there were only two or three that had turo-turo [literally means 'point-point'; refers to pre-cooked food you select by pointing] style restaurants," Maria shares.
"Our non-Filipino friends would ask us what our food tasted like but we could never describe it. We wanted to share our food with others - that was the big thing for us - but it was 100% a risky venture. Everybody we spoke to said 'Don't go into Filipino food'. So many also said 'People aren't going to go out and try that when they know they can make that at home.' All that negativity and doubt - that was scary for us."
Advocacy trumped the fear and while their restaurant venture Niño's Lamesita eventually closed down, the two were determined to pursue Filipino food.
Niño's Lamesita, the couple's previous venture Source: John and Maria Viojan
Theatrics
"With a restaurant, it was a situation wherein we had to wait for people to come to us. In as much as we marketed and had word of mouth working for us, it was always a waiting game. It was a stab in the dark," John shares.
When their lease for the restaurant expired, they were given the opportunity to work with venue hub Gluttony in 2016 on the OzAsia Festival.
"With the festival, we had the opportunity to be immersed in the crowd. The atmosphere and the vibe were really good," Maria says.
"With the festival, we had the opportunity to be immersed in the crowd. The atmosphere and the vibe were really good." Source: John and Maria Viojan
"With Filipino food, it's also about the theatrics - not just the taste," John adds, "It's about watching the barbecued meat spin. It's about seeing the fat from the lechon [roast pig] hit the charcoal. It's the chicken cooking over a raw fire. That's what people buy as well - it's not just the food. It's the theatrics of the food being made."
"With Filipino food, it's also about the theatrics - not just the taste." Source: John and Maria Viojan
Fire and ice
Of the offerings the couple has, the most theatrical are the barbecue and lechon.
John shares that they learned how to make lechon during a trip to Pangasinan in 2019.
"We learned how to make lechon from a lechon master. We were immersed in the whole backyard culture. The way he taught us was so unconventional. No measurements. It was a true farm-to-table experience. We learned by watching him. Whatever we learned we brought back with us to Australia."
Maria adds, "Our take on the ribs, on the other hand, is with a tocino barbecue glaze. People really wanted barbecue on sticks but we couldn't keep up with the skewering so we developed ribs as well."
"We learned how to make lechon from a lechon master." Source: John and Maria Viojan
Along with the hot ticket items on the menu is their cool, distinct purple ice cream - the ube [purple yam] soft serve.
"The lechon and ube are the most visual items on our menu. People get intrigued by the colour of the ube," Maria shares, adding, "It's a hard flavour to explain."
John laughs, "What's really cool is when you explain to adults what ube is - that it's from the potato yam family - the look of uncertainty is amazing. Kids get it right away though - it's sweet potato, it's purple and it's ice cream!"
Banana and jackfruit spring rolls with Ube and Leche flan soft serve Source: John and Maria Viojan
Creativity and flexibility
Aside from a creative menu, the Viojans have found that being in the food industry nowadays means also being creative with how they do business.
"When we had our first lockdown because of COVID, we just finished our last day of the Adelaide Fringe Festival. We were thinking - what next? We were getting cancellation after cancellation like everybody else," John admits.
"It was hard. We lost the whole vibe of being in festivals. That was taken away and we had to change our business model," Maria shares, adding, "We started making take-home packs and longganisa [sausages]. People were supportive of small businesses, which was great."
Luckily, the pair are back to doing what they love most - cooking Filipino food for a festival crowd.
Luckily, the pair are back to doing what they love most - cooking Filipino food for a festival crowd. Source: John and Maria Viojan
"We live in a world that's so uncertain, so we have to be adaptive," Maria shares, adding, "But we're lucky we're in Australia. We're in a really good place."
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