Wondering what a new Filipino pop-up might have to offer in a city full of pop-ups?
Don’t wonder, just go. And bring moist towelettes.
As Filipino food rises in the estimation of diners looking for both adventure and comfort, the Washington area is lucky to have Bad Saint, Purple Patch and Manila Mart, among others. This weekend, the traveling Filipino pop-up Salo X (not to be confused with the film by Pier Paolo Pasolini) hosts a collaboration by Chef Yana Gilbuena and artist Malaka Gharib at the communal tables of Mess Hall.
At first glance, the menu may seem to offer a Filipino dining experience familiar to local foodies, like the rice noodle dish pancit palabok and the fried pork belly staple lechon kawali. If you’ve been to a Filipino restaurant, you’ve probably had one of these dishes.
But not like this. The first course is a coloring book.
Gharib, who is half-Filipino and half-Egyptian, invites diners to color before dinner (and more than one attendee came prepared with their own coloring pencils). Most of the dishes in The Little Filipino Coloring Book are cooked during the pop-up, with the unfortunate exception of the steamed pork buns sio pao (which, luckily, you can get at Manila Mart).
“The idea that people can color the foods and see its individual parts —then have Chef Yana bring out the Filipino dishes from the coloring book so they could see the foods for themselves—we think it’s a great way for people to dive a little deeper into the world,” Gharib said over email. For newbies to the cuisine, she was sure to label the dishes and include instructions on what color the sauces and ingredients are in real life.
Before dinner was served, Gharib announced to guests that their hands would be their utensils, and food was scooped directly onto banana leaves that formed an organic table cloth. A scoop of garlic rice, colored bright green from soaking in pandan leaves, seems relatively simple to eat with your fingers. Not so the pinakbet: fresh sweet corn, okra, shiitake muschrooms, and other vegetables cooked in bagoong, a savory shrimp paste.
Spaghetti would seem a particularly unfriendly finger food, but that is the closest Western equivalent to pancit palabok, thick rice noodles served in a crispy pink edible shell made from fried sesame crackers, topped with orange sauce, whole shrimp, fried garlic, and scallions. While your fingers are already soaked in bagoong from the previous course, you may as well dive into the saucy flavor, and while you’re at it, suck the brains out of the shrimp’s head, just like any self-respecting Filipino would.
Almost as an afterthought, a huge slab of lechon arrives: perfectly cooked pork belly, the meat moist and tender, the skin crisp. You will dream of this pork belly. Needless to say, eating all this food with your fingers is challenging, but a cocktail will lower your finger-licking inhibitions: try the Gabriela, an elixir of tequila, mango, and Thai chiles that delivers a swift and complex kick.
The colorful evening of food ends with a fruit salad, Filipino-style—and a full stomach. Attend this pop-up while you can; at press time, tickets are still available for the weekend seatings. They won’t be for long.
The traveling Filipino pop-up Salo X + Color it and Eat it is located at Mess Hall (703 Edgewood Street NE). Tickets are available here for dinner seatings on Friday, July 8th, 6:30-8 p.m. and from 8:30-10 p.m.; brunch on Saturday, July 9th from noon-1:30 p.m.; and dinner on Saturday from 6:30-8:00 p.m. for $45 (a bargain for the amount and quality of food).
