After being laid off from his job at an advertising agency, Wesley Altuna started selling Filipino food over Instagram under the name Bawang. The business took off and now he’s hand-delivering over 25 orders a day to the city’s eager residents.
“The things that go into it, the love that goes into it, the flavors that come out of the kitchen that translate into these beautiful dishes is nothing less than spectacular,” says Altuna. He’s talking about the classic Filipino dishes that he makes with his sous chef Paul Cantuba, like saucy beef mechado, sticky sweet chili chicken wings, crispy deep-fried lechon, and pork adobo, simmered in vinegar and soy sauce. “If you’re Filipino you know adobo, it’s in your DNA”
“I did this out of love and passion,” says Altuna, after describing his usual 14 to 16 hour work day. “When I see people actually reach out and grab it and post it and celebrate it...that’s the thing that makes me feel like I’m actually doing something that, one, I love, two, that makes sense, and three, people actually appreciate.”
