Bringing Filipino flavors to a wider audience

Hidden in a quiet corner of the neighborhood of Grandview is the restaurant Bonifacio. Amidst the walls of flourishing greenery and the woven furniture is a kitchen radiant with the heat of cultural discovery, food curiosity and tradition redefined. And at the heart of it all is Krizzia Yanga.

An emigrant from the Philippines at the age of 3, Krizzia and her family took up residence in the suburb of Pickerington. Surrounded by limited cultural representation within the community and a gap in the food industry, Krizzia’s family felt encouraged to open the original Red Velvet Café and slowly introduced the flavors of the Philippines to their original menu of cupcakes and coffees. With a new influx of curious customers, the family found inspiration to create a space where culture, tradition and identity could be explored; thus, Bonifacio was born.

Named after Krizzia’s maternal grandfather, Bonifacio Yanga, the new restaurant became a beacon for generations old and new to find their source of community and family. Bonifacio made a name for itself as a place where the Eastern and Western cultures collided and became something new, yet familiar. At Bonifacio, tradition meets innovation in the form of savory, rich and aromatic flavors that tease the taste buds and leave them wanting more.

Within these four walls, strangers became friends, neighbors became family and the restaurant became a home. Here in this hidden sanctuary, breaking bread became an act of celebration and comfort. True to its original intent, Bonifacio evolved to represent the living embodiment of the Filipino phrase “Kumain ka na ba?” (“Have you eaten yet?”).

Like the phrase suggests, Bonifacio created a space where care and comfort are interwoven into the dishes that are served and a space where people of color can connect and find community. And it is here where people are welcomed to the table. At this table, authentic Filipino foods such as tapa (brisket smoked in banana leaves with an adobo dry rub) and pyanggang (fire-grilled chicken marinated in burnt coconut and lemongrass) are offered and ready to be devoured.

Bonifacio dishes include, from left, pyanggang chicken, garlic rice, mangga (mango), tofu chicharron and lumpia (spring rolls).

From the success of Bonifacio, Krizzia found herself taking on a new endeavor as a chef partner at Budd Dairy Food Hall and opening up Boni Filipino Street Food. Taking influences from the night markets of Asia, Boni serves to create an approachable take on a traveler’s quest for new flavors and thirst for adventure, perhaps with a pork longganisa skewer and kalamansi juice in hand.

For Krizzia, a highlight of Bonifacio and Boni has been the ability to create a space where Filipino food such as lumpia (deep-fried spring rolls), inasal (fire-grilled citrus and lemongrass chicken) and kwek kwek (battered quail eggs) is not only recognized, but also celebrated—and a space where diversity is welcomed and loved. Through Bonifacio and Boni, Krizzia has created a “window into the culture” of the Philippines and a place where customers are “treated like family.”

But as a small-business owner, she also has found herself facing difficult decisions as the country continues to deal with the COVID pandemic. The biggest challenge has been “making moral decisions as a small business, like public health decisions,” she says.

“It’s tough for us to figure out already with the labor shortage we have. A lot of restaurants are having to close because of COVID going through their entire staff. How do we keep our employees safe? How do we keep our guests safe?” Krizzia asks. “If someone is sick and unable to work, how do they pay for their bills? It’s tough to make those decisions.”

Along with the challenges of the pandemic come continuing cases of anti-Asian sentiment. Krizzia recounts turning on the television and watching a news report on yet another incident against Asians in this country. “It’s pretty scary,” she says. “We are living in a weird time.”

She describes the long history of colonialism in the Philippines, which included American military men looking for Filipino wives. “During the pandemic, when I was in the drive-thru, some old guys said, ‘We were in the military, hey, are you married?’” she recalls. It was offensive to her, “but you’re also in customer service, so how do you handle that? Because people have been targeted for speaking out and I don’t want to put myself or my staff at risk. It’s tough. Especially after what happened in Atlanta,” where six Asian women were shot to death in one night last year.

(left) Kwek kwek is battered quail eggs served with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce.; (right) The colorful mangga dish features green mango with bagoong paste.

Both of Yanga's restaurants offer the BBQ chicken skewer with a traditional sweet and tangy sauce.

As an Asian woman business owner, Krizzia has seen first-hand the inequities faced by minority groups. “I think it’s great that we are becoming more aware of it. We have some Gen Z folks here and we see how the world is changing,” she says. Seeing them be “more aware and more thoughtful in how they live their day-to-day lives is really encouraging.”

Even so, she says thoughtfully, “There’s a lot more work to do. It’s still scary. It’s always been a challenge of being Asian American. It’s tough to think about. But there is optimism for the future.”

Looking to the future of her businesses, she remains optimistic for 2022. “We have a lot of cool opportunities that have presented themselves so we are excited for that,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “With all these changes that continue to come, we’re trying to roll with the punches. I’m proud of what we can provide and create that makes [customers] excited about exploring different foods.”

View the Bonifacio menu and learn more about the restaurant at bonifacio614.com or on Facebook. You can find information about Boni Filipino Street Food at the Budd Dairy Food Hall website.