604: Woldy Kusina Is Filipino Cooking for the Fashion Girlies with Woldy Reyes

0:28This episode is brought to you by Resi and American Express. For me, having a fashion background, and that sort of like helped me perhaps create this vision for how I see my way of cooking or how I want to showcase Filipino cuisine my way. And so I'm creating this sort of vision. Similarly to like when a designer shows a collection, they're telling a story. This is Taste. I'm your host, Eliza Barbinell. Woldy Reyes is a New York-based chef and the founder of the boutique catering company Woldy Cusina. He's become known for creating modern, fashionable, plant-based food. And now he's sharing it all in a debut cookbook, In the Cusina, My Seasonal Filipino Cooking.

1:14Today, Woldy talks about the inspiration behind In the Cusina, his Filipino pantry essentials, karaoke, and more. And at the top of the show, it's the return of three things, where Eliza and I talk about what is exciting us in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. Hey, Eliza, what's up? Not much. You want to do three things? Let's do it. I'll start. I was recently in Portland, and I have to call out a shop that I know has been around since 2006. We published the owner's books. His name is Mark Bitterman. He's written books about salt and bitters. The shop is called The Meadow.

1:50Have you been to a Meadow location in Portland ever? I've seen it, but I haven't been in. Terrific, terrific store. And I went to the one on Mississippi Avenue. And what he's focusing on here at the store, it's really, really interesting. It's chocolate, salt, bitters, and fresh cut flowers. I love that. It's a glorious experience to walk in and walk in and see a wall of chocolates from all over the world. And just look at the packaging just to start. The shopkeeper was so knowledgeable and took me through all the chocolates and some recommendations and was such a delightful experience to learn about the chocolates from the expert working there.

2:32And really, I think like having a store like this in New York would be trouble for me because I love this bean-to-bar chocolate. And then on the bitter side, you know, he, Mark runs his own bitters company, but there's a bunch of bitters from around the world. And bitters are used, of course, in cocktails, but they can be used in kind of quasi NA if you want to do a bitters in soda, which is low ABV. And, of course, the salt, which he's known for. And he's probably published one of his books here. And really, it's about, the book is about cooking with the salt block, but there's lots of finishing salts there.

3:06So if you're looking to get a gift while you're in Portland or just in general live in Portland and want to stock your pantry, it's a beautiful store. It's called The Meadow. Yeah, it sounds great. What's your first thing? My first thing here in New York, I got to go to Taqueria El Chato for the first time, which is a newer taqueria that opened in Greenpoint from the team behind Aldama. So Chris Reyes and the chef is Gerardo Alcaraz. They make their tortillas fresh on site every day with Masienda corn that they're nixtamalizing every night. I got to have some good tacos. I think the best thing that I had, though, was a mushroom, like Vampiro.

3:42And it was like very juicy, like thick mushrooms is probably the only way I could describe it, which I feel like I love a mushroom taco. But sometimes they're kind of like the afterthought. But really everything at this taqueria, the asado, the stuff on the trompo is all so good. And they're making all their own salsa. And I think, you know, Greenpoint has a couple of good taco spots already. but this one is kind of closer to the Nassau Ave Stop. So I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it. I love a good vampiro. And sometimes when I'm in LA, I'll have like a few vampiros and it's a lot when you have like three or four vampiros.

4:17So to have a mushroom version that stands up to any of the proteins offered sounds incredible. I want to order that. Yeah, I mean, it's very awesome. You can choose like whatever protein you want and if you want it to be in a taco or a quesadilla or a vampiro or like whatever. But I really think that the vampiro is a good vehicle for mushrooms. So I enjoyed this a lot. Love that. What's your next thing? My next thing is I'm having an overnight oats moment. And I just wanted to share that with you. Oh, I love this. I've never really gotten overnight oats. And I don't know why because I finally tried mush, which is a brand that's been around.

4:53You find it at a lot of grocery stores. The peanut butter mush is incredible. It's like overnight oats is working for me. 15 grams of protein, super savory, perfectly balanced. I really like this product, mushed peanut butter. I've never tried the brand, but I do make overnight oats at home. So I think especially now that it's getting like warmer out, it's a great kind of like way to start the day. How do you do it? I just have like a base recipe. I think it's an old Bon Appetit one. And I just keep it very plain because then I'll add, you know, jam or peanut butter, or maybe I'll even do it savory with like avocado or sauteed mushrooms or something.

5:30I think it just kind of depends on the day. But I do love a peanut butter overnight oat situation. So I get what you're getting at. It was great. And I'm now on a search for more products and going to maybe make my own at home. Yeah, I think it is. You know, if you have the time to think ahead, it's very easy. Definitely. What's your next thing? My next thing is that I went to a new Thai tea place in New York that I really enjoyed. It's called Nuar, N-U-A-R. And they do kind of dessert like pandan ice cream and kaya toast, but also Thai tea. And I specifically wanted the Thai tea and went with a group of friends, tried a couple of flavors.

6:05I got the oat milk version because I don't normally drink a lot of dairy. But I think the oat milk one is much better than the dairy one. I don't know why. Maybe like the seasoning is a little bit different, but it felt like it had more of like a toasty depth of flavor. The sweetness is not too sweet. It really is like the best Thai tea that I've had in New York. And I'm excited. I plan to go back with Ali Damrunchai, who we just had on the podcast talking about Thai food. So I'm interested for her opinion, but I really enjoyed it. And also the part of Manhattan that it's in, they have like, you know, like the benches they have by office building.

6:39Like there's like a kind of organic place to sit outside right there because it's by all these office buildings. Like a public space? Yes, exactly. I don't know why I can't think of the word public space. There is like public seating right outside so you can, you know, get your stuff to go. They're definitely like very busy and just open. So I think they're figuring out how the line works a little bit still. But yeah, Noir Thai Tea on 27th between 6th Ave and Broadway. So right off of Madison Square Park. OK, great. I'm going to stop by. I love that there's a new Thai Tea place to check out. Yeah.

7:10What's your next thing? My last thing is a book that is being published in August and it was published originally in the UK. So it's out there. But we're seeing it here in the States in August. It's from Rosie Kellett. It's called In For Dinner. I really, really enjoyed this book. I got an early copy of it and I got to page through it. And I just really it's giving me a lot of Jamie Oliver 1996. Like it's her version of cooking for her friends via pop ups. She's a chef and food writer and has a sub stack. And she's cooking for her friends in East London. And the energy is real. I love the way the book is lit.

7:46The photography is very, very cool. And I just think the recipes speak to me. And really, which is challenging because there's so many recipes in so many books, as you know. There's a savory corn French toast with cherry tomato salsa. She does a fun thing where she's doing tomato soup two ways, one for spring, summer, one for autumn, winter. And I like the energy. I like the way this book is designed. And I look forward to having her on the podcast later on in the year. Yeah, it sounds great. Yeah, it's Rosie Kellett in for dinner. What's your last one? My last one is that I went to Cocoduck for the first time.

8:19Yes. Have you been? Yeah, I've been there. It's great. Yeah, I think, you know, it's been very talked about since it opened in New York from the team behind Coat, the steakhouse. And I went for a friend's birthday, which I think is kind of like the right reason to go. It definitely feels like a celebratory occasion restaurant. The food I thought was really good. It definitely was like all very salty. Like I felt that if we didn't have, we had Lambrusco on the table, which kind of like cut through everything. I felt if we didn't have that, it probably would have been too much. But I still wanted to talk about it because I think that like the team behind Cook-a-Duck really knows what people want out of a restaurant in New York right now.

8:55Like every table is a booth. which I love. I love like piling in a booth with my friends. That's one of the biggest things I would want to do for a birthday. The fried chicken is delicious and, you know, totally what people are craving and the bucket list kind of short menu that they have set up. Like, I think you get a lot of food in terms of banchan and like the chicken consomme and then obviously the fried chicken and a little dessert at the end. And the service I thought was really great. Like I felt really taken care of. And even the fact that you walk into the restaurant and they have this huge like trough sink set up so that you can wash your hands before you get into the restaurant.

9:29One of my friends that I was with was like, that's so weird. Why would there be a sink here? And I was like, no, it's awesome because they know that you're coming off of the subway and that you're about to go eat with your hands. And instead of creating a traffic jam in the bathroom inside of the restaurant, they're creating this moment for you to like wash the city off of you and then just like dive into your meal. And I think that like that element of care is really evident throughout the meal. and it was just kind of like a fun experience. It was very busy. I can tell that they're selling a lot of fried chicken.

10:00But, you know, I think to pile in a booth and have some good fried chicken, like what's not good about that? Yeah, Simon Kim runs a great restaurant and I think that the wine service there is exceptional as well. So that saltiness is probably selling bottles of wine. Yeah, I think that's totally why they do that. And I know that the Times Review like also talked about how there's a lot of salt and sugar going on. So I don't mean to be like echoing that, But I did find, you know, when I was eating that it was it could have been a little less and it would have been even better. But I am sure that they are selling a lot of champagne to go with it.

10:28And on my visit, I actually used it in reverse. So I use the sink on the way out because my hands were coated with goji janglaise. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I can leave this restaurant and not have sticky fingers. So, yeah, yeah. I think to feel cared for in that kind of way when you go out to eat is one of the biggest points. So I really enjoyed it. I'm so happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing your three things. Yeah, you too. This episode is brought to you by Aura Frames. If you're one of those last-minute shoppers, you might know the feeling. Ideas are running low and the clock is ticking.

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12:21Terms and conditions apply. From February 20th to March 7th, dive into Canada's biggest culinary festival, Montreal en Lumière. An exclusive partnership with the McCord Stewart Museum and its exhibition, On the Menu Montreal, a restaurant story. the 2026 festival invites food lovers on a flavorful journey through time. Montreal's top restaurateurs will reimagine 65 years of the city's iconic astronomy, crafting inventive, nostalgia-inspired dishes with a modern twist. Prepare your palate. World-renowned chefs, including several Michelin-starred talents, will team up with over 80 of Montreal's finest local chefs to create unforgettable, one-of-a-kind menus.

13:04The full program is available at MontrealOnLumiere.com, presented by Lotto Quebec in collaboration with National Bank. Well, D. Reyes, this is Taste. Thank you for coming on the podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. You don't have to be nervous. We're going to have so much fun. I hope so. Maybe we should take a shot of tequila before. Oh, my God. I'll think about it in my mind as I'm doing it. I'll keep a bottle in the studio for the future. Oh, yeah. That's honestly a good idea. Yes. Just if somebody has jittery nerves, like tequila or mezcal usually helps with that.

13:39Yeah. Oh, at least for me. We were doing our little vocal exercises off. Oh, right. I can't even do it right now. Oh, should I do this sound on the air? There we go. Did you watch High School Musical? I watched a movie. Yeah, the movie? I see snippets of it and yeah. That's what it always reminds me of is like when they're doing their drama nerd, walking around the school, doing the vocal warmups. Just exercising their throat and so that like things come out as smooth and angelic as possible. Just like this podcast. I don't know if this can be angelic, but we'll see. We'll see. It'll be something in between.

14:18Yes. I'm really excited to have you in the studio to talk about your really beautiful new book, In the Kusina. And I have a lot of questions about that. But I guess to start, I'm wondering if you can tell me about an early food memory that you have that kind of informed your point of view or your approach. Yeah. So one of my main memory of food is basically, I mentioned this in the book, is my time with my dad. My dad's no longer alive, but when I was a kid, my dad would make this celebratory goat stew called . It's only he makes it during a large family celebration, and it's such a process. So, I remember my brothers and I would tag along with my dad to a goat farm in Southern California, and he would pick out a goat.

15:14and then the person would take the goat into, I don't know, a farm house and get it slaughtered. And I just remember being put in like a black Ziploc, not Ziploc, black garbage bag. And then he would bring it back to our house and he would make this sort of like a bonfire in our backyard. and he had this large cauldron and he would have all of his mise en place. I remember chopped garlic, jalapeno, chicken liverwurst, black olives, Budweiser beer, and then all the chopped up goat meat is in this sort of crate, like a metal crate. and then I would be in my mom's and dad's bedroom because I would look out into the backyard and I would just like watch him do like cook everything.

16:24And in my mind, I thought like this is kind of weird because I'm like, I just see things on television or other neighbors have their grill out in the backyard and just like grill burgers and hot dogs. But here he has like wood and a large cauldron and simmering goat meat and it would be cooked overnight. And so you could sort of smell the wood burning and then the smell of goat stewing and tomato and Budweiser beer. And it was just such a process. It's like watching him do this sort of like ritual of this goat stew. And that was this sort of like signature dish in all the large parties that we would host.

17:14And it would be such a like obviously a hit. So that was just for me like watching like an animal go from like out into the lion and into being, you know, cut up and then go home and cook it. It was like you're seeing food go from all the process. And then the second memory was just being with my grandmother. She would just have a very burdened garden, and she would just snip bitter melon or sugar snap peas, and then it would just literally go from there to her kitchen, and she would cook her dishes that she would feed me and my... my aunts and uncles who live with my grandmother. So I think just seeing where food comes from or how it's grown or where it is, from watching it from like start to finish, it's kind of like an amazing memory.

18:14And it's just like ingrains, it just like informs how I kind of cook. It's like seeing like, you know, when I'm upstate at my house and visiting the roadside farms, I kind of like, you know, have that sort of like nostalgic memory of like where food comes from so yeah those two like memories really um you know stayed with me and and that's how i kind of like want to cook it's like where food comes from and you pick it out oh you grow it and then um hopefully make a really beautiful delicious meal yeah i love both of those memories and i in the introduction to your book You were talking about this whole experience of watching this goat get selected and slaughtered and cooked.

19:00And you made a plant-based cookbook. And so I was really like, I kind of loved that you had this memory in there because I think it shows that like your decision to do mostly plant-based food, like isn't coming from a lack of awareness about what it means to be like whole animal cooking and to be like respecting where this animal comes from. When did you start focusing on like plant-based food and cooking specifically? um i think it was just like for me it was like exploring like the types of like food that i was going to like how i'm going to nourish myself so um this and when i do a lot of catered events there's you know i'm being told like there's a dietary restriction so i just use it as an opportunity to be creative and so when there are sort of like dairy-free vegan and primarily like a lot of my clients you know are those they're the fashion girlies they're fashion girlies so i am a fashion girlie as well so but uh i i take it as an opportunity to be creative in how i'm going to make a really nourishing meal or dish so i use that as sort of like okay i'm gonna like how i'm gonna not make it sort of like meat focused but like more light and fresh yeah and but still be satiated so when i was cooking for those clients i'm like i'm you know i'm left with all these foods so like i'll be eating them so it's like oh it's really good so um it's just kind of like you know shifted my perspective and like how i want to like nourish myself um i'm no means like a vegan i'm like perhaps more of a conscious eater um so when i was wanting to like perhaps like write this book i was like i don't want to do like a traditional filipino cookbook and there are cookbooks that are out there that already sort of celebrates that like um nicole penseca like i am filipino um angela and demi yugo's cookbook um and this is sort of like my way of like thinking similarly like how I would like you know cater a client I'm like I'm going to be like focusing on like my vision for like how I want my Filipino cooking to be so and I live in New York and so there are seasons so to me and when I was living in California I was born and raised in Southern California there's no season so you can get things in abundance but But here it's like I'm informed by the farmer's market and it's like what's available.

21:41So that was kind of like a roadmap of like how I would cook just following through the season. So you're just like, oh, and when you're cooking through the season, it's like you're celebrating the flavors of the produce that's grown during that season, especially summer when we get closer to summer. Yeah. So I think that's kind of like the modern interpretation of like Filipino cooking is like following the season, but also bringing in, you know, Filipino pantry ingredients into it or reimagining classic Filipino dishes. But in my interpretation of it and utilizing the farmer's market or the seasons as sort of like the main component in the dish.

22:29Yeah. So this is the title of the book is In the Cucina and the tagline is My Seasonal Filipino Cooking. So that's where that idea kind of comes through. And I also grew up in California and then later on moved to New York. And it is kind of wild to realize like the mentality that you find yourself in when you've only been eating carrots and potatoes all winter. Like I have this theory that ramps, I hate to say this, I don't think ramps are that great. I just think it's the first new thing that's available to people. And so I don't think people on the West Coast get as excited about ramps because they, like my mom already has nectarines at the farmer's market.

23:06Oh, wow. That's incredible. I didn't really know ramps was such a thing until like I just got sucked in into like, oh my God, ramps. It's like their excitement for it. And to your point, it's like it's the first thing that sort of like comes, I guess, alive. Yes. So and I actually quite enjoy the rams just because I think the flavor is like slightly garlicky, slightly oniony. I mean, they're definitely good. What do you like to do with them? Well, in my book, I definitely like there's only one recipe that has rams in it. And it's in the pan-sit salad in the spring section of the cookbook. But if you can't fan ramps, you can obviously use scallions.

23:52I feel like kind of like think scallions and ramps are kind of similar. They are. So but obviously like ramps has this sort of like very tender green top, like sort of like shape like a banana leaf almost, but like smaller. You can make salt, butter, aioli. There's an endless amount of things that you could do with ramps. Yeah, I don't mean to like demean ramps. Our friend Noreen is like the world's biggest ramps fan. I'm seeing her like, shout out to Noreen. Like she has a quote book coming out in 2026, I think. But I just love seeing her use RAMs in multiple forms. Yes. So it's always very inspiring.

24:32Like, oh, wow. And then she does such a beautiful way of like. Don't tell her. Don't tell her I said this. I know it's going to be. Well, it's on a podcast, girl. It's like, yeah, if it's mix it to the cut. No, I'll leave it in just so that like everyone knows that I'm honest. But what are the other spring, early summer ingredients that you get really excited to see? Because I feel like you go to the market all the time when you're here in New York. When I get the chance. Yeah. But it's so exciting just to see the things that are grown or especially like now it's spring. Rams is obviously the top of mind.

25:08But also at the same time, I'm excited about the young broccoli yellow flowers that's so beautiful that you can garnish it. And it's just so delightful just to start to see edible florals that is grown. So I'm excited about asparagus, sugar snap peas. And my favorite season is definitely summer. so you know in my book I mentioned it's gonna be like a hot girl summer or it's just like it's sexier you know because we're wearing less clothes we have tomatoes we have tomatoes like things that you can like eat just like by itself like just a tomato I can just eat a casangol as if they're like a bag of skittles and a juicy like peach I just enjoy eating the peach itself when it's juicy and the juice runs down the side of your lips and it goes down to your neck.

26:16And hopefully someone's there just to lick you. It's getting hot in the studio. It's getting really hot in here. Not as hot as it should be outside, but we'll get there. Hi there. It's Matt, co-host of the show. We are currently running a This Is Taste listener survey, and we'd love to hear from you. Do you have a guest request? A restaurant you wish we'd visit to talk about on Three Things? What about a lesser-known cookbook author who deserves a spot in our studio chair? You can let us know by clicking the link in our show notes to complete the survey. It will only take a couple minutes, I swear, and will help us continue to make the best show possible.

27:01That's the This Is Taste listener survey, link in our show notes. Today's episode is brought to you by ButcherBox. As a food writer, I can be a little skeptical about subscription cooking boxes you hear about on podcasts. There's big talk about cooking simplicity, but you're usually left with disappointment after smashing that promo code. Now, Clayton, have you ever tried one of those subscription boxes? Yeah, Matt, my friend gave me a code for that one that has all the chopped vegetables in little baggies. I felt like a drug dealer trying to cook dinner. Yeah, man, I have so been there. ButcherBox is a true exception.

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28:18As an exclusive offer, our listeners can get free protein in every box for a year, plus$20 off your first box when you go to butcherbox.com slash taste. Visit butcherbox.com slash taste to get this limited time offer and free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com slash taste. Don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. The way that you're talking about fruit and produce and this kind of like this prized cult status that it has, I think is so relatable to I think a lot of people who love food and like kind of waiting for the seasons in this kind of way. And it makes me think about the way that food has become so popular in like culture in general.

29:01And, you know, back to what you were saying earlier about how you are a fashion girly and like you do food a lot in that context. I'm curious, like what your fashion background you think like brings to your view of food? Yeah. So I think like, you know, for me, having a fashion background and working with a designer or working, have worked with a designer and worked for a fashion magazine is that you have to have a vision. And so that sort of like helped me perhaps create this vision for how I see like my way of cooking or how I want to showcase Filipino cuisine my way. And so I'm creating this sort of vision and this world, I guess.