“The Park’s Finest is a representation of American cuts of barbecue with a Filipino flavor,” says Johneric Concordia, the pitmaster of the Park’s Finest barbecue restaurant in LA. “What that allows us to do is provide American cuts of barbecue with seasonings and sauces that are reminiscent of the Filipino experience present here in the United States.”
The Filipino-American experience is the common thread that weaves itself through most of the items on Concordia’s menu. In a dish called Mama Leah’s Coconut Beef, for example, he creates a soupy coconut adobo made with California chiles, fish sauce, garlic, smoked chuck, and of course, vinegar. Once it has had a chance to simmer together on the stove, it gets transferred to a large metal bowl and the cooking process continues in the smoker, which creates a rich texture, a smoky aroma, and tender meat.
It’s not about just recreating Filipino dishes, he explains, as he pulls a large slab of short rib onto the table. “We do not serve this in the Philippines,” he says as he coats the meat in the shop’s signature dry-rub — a mix of black, white, and cayenne pepper, chile flakes, garlic and onion powder, and pink Himalayan salt. “Accompanying it with our seasoning, accompanying it with our sauces, pairing it with rice, that’s what makes it Filipino.”
Check out the video to see what other barbecue dishes Concordia adds his Filipino flair to, like timuay tri-tip and cornbread bibingka.