KKK food for rebels

For a restaurant that promises to revolutionize Filipino food, nothing but an equally rousing name would do, like KKK. We wonder what Bonifacio would have thought if he knew KKK now also stands for Kainan sa Kalye Kanluran, a reference to the restaurant’s location – that whole stretch of West Avenue in Quezon City known as the original restaurant row, way before Timog Avenue on the other end became saturated with restaurants, girlie bars and Korean sing-alongs. Or it could also stand for Kainan ng mga Kuripot na Kapampangan, an obvious reference to the five owners – four of them Kapampangans – but not one would admit to being kuripot. But just in case… they made the prices low enough for a finicky kuripot.

KKK is the baby of a group that’s as diverse as an Arayat halo-halo: Louie Gutierrez is a jeweler and managing director of Silverworks and Ocampo’s; John Villanueva owns franchise branches of McDonald’s in San Fernando, Pampanga; Analyn Arce is assistant VP at Arce Group of Companies, an ice cream business started by her grandparents; Al Purugganan is a party planner (among his clients is Gretchen Barretto) and used to teach hotel and restaurant administration courses at the College of Home Economics in UP Diliman; and Dr. Raoul Henson is an ophthalmologist with clinics in Angeles City and St. Luke’s Medical Center.

"We wanted our food to be more interesting and radical in taste than the already predictable way of doing Filipino food," says Al.

The friends may be in different fields but they have two things in common. As Louie points out, there are givens one can expect from a Kapampangan: Love for good food and a sharp tongue for bad food.

Al jokes that Louie’s day job is actually "being a Kapampangan and being very choosy about food." But this really goes for the entire group, including Analyn who’s from Manila, because they love trying new food and going on trips around the country, such as to Ilocos, Camiguin, Sagada, Guimaras and Pagudpud.

"We bond over food," says Louie.

Well, you can guess what they do with bad food.

The restaurant’s name has nothing to do with heroes either, though postcards and graphics of Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini and other very dead Filipinos are plastered on the walls and at the bar. KKK really means "food revolution," which takes the idea that Filipino food was and is not just influenced by Spanish cuisine, but by its southeast Asian neighbors as well.

"What is Pinoy food anyway? It always starts with adobo or afritada. But what was Filipino food before we were influenced by the colonizers?" Al says. "We see Filipino cuisine today as continuously evolving, embracing other cuisines, particularly from southeast Asia, and making them Filipino. We’d like to think of ‘food revolution’ as Filipino food with a twist and Asian dishes na Tinagalog namin."

For instance, tinanglad is sinigang in lemongrass and wansoy, with either salmon belly or mixed seafood (P150, P155). Think Pinoy tomyam. Or unagi-style hito (P125), which is hito fillet cooked in honey. Or as inspired by Malaysia’s satay, SATEnuhog which is chicken and pork barbecue (P80 each) with peanut sauce.

John adds that 70 percent of the menu was inspired by Al, and the rest of the group pitched in with old family recipes.

For instance, one of the bestsellers at KKK is Adobo ni Jake (P150). Jake is a cook of the Arce family whose adobo, according to Analyn, drives everyone who’s tried it to request for a take-home bag – including family friends Richard Gomez and Aga Muhlach.

For pork lovers, there’s the "Piggytarian" section with five lechon kawali variations (P95 to P155), such as binagoongan, paksiw, cooked with sitaw, with tofu or with tomatoes and green mangoes with bagoong.

The ordinary liempo is cut like bacon strips, very tender and flavorful, with the marinade soaking right through the meat.

If you like barbecues, the choices are as varied as chicken tail teriyaki (P80), tuna teriyaki (P170), salmon belly teriyaki (P170) and mushroom teriyaki (P70).

For non-rice eaters, there are the pancit selections. Pancit Thai (P110) is actually pad thai, the Thai noodle dish Filipinos have adopted. (With shrimps, noodles, peanuts, chicken, egg and herbs, how can you go wrong?) Pancit Koreano (P115) is chap chae and Pancit Malay (P115) is Singaporean flat noodles.

Desserts are a mix of Kapampangan favorites, like tibuk-tibuk, and, of course, Arce ice cream with its yummy flavors such as atis, avocado and durian. Apart from the usual fruit shakes, KKK has two that one rarely sees on menus: Sampaloc and kamias shakes.

For our money, there are two dishes one shouldn’t miss. They’re Shrimps a la KKK, which is sautéed in garlic and chili paste; and inihaw na talong salad topped with eggs and swimming in KKK’s own dressing. The latter is perfect when paired with grilled items. For the rice, go for the sinangag sa tinapa at itlog na maalat (P72).

The food is catered to the Filipino palate, no matter what inspired it. Al describes this as "Malasa, manamis-namis, may konting asim at alat. Buhay ’yung lasa."

"It’s lutong bahay but not plain. It’s worth going out for," adds Analyn.

The partners made sure that the restaurant’s interiors matched their standard for food. Designed by Jude Tiotuico, it is a casual and cozy place for inuman, dates and family outings. The ground floor is divided into two sections: An air-conditioned part that seats 35 and an open-air section that seats 50. The second floor, which could be closed off for private parties, can seat 100 persons.

The design leans towards home style with a lot of wood and whimsical lighting in fiberglass. All the wood that they used, from the bar to the chairs and tables, was sourced from artist Claude Tayag, the powder room sinks were made by artist Lanelle Abueva, while the graphic design was by Dulzzi Gutierrez of Silverworks.

"This used to be our old house," says Louie. "When I was going to school in Ateneo, we stayed here. We were going to rent it out, but the ones that wanted the space were sleazy joints. My mom is very religious, so she said no. I said, ‘O sige, kami na lang.’ We were looking for something interesting to do, and since we all like to eat out, this was a perfect opportunity."

Isn’t the group afraid of going against already established restaurants? After all, West Avenue is known for its value-for-money eateries from the corner of Quezon Avenue all the way to EDSA. "It’s an opportunity for us to serve freshly cooked food instead of offering a buffet," says Al.

All vegetables that KKK uses are organic, sourced from Prado Farms in Lubao, Pampanga, which is owned by Louie’s brother Reimon Gutierrez.

With friendship as the foundation of their partnership – Al and Louie were schoolmates at Don Bosco, while John and Raoul at Chevalier in Pampanga – the five friends are very optimistic about their first business venture as a team.

Analyn quips when asked how the business relationship has been since they opened in November last year. "Away-away, but never about money or work. Asaran lang."

"As long as we have other things to worry about, we’re okay," says Louie.

"The place has become our hangout," says Raoul.

Andres Bonifacio would have approved of their unity.

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KKK accepts reservations for private parties and catering. Call 371-9099