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Considering the history of the Philippines, any Filipino can claim Chinese, Hispanic and/or Spanish ancestry while technically not be lying.
Here are a few actors active in Hollywood, Broadway and/or the international entertainment industry who are part-Filipino or of Filipino heritage:
Vincent Rodriguez III is a Filipino-American actor, singer and dancer. Rodriguez is currently best known for playing the male lead role of Josh Chan in The CW comedy-drama series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Filipino food has repeatedly been heralded as one of the rising stars on the American food plate. Endorsements by celebrity chefs such as Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain are pushing Filipino flavors into the spotlight, giving more entrenched Asian cuisines a possible run for their money.
One of the notable side-effects to this new-found lust for Filipino food is the rise of several Filipino-American chefs.
Here are a few chefs serving up Filipino-inspired food from around the country. No coincidence, many of them emerged from network cable television.
Contestant on Top Chef: Seattle 2012. The Executive Chef of Star Noodle in Lahaina, Sheldon is a two-time James Beard semifinalist — for “Rising Star” and “Best New Restaurant,” both in 2011. Also in 2011, Maui Nokaoi Magazine named him “Chef of the Year.” Food & Wine Magazine named Sheldon “Best New Chef People’s Choice” nominee in 2012. He learned his basic culinary skills at Disneyworld, where he also met his wife.
Contestant on Top Chef: Seattle 2012. Chef at Bar Pastoral, an extension of Chicago’s cheese, specialty food and wine shop, Pastoral. She graduated from Loyola University, Chicago with a degree in biology. Chrissy has staged at restaurants such as Bouchon, Alinea, Blackbird, Boka, Avenues, Naha and The Bristol.
Born in Manila, Paul Qui was classically trained in French and Japanese cuisine. He is now the owner and chef at East Side King in Austin, and for late 2016 he plans to open another restaurant called Kuneho (Tagalog for “Rabbit”) on the site of his former restaurant Qui.
Qui has received a number of awards including the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southwest for his work in the kitchen at Uchiko in Austin; he also won the San Pellegrino Cooking Cup in 2013 and was also named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 2014 Best New Chefs.
Chef Qui is perhaps most famous for being the winner of Season 9 of Top Chef. Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio said Qui was the most talented chef to ever compete on the show.
Most Filipino Americans are unaware that the Magnolia products they see in the United States and Canada, have no relation whatsoever to the original company in the Philippines. That’s because these “Magnolia” products in North America bear the exact same logo and branding as what they grew up with.
Wait… what?
Want to know the truth about Ramar Foods‘ Magnolia Ice Cream in the United States? Watch these videos from the authentic Magnolia in the Philippines.
Ramar Foods is NOT the Magnolia ice cream you knew growing up in the Philippines.
Always check the label of the “Magnolica” ice cream and meats you buy in the U.S. and Canada. If there’s no San Miguel, it’s not the real Magnolia product of the Philippines. It’s what informed Pinoys have referred to as OMGpeke!
Tangkilikin ang sariling atin. Don’t be fooled by those pretending to be real Filipinos. They’re just unethical money-grubbers out to dupe Filipinos who have no clue about this form of trademark squatting and brand piracy.
In March 2016, Philippine-born Cyrus Caclini of Texas was named to Full-Service Restaurants Magazine‘s “Rising Stars, 40 professionals under the age of 40” list.
Continue reading “Cyrus Caclini”
Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn is an American playwright, writer, poet, and multimedia performance artist. She was born in 1949 in Santa Mesa, Philippines.
Enrique Iglesias is a world-famous artist of dual heritage — his father is the Spanish singing legend Julio Iglesias and his mother the gorgeous Filipina journalist/socialite Isabel Preysler who was born in Manila.
Enrique says he does have memories of visiting the Philippines as a child and of eating Filipino food prepared by his grandmother.
A biracial child is frequently referred to as a mestizo (mestiso / mistiso) or mestiza (mestisa / mistisa) in the Philippines.
Here are a few Filipino mistisos and mistisas famous around the world: Continue reading “Famous Biracial Mestizos & Mestizas”
Upon completion, this page will provide information on Filipino-American writers such as:
Bienvenido Santos (1911-1996), who was born in Manila, but was active in the United States. He is most famous for Scent of Apples (1979). He won the prestigious Palanca Awards of Philippine literature in 1956, 1961 and 1965.