Running a restaurant in the Philippines is not easy, what more running a Filipino restaurant abroad. Foreigners find Pinoy food too oily, too sweet, or too salty, and most Filipino restaurateurs have found it difficult to market our cuisine outside the country.

In New York especially, “It is never about the food,” says Amy Besa, who runs the 12-year-old Filipino restaurant Cendrillon in New York, with her husband Romy Dorotan as head chef.

What’s Cendrillon’s secret to longevity? Find out in this e-mail interview between Manila-based contributor Ailene dela Rosa and Amy Besa in New York.

PinoyCentric: What is the story behind the name Cendrillon?
Amy Besa: Cendrillon means Cinderella in French. We named it for a ballet by the Lyon Opera Ballet by Maguy Marin. We liked the way the fairy tale was reinterpreted in a modern way and yet kept the original spirit of the story. That’s how we showcase the food of our homeland–by making it contemporary and yet retaining the natural essence of the dishes. Philippine food is really about harmony and balancing of opposite flavors. Adobo is the balance between sour and salty; sinigang the balance between sourness and what you put in it, whether it be fish, pork, or beef. Our cooking reflects all these innate characteristics of our food.

When and how did Cendrillon start? What made you decide to put up the restaurant?
We opened Cendrillon in August 1995, so the restaurant is 12 years old. We felt that in order to be happy, we had to do our own thing–we no longer wanted to work for anyone. It was a big risk and a lot of work, but it was worth it. These 12 years have been the hardest years of our lives, but also the most rewarding because of the people we have met. The most important friendships we have now were formed through the restaurant.

Why did you choose to offer Filipino cuisine? Weren’t there any doubts as to how the Americans would receive our food?
We felt that Filipino cuisine needed to be introduced here in a way that was different from what had been done before, reflecting our personal point of view of food and how we see our own food and culture.

Many Filipinos who disagree with the way we present our food say that it is not authentic or that it does not taste like the food they grew up with. What is ironic is that many of the recipes we use for the traditional Filipino dishes are based on recipes that I grew up with. That is what I ate growing up in the Philippines. So the only explanation I can come up with for this discrepancy in taste and flavor recognition is that it is a generational thing. Somehow the food changed in the 20 years that I had been gone from the Philippines.

There was one American food writer who is quite famous who told us not to do Filipino food because no one would come to our restaurant. Well, in certain ways she was right because I am sure that many people (including Filipinos) do not come to the restaurant because it is Filipino. But then for those people who do come and love the food, then it is worth it for us to do the restaurant.

What were the difficulties you faced when you started Cendrillon?
Doing a restaurant is never easy. The chances of failure are great. Fifty percent of new restaurants fail within the first few years. I read that the average lifespan of a restaurant is five years. Many people have romantic notions of doing a restaurant–they think it is about cooking, but it is not. It is a cruel business that reflects trends and people’s tastes that reward restaurants whether they are good or not. Especially in NYC, it is never about food, but whether it is a scene. We do not cater to this. We do what we believe in, so that is always a problem–to follow your philosophy and beliefs about food is not always profitable.

But you do build a following eventually through hard work. But that is what is nice about this work–our customers are the best. We meet many artistic, creative, funny people.

Please tell us about your menu. What dishes do you offer? Which ones are the best-sellers?
You can check our menu online. We offer a variety of dishes from traditional Philippine dishes (adobo, kare-kare, pancit luglug, ukoy, lumpia) to those that my husband Romy has created (black rice paella, striped bass with hijiki crust, mango tart).

However, Romy’s creations are always based on an Asian idea of food. Many chefs think that if they put odd combinations of ingredients together they might come up with innovations. But innovations need to be thought out carefully and must always be justified and rooted in some historical sense to previous foods that people ate.

Adobo, ukoy, bibingka, buko pie, and mango tart are probably the best-sellers. However, each of the dishes has its own following. One time we removed the banana crepe from our dessert menu and it created an outcry from customers who threatened never to come back unless we returned it to the lineup.

Who are among your famous/celebrity clients? Which items on the menu do they favor?
I really do not like to talk about celebrities coming to the restaurant because they are treated just like everyone. All my customers are celebrities, especially the nice ones. Oddly enough, we have Claire Danes coming a lot. We used to have Willem Dafoe and Rachel Weisz as regulars, but they have moved out of SoHo and we do not see them anymore. We have famous artists, photographers, writers, and journalists, who come here. We enjoy them for their company and not for their fame.

In your opinion, what do Filipinos and their cuisine have that makes them stand out?
Filipinos are the most generous and most hospitable people on earth. When they cook and serve their food, the food is delicious because of these elements. My most favorite part of a gathering of Filipinos is after a meal when they peel the fruits and stack the peel and seeds in the middle of the table while gossiping.

What are your favorite items on the menu?
I like the chicken inasal, the spring rolls (named after me, so I am biased because it is my grandmother’s recipe), Romy’s spareribs.

Will there be any new additions to the menu? If yes, what are these?
We are trying to develop small plates which we will call “platitos.” When we went to Spain, we were surprised to find out that the Spanish call little plates “platillos” so it is only Filipinos who have platitos. Romy is working on a new menu right now, so I still do not know what new things he will come up with.

Do you source ingredients from the Philippines? Why? If yes, what are these?
We get some of our ingredients from Chinatown and Filipino stores that carry items from the Philippines like ube (purple yam), buko, macapuno, and all those sweet things to put in a halo-halo. I think that the Philippines really need to look at helping this business sector and develop more products that can be exported. We get beat by the Thais and the Vietnamese who are much better at packaging and exporting their food products.

Cendrillon owners Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan

Unlike other restaurants that keep their recipes secret, you offer them on your Website. Why is this?
There is really no point in keeping recipes secret. Most recipes are out there and if you are a good cook, you can come up with your own recipe. There is nothing new under the sun as far as food goes. Someone before you has already thought of doing what you think is new.

What are your favorite Filipino dishes? What do you miss most about the Philippines?
I love kakanin and that is what I miss most as they are impossible to replicate. All those regional delicacies are to die for, like the budbud kabog of Cebu and Dumaguete, the putong pulo of Bulacan, the kalamay of Candon, and the tupig of Pangasinan and Ilocos. My all-time favorite is puto bumbong.

Tell us more about your book Memories of Philippine Kitchens. What made you decide to publish it?
It started as a dare from my friend, Cristina Tabora, who said she needed a good book on Philippine food to give to her clients (she is a PR pro). I told her that if she got me a publisher, I will write the book. When she got me the publisher and I got the book contract, I panicked because I had never written a book before. But I learned fast (it was necessary that I learn fast). It taught me a valuable lesson that if you need to do something you had never done before, you just do it step by step and you will get there.

What are your own fondest and most vivid memories of Philippine Kitchens?
I will always remember my grandmother’s kitchen in Iba, Zambales. Those were wonderful years that will never come back. When you are a child, you think that what you have will always be around. My grandmother gave me my first taste of real food that came from the land. I climbed fruit trees in her backyard, ate the freshest shrimps and the most delicious tapang usa you can ever hope to eat. Now that tapang usa is gone; I have never seen it done the way she did it.

Where do you see yourselves and Cendrillon 10 years from now?
You know it is already 12 years since we opened Cendrillon and we are getting pretty old. So it is funny to be asked what we will be doing 10 years from now. I hope we are happily retired. But if we can do it, we would like to open more Cendrillons everywhere it is needed. Many Filipinos ask us to open wherever they come from–even in Europe. I hope to see the spirit of Cendrillon spread everywhere–the knowledge and confidence that our food is delicious and world-class serving it in the best Filipino way–with much hospitality and generosity.

Cendrillon
45 Mercer Street (SoHo)
New York, NY 10013
T: (212) 343 9012
F: (212) 343 9670
E-mail:acbesa@prodigy.net
Website: www.cendrillon.com