“There may not be a Heaven, but there is a San Francisco.”

— Ashleigh Brilliant

Have you ever been to a place where heaven seems closer to the ground? It’s as if you just need to lift your hands up to the sky and touch the clouds feeling that they’re running in between your fingers. And then you look up, heavenly bodies smiling upon you promising prosperity and abundance in every aspect of life.

Within the city are many faces, not one is more charming than the other. Hanging oriental red lanterns lead you to a pagoda signifying peace and friendship. The district of gem and crystal aficionados will point you to a palace that embodies fine arts. If the hills were to be human, then they are selfish, trying to discourage you from the steep hike to keep the best view of the city to themselves. The panorama of the skyline from the Embarcadero as you amble for miles and reach closer to the famous bridge that everyone’s been talking about is already worth the visit. Up north, there are legends and lore how colossal trees tower amongst men. These trees have been living for millennia and carry history, speaking amongst themselves through the ground on how they can survive another thousand years. Much further north takes you to fields and fields of endless grape harvesting, where the wines have been the envy of the entire world. Down south, they talk about robotics and squabble around the idea of how they will soon take over men. To the west, you have a steep and mountainous journey only to arrive at a soaring vantage point of the Pacific Ocean. If one is in the know, there is an abandoned outpost where one can visit. You can look down to the shore and feel the power of the water pounding against the mountain’s feet like a heartbeat, just don’t get lost too much in the beauty and step any further or your life can be in peril.

San Francisco. It is a city that one can easily fall in love with because you got all the reasons to do so. Good food, good wine, good people, scenic views, lots of happenings, plenty of excursions, plenty of distinct places or areas and good weather. The people who live in this city are spoiled in a good way. It is the closest city to heaven, and I cherished every moment living there.

I flew into San Francisco after a six-month hiatus. It was a sunny day, about 62F, my kind of weather. Nothing was different from my last visit, still the same old good vibes. I remember my first time getting off of Powell Station while the escalator going up slowly unfolded the beauty of downtown. Tourists falling in line for the tram, people of different fashion strolling and chatting, Chinese grandma’s and grandpa’s committing to their daily Tai Chi routine. We got to Union Square and just sat for hours, people-watching. My first meal in SF was at Cheesecake Factory at the very top of the Macy’s Flagship store where you have a wonderful view of the city. I have a thing for cheesecake factory. All chefs have a guilty pleasure of some sort. If somebody wants a promotion or is trying to impress me, this is your cue! We then decided to take a walk going to the Embarcadero and enjoy all the dazzling lights and array of different entertainment signages.

I had to arrange my papers for a permanent resident application. We reached out to a very famous Filipino attorney who we found on tv and had a consultation with her husband. We paid a hefty amount for the most disrespectful conversation I have had in my entire life and it only lasted five minutes, never doing that again.

Months passed and the days seem to come by slower when you don’t work. I tried stage-ing or trying-out at different restaurants, but the heart wasn’t there. I kept myself busy by cooking and visiting places. We spent weekends discovering something new all the time. The Mission District is phenomenal when you want to discover a hole-in-the-wall, the burritos are to die for. Or better yet, buy freshly baked Chinese bread, dim sum or boba in Chinatown. Japantown is also a fun place to visit, lots of interesting shops and the best matcha ice cream I’ve had. Downtown Burlingame is the spot to go to in the afternoon just before sunset to stroll and get some afternoon snacks. If we are feeling adventurous, we rent a car out and drive to places like Carmel by The Sea, a fairytale-like sleepy town, down south. Napa and Sonoma County of course can’t be missed. Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge, Los Gatos, a charming affluent town for the old money, tech executives and retirees. Hopping on a Big Bus Tour of San Francisco is a fascinating thing to do, quite honestly. You’ll see the amazing Victorian-inspired houses, Alamo Square and other spots. The weather is perfect, and you don’t have to worry about sweating! The experience you get when the bus is crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and the structure is towing over you is stellar. Once you cross the bridge, there is a tourist stop where the company lets you take pictures of the SF skyline or hike a hill to get better pictures with more altitude. In any direction, the Bay Area is blessed with wonderful places to visit.

GOING CRAZY BEFORE GOING THAI

I was on edge. Waiting for months and months for my paper drove me nuts and my mood came spiraling down. For some very sensitive reasons that I cannot share, our living conditions started to become sour. Everybody at home felt it. The walls were too thin that one’s voice can travel through them, I was not myself and probably said some things that shouldn’t have come out of my mouth in the first place. I was trying my best to be optimistic, telling myself that I wouldn’t have to go back to the Philippines again. As a tourist, every entry to the US allows you six months of stay. Over extending your allowed time does not sit well in the eyes of Homeland Security or Immigration and I didn’t want to break any rules.

After months of worrying, I finally got my papers. What a relief it was! Initially, I was planning to apply at a three Michelin Star restaurant to further my horizon but found myself working at a reputable one-star restaurant. Kin Khao. The business owner is a woman, and she had a really good concept. Through her marketing, her restaurant was printing money like crazy. It was an unpretentious, back to basics and in-your-face type of food that had people lining up outside. We were raking 200-300 covers with a three-man-line.

The food stayed true to its nature, and we did not give an F about what other people might say. The spiciness of our dishes was controversial, most of our customers couldn’t handle the heat. I’ve never had any experience in Thai cuisine, yet the amount of knowledge to be learnt was overwhelming. The multitude of spices, the combination of flavors and how to marry everything into a harmonious balance of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter, to me, was mind-blowing. Thai food is Asian cuisine on steroids and for one to be a master of such flavors can take you very far.

It was pretty easy to get settled and adapt to the pace of the restaurant. You just needed to work fast and have good time management. We had a good team, most of us were jokers. Of course, we were not perfect, there were some issues with some colleagues, but in the grand scheme of things, we delivered what was expected of us.

A funny story I remember was when we were about to celebrate our staff party, about two weeks out, I was hyping up that I’ll have the best karaoke performance to the whole restaurant staff. Little did I know that in America, Karaoke spots do not have private rooms where your party has the place to yourselves. To my surprise, it was an open stage mic and I chickened out. What a coward. The next day, everybody was so disappointment at me, and it went on for several months.

Hopping on the Big Bus Tour is one of the best things to do in SF if you are a tourist

We were busy for the most part and we deserved it because our food was so damn good. Even René Redzepi came by once when his team was launching his fermentation cookbook and loved everything. Some of the best dishes were the spicy and citrusy baby squid paired with braised pork belly, poached shrimp in tamarind sauce with crispy fish flakes and the curries were to die for, each and every one of them! Each curry mix recipe consists of at least 14-18 ingredients, and when adjusted to different proportions, we create distinct flavors thus making each curry stand out.

How to properly cook Thai curry

Start by carefully choosing the right ingredients to create the curry mix. Do some research on the different Thai curry styles and what makes them different from the other. It can be as simple as adding shrimp paste or omitting coriander roots. A typical curry mix consists of shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, red or green chili and spices. Toast your spices on a pan to activate the aromas. Using a Pokpok or mortar and pestle, pound all the ingredients until you achieve a paste. Proceed by blooming and roasting the curry mix in lots of oil. Controlling the heat is important as to not burn the mix, it needs the proper heat to roast and release all the wonderful fragrance of lemongrass, kaffir, mace, clove, coriander, garlic, shallots and etc. Once you see the oil start to absorb color and settle on top of the mix, then it is time to add the coconut cream.

PRO TIP HERE: Canned coconut cream, upon opening, will always have the fat settle on top. DO NOT SHAKE THE CAN BEFORE OPENING. You want to keep the fat on top and scoop it off, then combine it with the curry mix. Let the coconut cream break a little bit. Breaking the fat means you want the oil/fat in the cream to start separating from the liquid. You will notice that when you cook cream long enough, there’s a layer or streaks of oil that will start to appear, that is what you want to achieve. This process creates a more robust and pronounced curry. If your curry tastes too creamy or milky and does not have a layer of oil sitting on top, then it means that it was not bloomed properly and will taste like a generic curry that you can find in 90% of Thai restaurants here in America. After, you then pour the remaining liquid from the can. Let this simmer for at least 15-20 minutes, depending on the volume, this will further eliminate the premature creamy flavor. You can start adding all the vegetables and proteins of your choice at this point and cook them all the way through. I Find braising meats for long hours to be the best. It naturally helps the fat settle on top. Finally, you then adjust the seasoning with palm sugar syrup, tamarind and fish sauce.

Massaman, Panang and Green are the most popular. Massaman for example, is best suited for braised meats like beef cheeks, the deep earthy flavor lovingly infuses with the meaty flavor. Panang is perfect for fish and vegetables, it imparts a somewhat nutty and floral flavor to the dish. Green curry, I should say, has the leanest mouthfeel but packs spiciness and flavor, perfectly suited for proteins that require less time cooking like rabbit or chicken. But sky’s the limit and you can mix and match whatever you desire.

Our fast-paced restaurant demanded a lot of attention to detail. Only the expo station gets the ticket. Every cook needs to remember everything as the orders are being called out. Forgetting something can cause ticket times to go over the 15-minute sweet spot. This is the best type of training one can have. It allows your brain to multitask, remembering all the orders in your head while cooking. When was the last time you got impressed by a server who didn’t take notes of your order, and everything came out perfect? I remember working the wok station running two burners at the same time and for someone to do it with grace, speed and cleanliness was a feat to see! I like organizing my station in the most efficient way as possible. Being left-handed sometimes is a blessing and sometimes is a curse. For this particular kitchen, it worked out well for me. I always analyze each process of executing a dish and how the flow of food comes out. As an efficient chef, you need to count how many steps it takes to execute a dish. Trying to minimize the steps give you more time to do something else. If you catch yourself turning or swinging around five to six times or opening your lowboy too often than necessary, then you are being inefficient and you will fall behind. Try to take time and analyze, it will reward you in the long run. There are people in the world who get paid a lot just to mainstream and create efficient processes.

My towels are folded properly all the time. It is a small detail that is hard to find in the kitchen, but it resounds character. When you wipe your station, use your hand or a prep bowl to catch all the stuff instead of just letting it fall on the floor! The way you put away empty deli containers also speaks of how you are in the kitchen. Most cooks will just pop open deli containers and throw them away to the bus bin. What they need to do is to separate the lid and the container and place the container upside down, stack them up according to size. Small details like this add up to who you are as a chef.

When service ends, we would all smell like we just got out of a fish sauce factory. Imagine that, and we all had to take an uber or train going home, I felt bad for the people who could smell us. We get a free drink of choice at the end of the night when we all sit down and talk about prep for the next day. Now that’s how you take care of your team.

On top of working at a good spot and being able to put it on your resume, we got tipped out every single night. Getting an extra $25-$80 a night helped out a lot in. Management kept them in small yellow envelopes that were handed out every night. I hope that other restaurants follow suit. It motivates the line cooks to do a good job and promotes loyalty.

East Coast Intentions

As I mentioned earlier, our living conditions were starting to turn sour. There were some things better left unspoken and some things we pretend to not have happened. To avoid any issues at home, we would try to as much possible find ways to come home late. This prompted us to thinking about moving to Miami. It was a bitter-sweet idea. We hated Miami. I told myself that I could not live in such a place. Rumors have been circulating and articles were being published that Robuchon was planning to open L’atelier in Miami after hosting a very successful, sold out, one-time gala dinner. I thought about the idea of becoming part of the opening team and rekindle my love for fine dining. I submitted my resume and waited for a response.

I got an interview over facetime. I gave my word that I will be there a month before they started calling the management team. I was set to take the challenge. This time, I was coming in as a sous chef. Without any hesitation we mentioned our plans to the landlord, and we were set. We packed 11 jumbo boxes and began sending them to Miami.

Memories that will never be forgotten

Towards the end of our stay in SF, we made sure to make the most out of all the dining spots that we frequented. Commonwealth was a restaurant worth mentioning, although they had to close their doors to the public. Rich table was a nice restaurant as well that took good care of us. King Thai was your generic American- Thai restaurant but delivered above expectations. In South San Francisco, Grand Palace was our go- to dim sum spot. Bonchon Korean Chicken was like a friend in dire times.

The house that we lived in sits on top of a hill and I will never forget how difficult it was for us to get home by foot. More so, if you’re riding a bike. We didn’t have a car back then. By the time you reach the house, you are exhausted from the hike. Whenever I get opening shifts, I would leave the house around 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning riding my bike. It was all downhill going to the train station. I hated the feeling of cold wind (58F-64F) blowing against you as you bike down- the air penetrating through my jacket and hits my spine, it destroys me all the time.

I have made friends who I still keep in touch with. Congratulations to my friend Kyle on becoming a dad. I told him to find ways not to have his son follow his footsteps. There was an instance when he was setting up his station and asked himself out loud “Alrighty, what else am I missing?” I heard him from my station and blurted out “Passion!” and he took it to heart and ruined his day. It was funny. I also want to congratulate my friend Nikko who is now a sous chef over at the new sister restaurant of Kin Khao called Nari. He is sexy, tall and is brilliant. There was a time when the three of us went out for dim sum at Hong Kong Lounge II, an hour after we left the restaurant, the construction workers who were digging a hole in front of the restaurant accidentally hit a gas line and the restaurant exploded. They never reopened. We got lucky.

Eric, who is doing his own thing in LA. This guy’s passion for Thai food is outstanding. We had some good laughs and revelations about each other. Fun times.

Adam, who listens to Coheed and Cambria and Matchbox 20 while he strokes his long beard with his hands-A pirate by heart. Make sure you regularly clean your aquarium.

Cecile, the Filipino brother from another mother.

Tim, who I give credit for all of the Kin Khao-related photos. He left us way too soon to pursue a career somewhere else. He was a cool guy and we had a good time with him.

Take the Trolley or Tram and hang onto the side rails and just immerse yourself in the experience. Trust me, it’s rewarding. There’s also a mountain where you can drive up to and see the entire city and arrive at a breathtaking view. Get lost in the streets and you will find something. I would like to go back to SF but there is a lot that they have to fix. I am thankful of what I have experienced. It was truly remarkable and amazing.

Every time when somebody asks me about how SF was, I just remember myself on one of those Big Bus Tours, eyes closed, while the cool wind is blowing, saying to myself, It’s always a good day.

Stay tuned for Part 5.

THAI PRIVATE CHEF IN L.A.

To all my readers, If you are living in LA and are looking for authentic Thai food, you have to meet Chef Eric Weaver. Chef Eric is a master of Thai flavors and has trained with the best. This guy loves what he is doing is really passionate about it. He does pop-ups and private cheffing. Go look him up on instagram @chefericweaver for inquiries.

My Story Part 4-San Francisco

Where To Get Inspiration From

My Story Part 3-San Diego