Meeting Chef Giney Villar of Adarna Food & Culture

Last Saturday, I attended the Eat, Write, Love Workshop of Writers Block Philippines. 


At first I was hesitant to go since it was a little costly for me but RJ, being my number 1 supporter, insisted that this workshop will be very helpful for me. Plus he emphasized that I would regret it if I didn't go. 


As expected, he's correct. I would have regretted it if I didn't go because I saw Chef Giney in person that day! 

Beth Angsioco, Chef Giney Villar and Smarla

For all of you who don't know who Chef Giney is, I suggest you turn on your television sets to Lifestyle Network.
Here's a short clip to help you remember: 

Yes, Chef Giney is part of Lifestyle Network's Clash of the Toque-en Ones! I voted for her via email right after meeting her in our workshop. (Just send an email to lifestylenetwork@thelifeyoulive.tv with the e-mail Subject: VOTE GINEY)

Chef Giney Villar, along with Beth Angsioco, own a popular Filipino restaurant along Kalayaan Avenue, Quezon City. This restaurant is called Adarna Food & Culture. Before this workshop, I've seen Adarna Food & Culture listed in my Manila by Day book. I've been wanting to go here so I was really pleased when I learned that the workshop will be conducted here. 

Evident in Adarna's ambiance and menu, Chef Giney and Elizabeth Angsioco are proud Filipinas and advocates of promoting our rich Philippine culture. A former NGO book developer and writer, Chef Giney felt strongly about opening her own Filipino restaurant that would showcase traditional Filipino recipes. Instead of following the trend of Filipino fusion cuisine, Chef Giney took the complete opposite direction. Armed with an AHA (American Hospitality Academy Philippines) diploma, she went back to research on old forgotten Filipino recipes.

She searched for old cookbooks and notes and traveled around the country in order to recreate historical, regional and heirloom recipes. Over lunch, she shared to us how difficult it was to accomplish this research  since most Filipinos passed on recipes through oral tradition. Some were also very resistant to sharing their long kept family kitchen secrets. Even worse, some of our lolas (grandmothers) weren't the cooks and they could only remember the recipe from its taste. It was then up to Chef Giney to get as much information as she could from them and recreate the recipe again and again until she got the approval of our dear lolas.


From her thorough research, she has come up with a menu that showcases food that even come all the way from Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi. For a closer look at Adarna Food & Culture's menu, click here. 


They also stick to traditional cooking methods, such as the slow-cooking process, as much as possible and use organic ingredients sourced locally when available. They don't use instants, preservatives and short cuts. 

As Lori Baltazar pointed out, it takes a lot of guts for a Filipino to open up her own Filipino restaurant since people can contest that it's not how a particular dish should taste like! Despite this threat, Chef Giney and Beth pushed on and saw their restaurant as their own contribution to Filipino pride. In fact, Chef Giney is not afraid to ask people if the food was good. She further adds that the best compliments come from old people that tell her that her food tasted exactly how they had remembered it. 

When asked about the restaurant's name, Chef Giney said that she wanted people to feel revitalized after eating just like how Adarna, the mythical bird in the Philippine legend, cured people from their illness. Moreover, Beth shared that like Adarna, the restaurant has an air of mystery and magic that enchants people with the layers of stories behind each dish and each decor. 

Even though I didn't get to talk to Chef Giney 1-on-1, I felt proud to have met Filipina chef like her who's ready to showcase traditional Filipino cuisine to the world. It's people like her that remind me how great it is to be a Filipino. I'm proud to be Filipino. :)


For more details on the restaurant's background, click here, click here and click here.


Adarna Food & Culture
Address: 119 Kalayaan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Contact: +632 926-8712
Operating Hours: Su, M, T, W, Th, F, Sa: 11:30 am - 10:30 pm


~It's the little sweet notes everyday that matter. :)~