Community Spotlight: No Worries Filipino Vegan Cuisine

Most people have only heard about this myth of Pilipino vegan food. But is it possible? Is it for real? And if so, where can you find it?

Meet Jay-Ar Isagani Pugao, of Oakland; he's the Pinoy who chose to support his mother's healthier eating habits at a young age. After he had already become a vegetarian, he submitted a business plan featuring a Pilipino vegan restaurant for a high school class project. Now, at age 31 ­– nearly 13 years after he received a small startup grant for that proposal he wrote in high school – he is set to open his own restaurant, which will feature Pilipino vegan cuisine. After much anticipation, No Worries Catering is now No Worries Restaurant at 1442 Franklin St., in Oakland, CA.

Jay-Ar has been involved with the Pilipina/o American community as a poet and performer for 9 years. He used to run with Bay Area-based theater groups and spoken word collectives known as Overseas Artists through Bindlestiff Studios, 8th Wonder and Brother's Keeper. But through the writing, touring, rehearsing, schooling and performing, Jay-Ar said, "I've always been cooking. I've always been into different arts. Culinary arts have been a personal thing I did. Performing theater and spoken word was always for the public, but cooking was always for me."

Now that the buzz is building around No Worries, we can see that the Pilipino vegan cuisine movement is also about healthier food alternatives and supporting local businesses. As a BakitWhy.com Bay Area correspondent, I (along with my cousin April, who took photos) caught up with Jay-Ar as he lived out his first day as a former Whole Foods general manager and now newly self-employed dream chaser. After mutually being on Pilipino time, sharing a love for spoken word and discussing Blacklava t-shirts, Jay-Ar discussed No Worries as a community-minded and people-centered business.

And, the business is now open! Go to the restaurant, tell your friends! It's possible. It's for real. And it is here! For more information, visit www.filipinoveganfood.com.

BW: We were wondering, why is it called "No Worries"?

JP: It's called No Worries because of all of the negative connotations around Pilipino food; you know, which is, oily, meat-heavy, fatty. I really wanted to dispel all that by just starting with the name. No Worries. Don't worry about whether or not this will give you heartburn after you eat. Don't worry about whether or not this will affect you later on down the road. And then our slogan is "Have You Eaten Yet?" which is, in Tagalog, "Kumain ka na ba?" A very Pilipino thing, in my experience. It's how you show love, you know, if you come in my house, I'm going to try to feed you and my mom is going to try to feed you, too. That's how it is. That's how we are, a very open-palm and hospitable type of people. So, "No Worries" and "Have You Eaten Yet?" have a sense of underlying Pilipino culture.

BW: What are some of your favorite Pilipino dishes? Do you serve them at the restaurant?

JP: Yeah. All of my favorites, yes. I really like Mungo (a mung bean stew). I like beef steak.  It's funny because Afritada (a saucy tomato-based meat dish with vegetables) is the dish that put my business on the map, but I don't really enjoy it that much just because I cook it so much. And I cook it with chicken soy protein. I'm really experimenting and trying to master which kinds of protein would work well in different kinds of dishes because they're textured differently. I wish I had some options right for you.

BW: How do you think No Worries will impact the local Oakland and Bay Area community?

JP: A couple different things come to mind. From my perspective, because I'm an Oaklander and because I'm really committed to providing Oakland folks with this option, I think that it'll show through the food. In that sense, I think people will be impacted because there's going to be new and exciting food for them to try out and have access to but I think that, from the patrons' side, I think that there are a lot of people who really want to see something new in Oakland. There's strong momentum about healthy eating. Not necessarily vegetarian foods, but just healthy alternatives. Because of that momentum, I think people are ready. I don't know if you've seen my Yelp page, but … I didn't pay any of those guys!

BW: We believe you! April's an Elite Yelper, by the way.

JP: Hah! You know, based on that, I know people appreciate what I do and because they see how passionate I am about it, they'll want to support that as well as the fact that the food is new and exciting.

BW: I was watching some of your YouTube cooking videos and I noticed that you show the labels on the products you use. Where do you get most of your products?

JP: Layonna's Market in downtown Oakland. They're my main supplier for the soy protein I use. I tell people that's where I get it, but somewhere like Ranch 99 might be more accessible to some people outside of Oakland. Ranch 99 carries some of the stuff that Layonna's carries, but I purchase wholesale food products. As far as produce, I go to local farmer's markets. One thing we've been trying to do as a company is try to really, really stay committed to being local and sustainable. We plan to source out some Pilipino farmers from Stockton because some of them are the only ones available to do certain vegetables. I really want to support Pilipino farmers in Stockton and they have vegetables that I use. As far as purchasing products, we, as much as possible, try to stay local.

BW: Pilipino cuisine is heavily meat-based. How would you encourage, or what advice would you give to a young Pinay or Pinoy who wants their family to eat healthier?

JP: Okay, let me say this. First of all, I'm not in the business of trying to convince or convert anyone. That's not what I'm trying to do. The fact that I do what I do is simply because I want to be someone who can provide that alternative for people who seek it. So for someone who seeks healthy eating in their diets, the first thing I suggest is really incorporating more vegetables in your diet. As a Pilipino culture, if you look at all of our dishes, I would say that 85 to 95 percent of it is all meat. In terms of vegetables, it's not much. And even with the stuff that has the vegetables, the ones that are being used are like, potatoes. All starch. We don't incorporate grains or other fresh ingredients into our cooking. So, for anyone who's trying to eat healthier, they need to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets. Because, overall, what you need to look for is a balance. But, for Pinoys and Pinays who are trying to eat healthier, seeking alternatives to protein is also key because I'm not saying to stop eating meat, but protein is in beans and grains and also in this soy protein that I use in the business.

BW: Do you currently grow any of your own vegetables?

JP: Not yet. But we are in the process of partnering with local gardens in Oakland because the thing is, as a company, No Worries has always had the background of doing community work. We put on cooking workshops for high schools, different middle schools throughout Oakland as some things we do for the community. We want to carry that on through the business. No Worries is going to provide a summer program for youth and that involves gardening for local gardens in Oakland, doing some farming around the Bay Area and cooking workshops done here by me. Young pinoys and pinays have to stay open-minded to break out of old tradition and create new tradition. It's important. We're tightly knitted, you know, we're down for each other. But it makes it hard to break out of cycles. Be ready to try new things.

BW: Is your summer program an idea for next summer?

JP: Yes. It is, it is.

BW: When you say 'we,' who are you referring to? Your brothers, your family?

JP: Yes. My parents are my main supporters but they are also my biggest investors. But my younger brother is my partner just because of the high levels of involvement that he's taken on. I've been catering for 11 years and kind of running a one-man show, I'll shop, I'll cook, I'll deliver, I'll talk to folks, all kind of by myself. But in the past six months, my younger brother has done everything, a lot of the behind-the-scenes work. He's done the business aspect. He's very business-minded and when he decided that he would get No Worries off the ground, he went so hard! Like, he takes care of payroll, pays the bills, that's what he does. If I had the idea, he's like, the legwork. I'm the brains and he's the legwork. But my older brother, he's like, the face, almost. He does so much promotion for the business. I've only been trying to put on the marketing hat for the past 5 to 6 months, but it's hard and I can't even watch people eat my food.

BW: Really? Why's that?

JP: I just feel like I'm getting judged. I don't know, it's something about making me want to say, 'Alright I'm outta here, see you later!' You know? But I love cooking and I love cooking for people and for the most part, I get feedback. But I've never liked or enjoyed pumping myself up. It always made me cringe. But I understand that it's a part of business. My older brother has always been the one blasting up Facebook and MySpace.

BW: Oh, so that's him behind the Facebook account.

JP: Yeah, he runs the Filipino Vegan Food Page. Which is great because everyone pays a role and everything is necessary.

BW: Wow, so it's very much a family business.

JP: Yeah. This was all an idea until they all stepped in.

BW: How does it feel to have your own business? And to finally be sitting in this space that's all yours?

JP: Well, it's because of the fact that we're at the beginning of it that it's all surreal. … But for the most part, I try to just stay pushing forward. We even tried celebrating a little bit last night, but afterward, I started working again. I was trying to figure out how to expedite dishes and get back on the grind. It was time to celebrate but then it was like, alright, let's back on it. So I haven't really let things sink in just yet. But! It feels great! To park my car and walk into my own restaurant. And be like, "This is awesome, dude." And honestly, this is making food for people. This is where my heart is right now. I love giving people something that really benefits them and that's where I maintain and innovate tradition.

BW: So how can the Pilipina/o American community further support you?

JP: Come in to the restaurant, telling their friends. People always ask me about my target audience and how the Pilipino community is responding to what I do. I do know that I remember making a decision a few years ago not to push the food toward the Filipino community. When I used to sell my food every Sunday at a farmer's market mostly for a mostly Pilipino crowd in Union City, dude, I used to get roasted there. Every weekend. And in my experience there, they would always try to talk me down. And they would always use a sense of guilt to try to talk me down, you know. And there's that utang na loob theory that's like 'you owe me this.' They would always try to bargain and then they would walk away and say that they could do this better than me. It was belittling to me as someone who was passionate about making this food. But I went out there every weekend. And every weekend they got in line. Every weekend, lines would be down the way. I learned how to not take those behaviors personally. I learned to promote the food to non-Pilipinos. I didn't need that. I didn't want that. So I would talk it up to non-Pilipinos. And so, the last four to five years, my main audience and clientele has been non-Pilipinos. And then, as the buzz grew within the non-Pilipino community, then the Pilipinos and the non-Pilipinos came around. To me, historically, it made sense because Pilipinos are champions at mimicking other people. As a culture, we can take something and do it better. Make it our own, do it better. I've seen it time and time again. Pilipinos do it so well. Although I'm representing Pilipino vegetarian food, I'm promoting it to everyone and not just Pilipinos. For the last few years, that's been my strategy. Get it in the mouths of non-Pilipinos and the Pilipinos will come around.

BW: Interesting strategy!

JP: In my eyes, it's working. I don't know why but that's how it was for me and that was my personal experience. I was just trying to hustle out here! So, it was something I learned about myself and about Pilipino folks.

BW: So what do you say to people who say that Pilipino food is 'the next big thing'?

JP: Um, what do I say to that? (long pause) They're probably right. If Pilipino food is represented as Pilipino cuisine and as the next big thing, then it is the next big thing.