hey what's up guys um behind me is the aristocrat restaurant an original filipino cuisine which was
established in 1936 considered one of the oldest restaurants in the philippines this particular
building was built in 1939. now let's go and check out the food and the history behind this place
engracia cruz reyes or asiang was born to a poor family in navotas in april 16
1892 her mother was a street peddler who sold food sauces and fruits and later manage a small
neighborhood eatery popularly known in the philippines as carinderias she developed her
cooking skills at a young age having to prepare the meals of her five younger siblings while her
parents were out working for a living she was able to complete only four years of primary education
1912 asiang married alexander reyes a young lawyer from her hometown in 1928
to augment her family's income as her husband struggled to establish his legal practice and also
since their brood was growing asiang decided that since she was cooking for a lot of people already
having 13 children she might as well earn from all that effort asiang quickly converted the ground
floor of their house into a small carinderia at calle de marques de comillas in ermita manila
she named her eatery lapu lapu after the mactan chief who defeated ferdinand magellan in battle
and also adopted a native motif as interior decor these nationalistic manifestations specially
stood out considering that the philippines was under the american colonial rule she
primarily served filipino and affordable food students from saint teresa across the street
would come in droves to sample asiang's specialties pancit luglog, dinuguan with puto, lumpiang ubod and arrozcaldo
in 1936 a new item was added in the menu the adobo sandwich it originated from the reyes
family habit of having picnics at lunetta because there was always a need for meals on the go
asham would pack easy to get food for her family to eat she observed that many of the
stalls in lunetta were serving american fare like hot dogs and hamburgers so
she thought to make a filipino version she decided to use chicken adobo as her palama
soon her native sandwiches became a hit the threats of her children and husband
would intentionally stop by at their picnic spot just to get the taste of it the popularity
of her sandwiches in the park gave asham an idea for a rolling food store in 1940
much like the food trucks of today they converted an old ford car into a mobile canteen the mobile
restaurant featuring a menu stacked with traditional filipino dishes which she named
aristocrat the choice of the name was ironic and pointed for during that period filipino cuisine
was not considered an appropriate food in the homes of the filipino elite the rolling food
store will go around luneta park at the nearby areas serving the same food her family would eat
during their picnics by force of circumstance the rolling store moved from luneta to duwey boulevard
now known as roxas boulevard alex and asiang decided to put up a permanent restaurant in that
same spot where it still stands today making the aristocrat one of the oldest restaurants in manila
the aristocrats survive wartime through asiang's resourcefulness and food innovations all this made
the restaurant the place to be and soon there were new ventures including a branch in cubao
ermita and a beach resort in las pinas but the beach resort posed a new kind of problem for
asiang her cutlery rarely found their way back to her kitchen since diners would bring them to their
beach huts as a solution she began to serve food barbecue style lessening the use of utensils
this sample problem solving experiment paved the way for one of aristocrats beloved best sellers
the chicken bbq just like this one so this is one of their signature meals their best
meal which consisted of grilled chicken with the java sauce specially matde here and a java rice
this one atsara
how is it good almost done
sometimes you have to use your hands to eat it.
well most of the time
in 1948 her husband was appointed as an associate justice of the philippine supreme court
and asiang's reputation as a cook also grew due to the home dinner she had cooked for
many of the leading political figures of the day friends of her now prominent husband
by the 1950s the menu had expanded to feature such present day specialties such
as chicken and pork barbecue skewers karekare, chicken honey crispy pata
and even the variation of the adobo sandwiches they used to sell at luneta
the popularity of the aristocrat also helped usher a renewed popularity of filipino cuisine
as worthy first class food a reputation asiang enhanced by her insistence observing such dishes
in the dinners she was often called to cater at the malacanang palace through the years lola
asiang was recognized as the mother of filipino cooking whenever asiang cooked for her customers
she put in some love and care as though she were cooking for her own children
she believed that no matter the size of your budget you can eat like an aristocrat
that's how aristocrat has come to be for filipinos a welcoming home where hearty
appetites and modest wallets are rewarded with quality food and good old feeling of family
so i'm drinking a sago gulaman which is a drink of arnibal or cooked brown sugar and the sago
is the pearl and the gulaman is the jelly it's a famous drink here in the philippines
and it's very very sweet
as for asiang herself she had some personal accomplishments in life in 1937 she joined
the suffragette movement she won an award for mother of the outstanding family of the year,
republic day award in 1955 most outstanding woman award in the philippine marketing
association in 1967. she later died on july 6 1975 and for her honor the golden mother
award for outstanding mother of the year was created by the national youth in 1982
as for the contribution to the philippine culture the aristocrat restaurant was given a historical
marker on july 4th 2013 by the national historical commission of the philippines
after more than 80 years in the food industry the success of the aristocrat is attributed
to the clear and simple vision of asiang to serve quality filipino comfort food and her legacy lives
on guys that's it for our food tasting and history behind the aristocrat restaurant so next time bye
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