Undaunted by the COVID-19 pandemic, three Filipino nurses working as frontliners in the Big Apple pursue their dream of putting up an authentic Pinoy restaurant–and succeed despite the challenges.
By BING PAREL
During the Filipino-American History Month celebration last October, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recognized Filipinos’ sacrifice and hard work in the frontlines of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, saying they “literally would not have survived without… our Filipino brothers and sisters.”
New York City is home to more than 80,000 Filipinos, and an estimated 25 percent of them work in the healthcare sector. Many of them are nurses like Joan Calanog, Jude Canela and Marie Dinopol – assigned to the graveyard shift at the Mount Sinai Hospital. This internationally respected tertiary care teaching facility happens to be also one of the largest and oldest in the United States.
Joan, who has been living in New York for close to 18 years now, is originally from Malolos, Bulacan. Jude, on the other hand, is from Lucena in Quezon, while Marie hails from General Santos City. Both have been living in New York for eight years. The three started as colleagues in the same Gastrointestinal Surgery unit five years ago, but have since become close friends and, just recently, business partners following the successful debut last August of Bilao, a restaurant located at the Upper East Side, which offers authentic Filipino food.
Casual joke
The idea of putting up a restaurant started as a casual joke. As healthcare workers, one of the most significant rewards they look forward to after an exhausting shift at the hospital is enjoying their comfort food. Since all three have been hankering after Filipino food, they jokingly brought up the idea of starting a restaurant to satisfy their cravings after getting off from work.
The joke turned into a serious business because the idea soon took hold, resulting in planning and brainstorming that took over a year because they originally wanted to name the restaurant “Kusina.” However, their lawyer advised against it since the name is very common and would take longer to apply for the license. After several picks, they came up with “Bilao.” The word sounded authentic and was also an attention-getter because people would be curious about the name, said Jude.
A feast of dishes
Bilao is usually a round woven piece of implement that is typically used for winnowing rice. It also functions as a tray of sorts for serving food that evokes a feast when attractively arranged. And that is exactly what Bilao serves—a feast of Filipino dishes that have caught the attention of food lovers, including book author and food critic Robert Sietsema who rhapsodized over the classic breakfast “silogs” – dishes that come with sinangag (fried rice) and itlog (egg).
Bilao offers more than 40 dishes, and aside from the breakfast fare, among the best sellers are camaron rebosado, crispy pata, kare-kare, lechon kawali, grilled pork belly, ginataang sitaw at kalabasa, ginataang hipon, escabeche and, of course, sisig – that crispy dish of chopped pig’s head and liver that no less than the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain said would “win the hearts and minds of the world as a whole.”
Up to the challenge
While others would have balked at the idea of opening up a restaurant amid a global health crisis, and in a city that was once dubbed as the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, the three saw an opportunity. For one, they know their market: the big number of Filipinos and the frontliners, especially nurses like them working at the hospitals in Upper East Side who want the comfort of good food after getting off from a hard day at work.
Ordinarily, the restaurant’s size (including outdoor dining) could accommodate a maximum of 40 customers. But due to restrictions brought about by the pandemic, they have to reduce capacity to 25 percent to comply with guidelines. Nevertheless, the staff has their hands full with the number of customers.
“As far as we know, we are the only authentic Filipino restaurant in the Upper East Side of New York City,” Jude added.
Asked about the challenges they face as frontline workers and restaurant owners, they all say that the ultimate challenge – and one that they continue to deal with – is time management. Aside from their full-time jobs and their business, they also have personal matters to deal with. For instance, Joan is preparing for her upcoming wedding in March 2021, already delayed as it is due to the pandemic. Jude is busy juggling his schedule as a full-time nurse and a part-timer in another hospital, aside from managing his load as a grad student and, of course, a restaurant owner. Besides Bilao and her regular shift in Mount Sinai, Marie is also busy with her dry-cleaning business.
But the hardworking friends are happy knowing they can bring a taste of home to fellow Filipinos through Bilao. They also have this to say to all the frontliners thick in the fight against Covid-19: Believe in what you do. Keep doing what you can to help people in need. And, most of all, consider difficult times like this as a challenge that can help you become better as professionals.
