Comments on: Original Fusion?

By: Pinoy Prandial

Pinoy Prandial — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:47:39 +0000

[…] Day at Casa S this last weekend. This time, unlike the last, I didn’t get all the negative vibe about the food in advance – that’s a step in the right […]

By: dan

dan — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:43:30 +0000

Beth, that was sort of my first thought, but I think it’s too simplistic an answer – we’ve offered up dinners of Nigerian and Ghanian cuisines from Africa, Mongolian from Asia, Romanian from Europe, and a wide variety of off-beat, non-national themed dinners. And while people have expressed apprehension, or concern about what it is they might be eating, I never got the “I won’t come if you’re serving that cuisine” kind of reactions until this dinner. I almost have to think it’s some sort of shared anti-Filipino kind of thing, that just happened to be amongst a good number of people who looked at coming that evening. These were people who weren’t even willing to hear about what might be on the menu – they were dismissive and borderline nasty about it, as if there was something offensive in our even having offered it.

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:38:07 +0000

It’s simple really. People aren’t familiar with Filipino cuisine. People are afraid of what they don’t know. Little do they know is that Filipino cuisine is probably the most accessible cuisine in all of Asia because of the variety and balance of flavors. When you get down to it, how can you go wrong? Filipino cuisine is a mixture of Malay, Spanish, Chinese, and American cuisines. I don’t know about other folks, but those cuisines are some of the best in the world. Rolled into one and you’ve got a spectacular cuisine that appeals to most palettes ….. if given a try.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:43:26 +0000

But couldn’t the same be said about many a cuisine, especially the restaurants in Manhattan? There are a ton of places from various isles of the Carribean that could be described identically, many a Chinese place certainly, and even, say, cheap Italian joints, among them.

It wasn’t so much that people might have been apprehensive, as you were, perhaps not knowing the cuisine, or even not being sure just what I’d do to the dishes, it was more the blanket “I hate that food”, as if there was something innate about the cuisine that was loathsome, or as if it could all even be lumped into one style.

By: Allan Kelin

Allan Kelin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:41:33 +0000

While not contentious about a Filipino menu, I will admit to a bit of apprehension. In many parts of Manhattan Filipino food meant “comidas chinas y criollas.” These were not the places to sample either cuisine but to get a cheap dish of rice and beans and some kind of fried meat (pork for me, please), all of it covered with hot sauce and washed down with cold, cheap beer.

So, yes, while that stuff was fine, I had no idea what would be placed in front of me at Casa Saltshaker. But, as I’ve enjoyed dining at CS many times before, I had complete faith in your cooking, Dan. I was really happy with all your dishes — as always.

I’m pretty sure I should thank you also for not attempting a dinuguan. I would have tried it, of course: then again, I could have fainted.

By: Ken Sternberg

Ken Sternberg — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:12:56 +0000

I don’t get it, either, Dan. I’ve enjoyed Filipino food quite a bit whenever I’ve had it. Your dinner certainly looks delicious.