The Pittsburgh Dish
Do you really know the food scene of Pittsburgh?! The Pittsburgh Dish introduces you to the people, places, and recipes that make our regional cuisine so special. By sharing personal stories, weekly recommendations, and community recipes, we aim to inspire you to connect with local taste makers and experience the unique flavors that shape our city.
The Pittsburgh Dish
035 Rafael Vencio: Innovating Filipino Flavors in Pittsburgh
(01:00) Rafael Vencio shares his journey of rekindling his cultural roots through pop-ups that spotlight Filipino cuisine, with a touch of modern flair. From smoked pate-filled lumpia to reimagined pandesal, he is rewriting the narrative of traditional Filipino dishes with a creative twist, while on his ultimate journey to a spring restaurant opening on the Northside.
(15:41) Join us as Chef Vencio takes us through his personal story, reflecting on his life growing up with four brothers in the Philippines and his adventures in the Pittsburgh food scene. His nickname "Amboy" has become a badge of honor rather than a tease, marking his integration of Filipino and American cultures. We explore how his friendships in local culinary spaces flourished into pop-up events, introducing Filipino cuisine with a contemporary edge. This journey also led him to urban farming, where he cultivated unique crops that brought a slice of Filipino flavor to Pittsburgh’s community.
(34:00) Also, we savor the delights of Seoul Korean BBQ in Carnegie with Chantal and Alex Huff, and Erika Bruce from Third Space Bakery shares her secrets to crafting the perfect deep-dish apple pie, right down to the all-butter crust.
Tune in for a flavorful episode where cultural cuisine, heartfelt stories, and culinary innovation come together deliciously.
Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. How do you practice and improve your menu before opening your restaurant? Pop-ups might be the proven way. We hear all about it from this week's guest. Korean barbecue in Carnegie. That's affirmative. We learn more from the Hungry Huffs. And how many pounds of apples are in your deep dish pie? Erika Bruce pushes the limits in our recipe of the week. All that ahead, stay tuned. We want to thank Chip and Kale Plant-Based Meals for being an ongoing supporter of The Pittsburgh Dish. Check out their latest menu for items like African peanut stew, Italian sausage tempeh bowls, and tiki masala enchiladas. You can find these dishes and more on their website at chipandkale. com. Now on to the show. Thank you so much for coming over and for being on the show.
Rafael:Would you introduce yourself and what you have going on right now in the world of food? So currently I am opening up a Filipino restaurant in East Ohio at Northside. It hasn't started yet, so we're anticipating next year around spring, probably April or hopefully earlier than that. I can't wait, by the way, thank you. Yeah, me too. I feel like it's been so long and I've worked so much to get to that point. It's just really a long stretch from here, but I'm anxious.
Doug:I just want to get there. Yeah, and you've been doing a lot already to support that upcoming opening. Can we talk a little bit about what you have going on with the pop-ups right now?
Rafael:Oh for sure. So I just finished the first series and that a theme of that series was to really focus on the protein. So, the first one started with beef. The next one was pork, chicken, vegetarian, fish and seafood. So there were five themes. That was great for me because everything under that recipe allowed me to cook those dishes. So it really made me connect back to with my roots. I feel like you know it. That opened me up again with my, my background and my heritage, my culture, so it made me really proud.
Doug:And were you doing this series at over at Soju in Garfield?
Rafael:Yes, it was great. It was very, it felt very convivial. I think that was the one thing I really wanted to get out of that, and I also wanted to kind of like revisit those recipes because, believe it or not, I don't always cook Filipino Well no.
Doug:I'm not always cooking German food every day either. So, yes, I get it and I mean I think I love that, like Simon opened up his space and you guys partnered for that and you're doing more, that haven't happened yet. Lilith and the black cat, fat cat the fat cat that's right Over on the north side, yes, so what are some of those series going to look like?
Rafael:So this one I'm really, really, really excited about because, essentially, this is the menu that I want to open up with. I'm trying to delve deeper into it, refine it. You know I want to. I want to see how the people respond to it, to compared to what I initially did with the first pop-up series. The first pop-up, it was like many things and spread and you were like opulence. You know you're like it's a feast.
Rafael:Yes, this time around it's not ticketed, it's by reservation. You know, you, it's a it. Yes, this time around it's not ticketed, it's by reservation. You know it's your typical sit down experience. Okay, you order a la carte. You can create your own experience. You can come hungry, too hungry, maybe not so hungry. Both of those locations Lilith and Fat Cat are going to offer drinks and cocktails to pair with my food. So that's going to be a great dynamic overall. Yes, I love that. Yeah, and I'm really excited about that too. So basically, yeah, it's a trial for me. I want to, I really want to work on early before I actually open the menu that I want to develop and present.
Doug:Here's what I appreciate about these pop-up series. I've seen other really successful chefs do the same thing. Fet Fisk did several pop-ups. Yes, I love that. Apteka did several pop-ups Sort of a proven technique of introducing your cuisine to other folks.
Rafael:Yeah, I do notice that. I think that's a great way to connect to the demographic, especially those two that you mentioned, Apteka and Fet Fisk, like like. Those are, like my, my top tier choices for food you know like places in the city. So, and I really admire their vision, I think what's great about their motive was they wanted to present themselves through the food that they make and it it speaks about their personality, their skill and just like their overall self, and I find it very admirable yeah.
Doug:So what I would love to do for our listeners. Can we dive into some of your dishes, maybe some of the things you're thinking about showcasing on the upcoming series, if I were to attend, I think I have to go a little into detail about this.
Rafael:So, first of all Filipino food. If we really just have to pick a comparison, it's as close as to Mexican cuisine.
Rafael:Oh okay, funny enough, you'd be like what Mexico? But essentially, historically, we've been influenced by Spain when they colonized the country, and around the time that they colonized the Philippines was the same time they colonized Mexico, so a lot of that interaction was very direct. Hence why most of the foods that we enjoy, and even some of the dishes, the quintessential dishes that we name in our country, are Spanish names like adobo. Adobo is essentially the quintessential dish of the Filipinos. That's one thing that I'm excited to present. But I think I want to accomplish two things when I'm presenting these dishes, the ones that I feel like would best represent my background, I didn't want to fall into the stereotype.
Rafael:I think nationally we have a movement in terms of how filipino food is becoming more um, modern and uh popular, but it's always the same dishes and there's, I feel like it's lacking the, the lived experiences that made those dishes really connect with the culture. So, for example, adobo for me is not just always meat, sometimes it's a vegetable, like water, spinach or kangkong, so, but adobo is typically uh, people immediately think, oh, it's pork or chicken, maybe, or both. That's the kind of experience I wanted to present dishes and the experience I really kind of want to evoke, I guess, in a in a typical way that you would expect to put together your meal you always order based off of like oh, I want to start with appetizers and then I'm going to do a salad and maybe a soup, but I can skip that and in the main dessert, filipinos don't eat that way.
Rafael:We don't really course our food. So that was one aspect of the pop-up dinners that I did that I somewhat have it kind of introduced a little bit about in the context of our cuisine. We don't really course the way like western uh cuisine. Does you know, like the more, I guess, refined dining or traditional french courses, if we will.
Doug:Yes, so if I come to a pop-up are, are dishes just coming out altogether or at random, as they're being?
Rafael:prepared. Yeah, I envision this pop-up service and experience to be more of like as the food gets ready, it's served to you. It's kind of like Apteka style, too, where you order everything from one point Right, and it just comes out. And it just comes out, that's it, and it's fine. Yeah, and maybe the chef would be like you know what the chef recommends, this coming together at the same time. They don't need to know why.
Doug:I think it's great, it's a recommendation yeah, if we dial back to someone that really just hasn't experienced Filipino cuisine. You have mentioned already some of the hallmarks pork, all of the protein. Seafood Is grilling more prominent or steaming. What's some of the technique or spice that we would commonly find?
Rafael:Yeah, I would say definitely use of fire. So whether that's grilling or spit roasting.
Doug:Yes, yeah.
Rafael:But it's no different like going here at the park where you have that, that standing box of like you know where you just bring a charcoal, yeah, yeah, this could be because of the the way, like I said, our country was influenced by yes by foreigners.
Rafael:But we kind of I would say immediately that's the best way for filipinos to just have, um, a food experience anywhere. But typically, I would say, filipinos love to stew. If anything, most of the recipes are based off of that genre, that umbrella of recipes, but I have to say I think the most loved texture would be crunchy. So maybe, to answer your question, frying might be the most popular method. Again, that's debatable. This is based off of this is your take, yes, yeah, what's?
Doug:your take. Yes, what about spice level? When we talk about influences from Spain, what I tend to observe is mostly traditional Spanish cuisine will be smoky, maybe paprika, but not spice. But then you start talking about Mexican cuisine, and we love all the chiles. What about Filipino cuisine?
Rafael:I would say it's like a coin it has both sides. So I think I'm gonna start approachable. I think it's a great move.
Doug:Before we move away from the food and the cuisine, are there any other specific ingredients that you think are standouts or hallmarks? I know you use ube a bit.
Rafael:Ube is definitely one, and we should tell our listeners.
Doug:Well, let me let you say yeah can you define what is ube.
Rafael:Ube is a true yam. So I think essentially it's just like a root crop. It's a root vegetable. It has a natural purple color, beautiful, very like-, vibrant, very vibrant, very regal, and a lot of desserts that ingredient is heavily utilized.
Doug:I love it. Shamefully, I can thank Trader Joe's for introducing me to more ube products right now.
Rafael:Yeah, but if you take a stroll at the Asianian store, you could definitely see a lot of sweets, uh that are ube flavored, and I I have a preference for sweet, by the way, so I think I lean more in ingredients that favor that. So pandan is the next one, yes, which is uh, it's. It's an aromatic, it's uh also called the screw pine. What I I love about it it's very exotic, it's very tropical.
Rafael:Its flavor is almost like vanilla and it goes well with coconut milk, so a lot of my coconut dishes will utilize that. I think the other thing that I because sweet is one of the most popular flavor profiles in the country, but sour is the next thing, so I really I think a lot of the foods that I want to serve will have a sour component. That would help balance it out.
Doug:I like that. I love those different notes of flavor. It makes it all come together. Yeah, Raf, if someone is coming to one of the pop-ups, what might be one or two key dishes that I could enjoy?
Rafael:pop-ups what might be one or two key dishes that I could enjoy. I can think of one right now. I c all this dish lumpia bangus, typically the way we would put this together. So bangus is milkfish, which is.
Rafael:I think it's comparable to branzino.
Rafael:Okay, yeah, it tastes like it, it feels like it.
Doug:Yeah, texture all that Everything it's a really bony fish.
Rafael:They're kind of like both painstaking. But what I did in this recipe typically is when we lumpia which is a Chinese influence, a heavy Chinese influence in our cuisine are spring rolls. Ah yes, so spring rolls are widely popular in the country. We stuff it with things Anything, Anything, Anything.
Doug:It can go in a spring roll.
Rafael:Yeah, but in this sense, typically we would take the fish, cook it and then just stuff it with veggies. But my version of this is I wanted to introduce something more refined with what I've learned in the professional kitchen. So I wanted to make a smoked pate, oh, and then essentially I deep fried the spring roll first without the filling, so it creates a hollow cylinder, and then I'd stuff the pate into that cylinder so you get a perfect bite, amazing. So it has all the texture, the crunch from the spring roll and just like the smokiness from the fish, the richness from the pate and everything, and you get a little bit of I can put a little bit of like something acidic in there, like pickles, typically achara, which is a green papaya pickle, is something that we so this is like a dish as a bite.
Doug:Yes.
Doug:I'll have six of those. Name the dish for me again. I'll never get this right, 'm sure, yeah lumpia l-u-m-p-i-a okay, yeah, and that's your bangus all right. Yeah, is there one more that you could describe to our, to our listeners?
Rafael:yeah, I could totally. I wouldn't necessarily consider this as a complex dish. Okay, uh, this would be a very, uh fundamental food item in our culinary background. The pandesal or the salt bread, oh yes. So I guess it's somewhat difficult for me to talk about it because it's so common fare and it's very it's a humble ingredient that like what else is to talk about it. But for me it's like I love carbs, it's warm bread yes, it's what could be wrong.
Rafael:So I've been really developing this recipe. I really wanted to showcase how simple bread is. In any culture I feel like bread is. We bat an eye, we don't even consider that, but for me I remember a lot of mornings just this is something that is typical. So it's an everyday thing for Filipinos to have this. It's common fare. So I wanted to refine that in a way where I showcase the many ways that we enjoy it. So it's not just my version per se. And it spreads into different variances. So sometimes liver spread is another thing, corned beef is another thing. Sometimes we stuff it with just like sardines and eggs. Is this after the?
Doug:bread is baked. After it's baked yeah, You're almost making like a little filling or sandwich, if you will, yeah it depends.
Rafael:So I did a version at the pop-ups at soju where I stuffed the inside with um corned beef. Oh, that was amazing, because all the juice is baked into the bread, so when you burn into it. It's so beefy, but it was also like so rich and so fulfilling. So that's the kind. I think that's another thing that I wanted to highlight about the the simplicity of what I'm trying, my approach and what I'm trying to present. The bread seems something mundane, but you can do so much with something so simple?
Doug:It's not yeah.
Rafael:Thank you for that.
Doug:Yeah thanks.
Rafael:This is Chef Rafael Vencio, and you're listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug:We've talked a little bit about your approach and obviously you've hinted that you grew up in the Philippines. Can you tell us a little bit about early life and growing up? As it relates to food, yeah, were there a lot of great cooks in your family, or when did you start cooking?
Rafael:So I credit my grandmother, my dad's mom. Lola is the word for grandma, oh yes, you oftentimes will hear filipinos say my lola, the male uh, uh would be lolo. So lola and lolo are grandma, grandpa, um. But grandma was the. She's my culinary idol. She definitely coaxed me into starting up. I still remember the first thing she taught me what to bake. We made peanut butter cookies, oh, perfect. So grandma was definitely the main influence in my early development. But a lot of our experiences, or even just social interactions, are always focused on food. There's always food. We use food as a reason to gather, of course, essentially.
Doug:That's my family Exactly.
Rafael:So we celebrate anything that we can celebrate, whether it's like communion or we had a debut, you know like birthdays obviously.
Doug:Of course.
Rafael:Yeah.
Rafael:But even just amongst like the we call, we would consider them. I guess in pittsburgh are uh, what's smaller than a borough?
Doug:uh like just a small neighborhood, yeah, like a village or something.
Rafael:Yeah, most oftentimes there are celebrations within, like those uh neighborhoods. Yes, they have their own uh way of festivities, their own block parties.
Rafael:Essentially yeah.
Doug:But pista so fiestas is essentially what it is. Oh, that's so great. Did you grow up with a big family? Do you have a lot of siblings? I did.
Rafael:So I only have brothers. I have four brothers, oh wow.
Doug:And second youngest Okay, you're in that middle part.
Rafael:Okay, somewhat it sucks being bottom of a totem pole, by the way. But yeah, I had five brothers. We had a very great life in the.
Rafael:Philippines because we were fortunate enough to be able to go to good school, live in a good neighborhood and we would sometimes, by the way, I became a permanent resident when I was younger, so oftentimes we would go travel here in the US, so that's what my life was growing up. Sometimes we would spend summers here in the US. Oftentimes we would just have summers in the Philippines with my grandmother, and it was such a great, I guess. Multi-atmosphere yes.
Doug:You got to experience these two different cultures. How long have you been in Pittsburgh?
Rafael:Pittsburgh would be my longest city now, so about 15 years, okay, wow.
Doug:Would you call it home now?
Rafael:Yeah, I definitely do. I think everything about it feels very much like home, I think after 15 years.
Doug:Yeah, you definitely know this. Yeah, very much like home, I think, after 15 years. Yeah, you definitely know this. You did spark another question I had when you were going back and forth from the States back to the Philippines. You, you have a nickname and that really has followed you on your social handle.
Rafael:Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Doug:amboy is a slang not supposed to be a positive thing?
Rafael:not quite, yeah well, at least the way it's, the, I guess the vernacular yeah, um it's uh, it's always associated with someone who's kind of like. I guess, if, if we just look at the, the reason why filipinos sometimes demean the idea of westernization, you know like we were colonized, so sometimes a lot of the idea of like, wow, you're being westernized, you want to reject that? You want to reject that?
Doug:yeah or that's the natural thing that's a natural reaction.
Rafael:So that's where amboy stems from, because it's american boy american boy because it's someone like someone who would, somebody like me who is born and native to the country but not, uh, westernized or naturalized, essentially sometimes locals, or some filipinos, would deem that like oh, you're riding on your high horse you're so unreachable or a little resentment?
Rafael:yes, a little resentment, but for the most part it really is a status, uh, a social status, kind of like recognition. You know, getting immigrant status in the us is one thing difficult so anyone who who has that opportunity I mean most people are happy that they they are able to have that status. You know, it's just that amboy was always been used by my friends, at least to me, as a way of teasing me. I'm like, especially when I just get back from the U S, you've been gone the entire summer and you're, and you're like your friends haven't seen. You're like, great, oh, here comes Amboy, but you took that.
Doug:That was sort of a joke and you own it. You've owned it for your life over here. Yes, and I like that. I think it really is a way of turning around. Yes, any of that stigma, exactly.
Rafael:yeah amboy can also represent that, an achievement, you know, like something um something to be proud of.
Doug:I think in essence, it really is, um, I guess, part of the process of being an immigrant yeah, so you, you set up shop here in Pittsburgh and over the last couple of years, I think, I noticed as I was doing a little bit of research. I saw one pop-up at the Speckled Egg a few years back. Yes, but then, over the pandemic, there was sort of a transformation into urban farming, yes, and now we're coming back into the pop-ups and ultimately the restaurant. Yeah, can you tell us a little bit about that take?
Rafael:yeah, a little bit about your journey yeah, so the the pop-up at speckled egg really was. That was my friendship with jacqueline and nate, the owners. So jacqueline and I were the inaugural class of Smallman Galley's restaurant incubator and we were neighbors and from there we developed a really strong friendship, so almost family.
Rafael:And when, when we were at Smallman Galley as the inaugural class, love Smallman Galley yeah, that's a distant memory, but this she offered the space and I thought and I've been really trying to develop the idea of how to introduce Filipino to Pittsburgh. Doing a pop-up dinner at a friend's restaurant really helped because it made me really express myself comfortably and figure out like what works.
Doug:Can I take a little step back? You sparked another question. Did you go to culinary school or you just mentioned you worked in several kitchens. Where did the whole kitchen?
Rafael:experience start. I did not go to culinary school. I am mostly self-taught. I did apprentice under two different chefs. The apprenticeship, really, what they did was took me under their wing and really just tried to teach me the fundamentals. I showed an interest in French cuisine so, and a lot of those two chefs are focused in that, that cuisine so they were able to.
Rafael:really they noticed at first that I stood out like some natural skill in it that really set me apart, that the first chef really approached me and asked me like, apart that, um, the first chef really approached me and and asked me like how do you see yourself professionally as someone who cooks? So I think that's where the idea started. And then the second chef was the one that taught me the fundamentals, like the knife skills, just how do you compose menus, recipes and just the backbone of french cuisine and oh, by the way, these two people saved you thousands of dollars.
Doug:Yes, from culinary school, not to say culinary school, but this was this was very good for you.
Rafael:Yeah, yeah and. And then the rest of that, I, I, basically I'm fortunate enough that they taught me some sense to to figure things out on my own, so the rest of it I self-taught and did I hear you did a stint at high hold?
Doug:yes, and anywhere else around pittsburgh spoon would be one brian.
Rafael:Um, that was very uh, pivotal in my work history um legume, oh yeah was definitely. I think I still credit a lot of my professional development with that place and that brand and name. By the way, I secretly love American food, but my understanding is a little bit more. I think I view American cuisine as global food.
Rafael:So, when I work at Legume, part of my work was that to introduce the global influence in tangent with what is local toward the western region of of pa. So we were mostly focused, focused on pennsylvania, dutch and a lot of that. Uh, like the really hearty kind of like what farm cuisine was and that made me fall in love. So even now I tell people about legume and they're like legume what?
Doug:Yeah, I miss legume, and that's where Butter Joint has expanded into the whole thing now.
Rafael:Yeah, it's now under one brand name, that's right.
Doug:And so then, after the professional kitchens, there was an urban farm, and we were just through the pandemic or just about coming out. So tell me a little bit about that.
Rafael:Yeah, I definitely had a moment where I feel like, professionally, I was standing at a fork and I had to make a decision whether I wanted to stay in cooking or if should I walk a different path, and farming was basically my compass. I needed something to point me that I feel like was the right direction to lead me professionally and I chose farming, particularly urban farming. In my head, if I wasn't going to cook, I would just be a farmer. If this succeeded to a certain degree that I can somewhat segue out of cooking, I would have, I I think, and I would still feel the same passion, because I know I'm still working with food.
Doug:Yes, you're still connected exactly, even more directly with the land. Exactly, yeah, if, and yeah, this is how I know you like. For the last couple years I've been following you.
Doug:I know that you've been at like Squirrel Hill and Lawrenceville farmer's market on the regular and we should probably say, just for folks that that maybe weren't familiar, Hilltop Urban Farm, correct. And then the business that you were operating was the Amboy Urban Collective, right, that's what your logo has been so far, correct. And is that going to change a little bit now because of the restaurant?
Rafael:Correct. So Hilltop was another. I have a knack for incubator models. It was a farm incubator, I see. I see that's how the business started, regretfully, and uh, I say this, uh, because I generally feel like that is a wasted resource in our city, an urban farm model that is, um, somewhat of an incubator system. It should work, but it's not working and regretfully that's what I feel, bittersweet about it, but it really allowed me to have a startup business.
Doug:Were you also growing some items that helped connect you back to Filipino cuisine.
Rafael:The one crop that I could think that would stand out the most would be kangkung or water spinach. Okay, so, uh, it's also popular in thai cuisine, chinese cuisine it's somewhat in that asian region, yes, um. The other one would be saluyot or egyptian spinach. So this one, it's noteworthy for its nutritional uh incentive. Uh, it grows almost on anything desolate, but it provides- A high degree of nutritional value.
Doug:Oh, for sure, yeah.
Rafael:It's essentially like okra but on a leaf form, so it has like protein and such. The other crop that I was growing that I think more of like something unique that I wanted to kind of just like create a brand out of but make it seem like this is Filipino was the alok bati, so this is malabar spinach. Okay, um, it has like a very kind of like succulent feel to it, very glossy, deep green, has like a red underside or sometimes pink. Does it look a little like char?
Rafael:it does, charred, yeah it looks like a swiss char, but they look like spinach leaves. Okay, so it doesred. Yeah, it looks like a Swiss chard, but they look like spinach leaves Okay. So it does look like spinach, but it has like a succulent feel to it.
Rafael:It's very unique because I feel like that's the one thing, that it's very common in the Philippines, but we don't really have it in the mainstream, at least from what I'm seeing, what Filipino dishes are coming out in the mainstream. So part of my strategy with the urban model farm was to introduce ingredients like that. That could either be more representative of the culture. So I didn't, again going to the idea that I don't want to be stereotypical.
Doug:So now you've stepped away from the farm to pursue this?
Rafael:restaurant path, again yeah. And asking the farmer like hey, maybe you can grow me this one crop? Yeah, so now you have your own purveyors, sort of planted. So, even though you're not continuing, again, yeah and. And asking the farmer like, hey, maybe you can grow me this one crop?
Doug:yes, so now you have your own purveyors, exactly planted so even though you're not continuing your own farm. You've created this model. Others have seen it and they're also more familiar with those crops.
Rafael:Yes, so they're probably more amenable to trying those out exactly you, or or others that want them, yeah if anything, my experience during this farm uh, doing the farmer's market really allowed me to to see the potential of the strategy, not just introducing the cuisine, but also the ingredient and just how that really affects the demographic. Because, uh, I was there talking to the people at the farmer's market about what these things are. It did feel like I sounded like a broken record player.
Doug:But I appreciate that. I mean, you grew up in this country. Yeah, you've eaten these things. Yes, you've now brought these viable crops to Western Pennsylvania. Yes, and can they even grow here? You've probably taken a risk to see how they yield, yeah, and now you can pass off some of that growing to maybe some other partners and really deliver the cuisine.
Rafael:Yes, so, if anything, that will be the distillation of my experience with all that.
Alex:It's good growth it is good growth yeah.
Doug:I think it's back to I think I said earlier. You're sort of experimenting yes, let's try a little of this. Yes, let's try a little of that, and now you're all that's. I'm a lifelong learner, so that works for me, Me too.
Rafael:Yeah, I think for me at least. I love just being able to progress.
Doug:Yeah Well, let's talk about progression. So let's talk about what's next. On this day that we're recording, you have some upcoming pop-ups. Yes, can you just give us a quick list of what's on the docket for you? Yeah, I think Lilith and at Fat.
Rafael:Cat. The first one is October 19th at Fat Cat. It starts at five and hopefully lasts until 10.
Doug:You have multiple seatings.
Rafael:There are multiple seatings, yeah.
Doug:And we'll talk about your website in a second. This is where they can go to book.
Rafael:Yes, make a reservation, yeah, but Fat Cat is an event space, so we're hoping that we are able to pair my my food with, maybe a performer, whether it's a DJ or anyone. Um, but it is an event space, so it is meant to be very, um, somewhat transient and transformational.
Doug:Exactly yeah.
Rafael:But there are sit down spaces that, uh, that's why I'm taking the reservations. So for at least for fat Cat, you can go to the website amboypittsburghcom and go on the link for pop-up and it just shows you the dates and you can choose a time. But it's a more structured one. The one at Lilith which happens on October 27th, this one is on a Sunday. This is a little bit more based off of how they would seat their restaurant, so I'm following their structure to make it more fluid and more natural. You can go on their reservations. This one is almost book full by the way all right.
Rafael:I'm hoping that uh, there are still some slots, but I I highly doubt it. This one is a very much coveted uh experience. For some reason, because it's sold out, it reserved out quickly. Oh well, that's a good story to tell. Yeah, I am very happy that we are able, because Jamilca, the owner, and I and Diane, we have history. We go way back and it's great to be able to come back full circle.
Doug:Yeah, yeah, and for folks that are still looking, there are several more dates into November and December at Fat Cat, correct, and so why don't we just do the plug right now? What's? The website again.
Rafael:AmboyPittsburgh. com, so A-M-B-O-Y Pittsburgh, all right.
Doug:Dot com and Raf, If they want to follow you and find you on social media, where can folks?
Rafael:find you. Instagram is my main primary handle. That's pretty much the only platform that I currently use. It's @Amboy_ Pittsburgh.
Doug:All right Perfect. Raphael it's been so great to talk with you.
Rafael:Thanks for having me. I enjoyed myself a lot.
Doug:I have one more question for you. Okay, yes, the name of the show is The Pittsburgh Dish. What's the best dish you've eaten this past week?
Rafael:oh, this past week, oh, um, I have one in mind. So I was at Tokyo Japanese in Shadyside and I picked up a bento box for lunch and something about it. It's just, it's. It was so comforting, mean, it might seem normal and I guess common fare, but something about that it just got my attention and I would say it's maybe many dishes because it's a bento box. Yeah, it's a bento box, but overall, looking at it as a one thing, that would be. It Hit all the notes.
Doug:Best bites this week. Yes, chef Rafael Vencio, thank you so much for being on The Pittsburgh Dish. Thank you for having me. In addition to the fun pop-up dates that Raf mentioned for his upcoming restaurant, we wanted to mention one more community event, and that is the StrEAT Festival Street spelled S-T-R-E-A-T being hosted by the Downtown Neighbors Alliance. It'll be taking place on 8th and Penn, October 19th and 20th from noon to 6pm. Check it out Up. Next, if you're doing some searching for Korean barbecue, look no further than downtown Carnegie. Alex and Chantal Huff tell us a little bit more. So we're talking today with Alex and Chantal of the Hungry Huffs Guys. I was just wondering I know you live out my way Is there any unique dining place that you like in, like the Robinson or Carnegie area? That really just ticks the boxes for you.
Alex:There is, and that would be Seoul Korean in Carnegie oh yeah, it's right on Main Street, just down from Leo Greta. That's right, it's a small little spot, like they don't have too many seats in there, but I promise like the food is worth the wait. Whether you're getting it to go or eating in there, everything is, you know, house-made from the Bonchon, the different kimchis, pickled daikon, they have everything that goes with the Korean beef or the bulgogi. Whatever you're really looking for, it's the perfect place to go with a group. The scallion pancakes.
Chantal:Are incredible, incredible. The bulgogi is incredible. You'll never eat anything dry there. It is amazing. I'm pretty sure it's family run.
Doug:That is perfect, as it should be, Chantal. What are some other dishes that you've really enjoyed there?
Chantal:Well, like I said, I love the bulgogi there, I love the scallion pancake, I like the bibimbap. I think that's how you say it right.
Doug:Mm-hmm, let's just go with it. Yeah, was there any other dishes that any of your friends tried that you were like, ooh, I've never done that one actually the one I think we forgot was the uh kimchi pancake.
Alex:Oh, I love it their kimchi is out of this world. There it's super like I don't know just having something like super fresh and the kimchi that they make there and it's it's. It's nice to see, as Chantal mentioned, like it is family owned. I think there's like the family working in the kitchen so you guys said the place isn't very big.
Doug:Are they also known for takeout like? Is that like a really good, good thing to plan if you do have a big group?
Chantal:Yeah, I think if you have a big group, the best thing to do would be takeout. My brother is obsessed with this place. He goes here at least once a week. He's obsessed with Korean food.
Doug:Yeah.
Chantal:So he picks it up, I would say on a weekly basis.
Doug:And it looks like they're open 5 to 9 pm Most days. They're. They're closed Sundays and Mondays right now, Seoul Korean barbecue on Main Street in Carnegie.
Chantal:Yep, and it is really reasonably priced too.
Alex:Yeah it's very reasonably priced for a Korean food.
Doug:Excellent, Chantal, Alex. Thank you both so much.
Chantal:Thank you for having us.
Doug:You can follow Chantal and Alex on Instagram @Hungry Huffs. Lately, it seems like pumpkin spice has taken our attention away from apple season altogether. Well, in our recipe of the week, Erika Bruce of Third Space Bakery shines a spotlight on a pie that gives apple season the shine it deserves. Hey everybody, we're back with my friend Erica Bruce from Third Space Bakery and Erika, we're getting into the fall season and holiday time. I know you're a professional baker with a lot of experience under your belt. Is there a favorite recipe you make this time of year?
Erika:Yes, for sure, and I don't just make it this time of year, I think I make it pretty much all year long. But I'm a big fan of my deep dish apple pie, which is actually a recipe I developed while I was working at Cook's Illustrated Magazine.
Doug:Do they still have it in print, could we?
Erika:Oh yes.
Doug:So we can link it for our listeners. Oh yeah, well, describe it, because I mean, apple pie can really vary, right? So when you say deep dish, what are we talking about here?
Erika:So deep dish. Basically, my assignment was to pack as many apples into this pie as humanly possible, and the trick was to pre-cook the apple filling. Oh, okay, very gently Like saute it on a stove top, yeah, like it would even like saute, just more like a poaching maybe. Oh, and then I also use very minimal seasonings, because and I like to use a blend of different apples and obviously I try to use what's local.
Doug:Yes, but.
Erika:I like a blend of different apples and obviously I try to use what's local, yes, but I like a combination of sweet and really tart apples.
Doug:Um, avoid macintoshes because they'll break down yeah, you don't want apple sauce right here exactly.
Erika:I mean, I love the flavor of macintosh, but uh yeah, and then just a tiny bit of cinnamon, a little bit of lemon zest. Sometimes I like all spice, but just real, really, it's all about the apples do.
Doug:Do you have any idea how many pounds of apples when you're saying you're trying to get as many in this pie? We're talking like a nine-ish inch pie plate yeah, nine inch.
Erika:Yeah, double crust pie, I believe it's. We're going to fact check this. I believe it's five pounds. That's a crazy amount.
Doug:Yeah, I mean and after you core it could be 10 pounds pounds. We need to check. Oh my gosh, let's check. So we're sure it's five pounds, we won't get crazy. Don't do 10. Don't do 10. Unless you're doing two pies, exactly, and any special, any special thing you do with the crust.
Erika:I like to use an all butter crust, just because I love the flavor of butter. I like to add a little bit of sour cream In the crust. Yeah, to the water portion of it yeah. Okay, that's about it.
Doug:Nothing crazy like cheddar cheese in there.
Erika:That's funny because that's Beth's favorite thing to make. Beth is your colleague, your co-owner, my co-owner at Third Space Bakery and she's always trying to get me to put cheese in the pie, but no, I think I'm kind of a purist when it comes to my apple pie. Yeah.
Doug:Well, I love that for a holiday dish. Deep dish, deep dish Apple pie. Erika Bruce, thank you so much. No problem, my pleasure. Do you have a recipe? Share it with us? Just go to our website at www. pittsburghdish. com and look for our Share a Recipe form. That's our show for this week. We'd like to thank all of our guests and contributors, and to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Stay tuned.
