Press
CHICAGO READER: “SUBO FILIPINO KITCHEN IS ALBANY PARK'S ANSWER TO A PINOY WAVE”
11 July 2019 by Mike Sula
Mother and son Minda and Rod Menor targeted the heavy foot traffic around this small strip mall and launched Subo eight months ago, after they closed the Three R's Filipino Cafe, which Minda opened in Albany Park nearly 40 years ago, across the street from nearby Horner Park.
The Menors suspect theirs was Chicago's first Filipino restaurant, though according to Sarahlynn Pablo in the Chicago Food Encyclopedia, a restaurant called the Manila Village Cafe served the city's first Filipinos back in the 30s.
WBEZ 91.5 FM: “MALUNGGAY, JACKFRUIT, CHEESE ICE CREAM: THE CHICAGO GUIDE TO FILIPINO GROCERIES”
17 NOVEMBER 2018 by Monica Eng
Cruising the aisles of a Filipino grocery store offers a history lesson in the colonizers, traders, and neighbors who passed through different parts of the Philippines over the centuries.
BONUS: Check out the Seafood Sinigang recipe on the Chicago Sun-Times.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, “KULTURA FESTIVAL RETURNS WITH A FOCUS ON MIDWESTERN FILIPINO TALENT”
7 SEPTEMBER 2017 by Joseph Hernandez
“With the expansion of interest in food and food media,” says Pablo, “this is the time to tell our own stories. Each of the businesses we’ve invited have their own narratives, and we want to center on the people making the food, not just dishes…”
“None of these Midwestern cities have a ‘Manilatown’ or a central community, unlike New York City, Los Angeles or San Francisco,” says Pablo. “This year, we wanted Kultura to be a physical space that brings us together. Personally, it’s exciting -– having grown up in a mostly white American space, being in the Midwest and Filipino absolutely informs who we are. It’s a unique time to assert ourselves culturally.”
SCRIPPS (FORMERLY NEWSY), “FILIPINOS WANT YOU TO KNOW THEIR FOOD IS MORE THAN A TREND”
19 OCTOBER 2017 by Cat Sandoval
"Some people say it doesn't make sense," Pablo said. "…actually when you talk to any of these chefs who have grown up in these households and have studied our history that it's reflective of our journey as Filipinos and Filipino-Americans. It's amazing that other people are paying attention. But it's food that we're enjoying for a long time ourselves, and it's great to introduce our culture and our history through our food."
Featuring Kultura Festival Chicago Lechon Lecturer Dr. Martin Malansanan, current professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
THIS FILIPINO AMERICAN LIFE PODCAST
20 JANUARY 2017
Listen to the origin story of Filipino Kitchen from about minute 40. From the heartfelt comment on my blog post about Lugaw on my Wordpress that made me understand that food, and Filipino food content especially, was and is a powerful force!
Listen to the podcast episode 8 of This Filipino American Life.
CHICAGO READER’S 2016 PEOPLE ISSUE, “SARAHLYNN PABLO: THE KULTURA MAVEN”
7 DECEMBER 2016 by Robin Amer
I wanted to be a travel writer. When I wasn’t traveling, I was writing about the food that I was cooking at home, which was often Filipino food. It was literally . . . me on the phone with my mom, asking, “How much soy sauce goes in this? ‘Oh, just a little bit.’ Well, how much is a little bit?” Then I saw how people reacted to these recipes.