AmboyRecipes from the Filipino-American Dream
with Alexandra Cuerdo
Filipino recipes from the the creator of the legendary Eggslut in LA, host of the hit online series The Burger Show, and the most prominent Filipino chef in the US.
Alvin Cailan has risen to become arguably the most high-profile chef in America’s Filipino food movement. He took the food scene by storm when he opened the now-legendary Eggslut in Los Angeles, a foodie cult favorite specializing in affordable but sophisticated egg sandwiches. Alvin also hosts the popular The Burger Show on First We Feast’s YouTube channel, with many episodes exceeding 1 million views and guests such as Seth Rogen and Padma Lakshmi. Alvin’s story of success, however, is an unlikely one. He emerged from his youth spent as part of an immigrant family in East LA feeling like he wasn’t Filipino enough to be Filipino and not American enough to be an American, thus amboy, the term for a Filipino raised in America. He had to first overcome cultural traditions and family expectations to find his own path to success, and this unique cookbook tells that story through his recipes.
Alvin Cailan’s career began with a classical French culinary education at Oregon Culinary Institute, followed b stints at some of the West Coast’s finest restaurants. Chef Alvin first grabbed the public’s attention as a trailblazer in the culinary world when he launched the Eggslut food truck in Los Angeles. The truck rapidly became a foodie cult favorite and it remains one of the most popular food destinations in L.A, with long lines every day at the Grand Central Market location. Alvin then turned his attention to supporting other aspiring restaurateurs and to the promotion of Los Angeles’s Filipino food movement. Soon, Unit 120, Chef Alvin’s pop-up kitchen space, became the incubator for Amboy, his critically acclaimed Filipino food venture, along with the award-winning Filipino restaurant LASA. Chef Alvin is now focusing on his true passion: bolstering the modern Filipino food movement across the country, and today, he is arguably America’s most high-profile champion of it. He is planning to open his next restaurant, Amboy, in Los Angeles soon. He has been featured in prestigious publications like Bon Appetit, Food and Wine, and Bloomberg. Alvin is also the host of the hugely popular The Burger Show on the Complex/First We Feast YouTube channel.
Alexandra Cuerdo is a writer and director, recently named one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women In the World by the Filipina Women’s Network. Her feature directorial debut, Ulam: Main Dish, is the first Filipino food documentary to achieve worldwide distribution, which Jonathan Gold called a “love letter” to Filipino food. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, Vogue, TimeOut, Eater and more. She is based in Los Angeles and New York.
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