Meet Chef Villafranca of Jeepney Guy:
I'm a self taught chef that comes from a family that really loves to eat. At an early age I realized I like my food prepared a certain way, mostly the way my Mom used to make it. Growing up with a Dad in the US Navy meant moving around every few years.
I was born in Japan, went to grade school in the Chicago suburbs, middle school on a US Naval base in Cuba and High School and college in the Philippines. Food for me is about bringing back childhood memories from all these places and recreating them so I can share it with others. Cooking food that people enjoy makes me happy.
Current Locale: SF Bay Area
Current Gig: Corporate Lunch Catering with cater2.me, Monthly Pop-Up brunches at Dear Mom SF, Off the Grid Fort Mason Center 2014
Website: jeepneyguy.com
Facebook: Jeepney Guy
Twitter: @jeepney_guy
Tell me briefly about how Jeepney Guy came to be:
I started Jeepney Guy when I got tired of working 12 hour days as a manager for corporate America. I hated my job, I hated my boss, I even hated the smell of the office. Working in the food business was always my dream. Now I do it full time and I got my entire family involved (whether they like it or not!). To me the Jeepney represents Filipino ingenuity, creativity, resourcefulness and good old fashioned hard work. It's an iconic symbol of the working class and I wanted to celebrate that.
Was there someone in special in your family who inspires you to cook?
My Mom is my biggest inspiration in the kitchen. She ran a small catering business while we lived on a Naval base in Cuba. She made Filipino food and the Navy servicemen went nuts over it. These guys had free meals available to them at the mess hall, but they would come to my Mother's food stand and buy food from her. It always amazed me how much they loved her cooking. I remember watching her make fresh siopao from scratch and roll huge batches of lumpia. I loved eating the cooked ground beef that she used in the Lumpia. It had this strong beefy taste that I crave to this day. This was the food I grew up with. But I consider everything I cook to be Filipino food...Because I'm Filipino! It's atypical Filipino Food.
What is a special memory you have about adobo?
The big debate among Filipinos about adobo is whether to have it wet with a lot of sauce, or dry. I like mine in between... meaning sticky! I love it when the sauce and meat juices get caramelized and coats the adobo in a salty, sticky and fatty glaze. That's how Mom made it and that's how I remember it...with a lot of white rice! Adobo was our picnic food (I think it was for most Filipinos), the reason being -- adobo keeps well because of the vinegar in the sauce.
I remember having a single serving of hot adobo over a scoop of rice wrapped in banana leaves. I have vivid memories of my family sitting at a picnic table somewhere in Chicago, looking over at the next table to see other non-Filipino families with their sandwiches and potato salad. That's when I started to realize we were different...and I felt sorry for them because their food didn't look half as appetizing!
BBQ Smoked Pork Adobo Flip-Dip
What makes your adobo YOUR adobo?
I love American Southern style BBQ. I'm obsessed with the flavors and techniques. Smoking the pork adds a depth to the adobo that seems to round out the dish.
We chose the Flip Dip sandwich to make adobo accessible to those who have never tried it. We didn't try to Americanize it, it's still very Filipino. You have the adobo au-jus dip for extra zing (sawsawan) and the pickled green papaya to cleanse your palette for the next bite! (Pampagana)
Where do you think Filipino food will go in the next few years?
Filipino food has been on the rise in recent years. But I think there is so much more for people to discover. My goal is to make it more accessible. That was how I designed the Adobo Flip Dip sandwich...It looks and eats like a french dip sandwich, but the flavor and experience is all Filipino. I like to think about Filipino food and what I can do to put a fresh spin on it, yet the flavors remain familiar to Filipinos. I like to cook meals that make them think of home.
In your time of selling and promoting Filipino food, what is an experience you are proud of?
I love seeing the look on people's faces when they take their first bite of our adobo flip dip sandwich. We usually see a lot of head bobbing, eyes closing to savor the moment, or inviting whoever they're with to take a bite. When I see the look on their faces, the smile, the sigh of contentment, the devouring of the sandwich with gusto, especially after they try the adobo au-jus dip for the sandwich...it makes all the hard work worth it.
The best compliment? When they get right back in line and buy another one! We've had customers at a festival come back 2-3 times in one day AND order food to take home on their way out!
Aside from adobo, name a Filipino food that everyone should try at least once.
Beef Sinigang...with patis (fish sauce). The whole experience of pouring the sour soup over your rice, scooping it up with your spoon (and fork!) along with a small piece of meat, vegetable and a small splash of patis in one perfect bite...to me, THAT is Filipino Food!
If you had a round trip plane ticket that could take you to ANY 5 destinations in the world, where would you head to? Starting in the Bay Area as your destination point, GO!
1. Philippines: I haven't been back in over 18 years. I would love to go back and watch people cook. I have access to some really awesome cooking equipment here, but to see how they make do with what they have over there to cook fantastic food simply amazes me.
2. Japan: Second biggest food influence for me is the place of my birth. I love the simplicity and respect they have for food.
3. Italy: I've been to Florence and Rome, but I want to go back...to eat seafood along the coast.
4. Spain: The Spaniards left a huge mark on Filipino food culture and I think it's worth visiting
5. France: What Foodie wouldn't want to go to there?
If you can share your cooking with absolutely anyone, who would it be?
My Dad. He passed away when I was 15. I'd give anything to be able to cook a meal for him. As far as living people, Anthony Bourdain...because he can appreciate the beauty behind the simplest of dishes.
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Would you like to be a part of Project:Adobo?
Follow this link to submit for your own adobo-file!
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