Humor and food are two traits Filipinos pride themselves with. This is why a Filipino restaurant in Texas is gaining attention for mixing Pinoy humor with Filipino cuisine.
Be More Pacific Kitchen + Bar is a brick-and-mortar restaurant found in Shoal Creek Boulevard in Austin, Texas.
It is owned by Mark Pascual and Giovan Chupan, who are first-generation Filipinos in Houston.
Their restaurant serves classic Filipino favorites like sinigang, kare-kare, sisig, lumpia, longganisa, turon, pinakbet, bacon fried rice, adobo chicken and ube ice cream.
It is the resto’s walls, however, that pique the curiosity of fellow Pinoys.
Food and humor go together
While Be More Pacific is the first of its kind to offer sumptuous Filipino meals within amusing walls in the area, there are other restaurants who have incorporated humor into their businesses as well.
In Iligan City, there’s a coffee shop called Brew’s Almighty, a play in the title of American fantasy-comedy film “Bruce Almighty.”
In Bonifacio Global City, a healthy restaurant exists which calls itself Faburrito, a play on the two words “fabulous” and “burrito.” It may also refer to the Spanish term for favorite, “favorito.”
In Makati, there’s a fast food restaurant called Foodever 21, a play on the famous American retail brand Forever 21.
In Kapitolyo, Pasig, an eating place called Hari Pata prides itself on serving crispy pata. It takes after the “Boy Who Lived,” Harry Potter.
In Maginhawa, Quezon City, there’s a restaurant named Chef Diego’s Lord of the Wings, a play on the famous fantasy franchise “Lord of the Rings.”
Filipinos’ brand of humor
Humor is present in almost all aspects of a Filipino’s daily life.
Dr. Maria Rhodora Ancheta of UP Diliman’s Department of Comparative Literature said that Filipinos usually have a sense of “natural humor” where they showcase their “Filipino-ness” through their jokes and puns.
“Ancheta believes that national humor is a potent showcase of ‘Filipino-ness,’ and evidence of how Filipinos maneuver within the frames of their local and national experiences,” scholar Gracious Ancheta wrote.
Humor is also connected with the person’s ability to laugh and the way he perceives things.
Dr. Sophie Scott of the University College London believes laughter acts as a “social glue” or a universal human vocabulary.
“Laughter is (a) social glue that makes and strengthens our links with other people,” Scott wrote.
In Gallups’ 2017 Global Emotions report, Philippines was revealed to have ranked fourth among the countries with the “highest positive experiences” worldwide.
It is an indication of how much adults experience happy emotions every day.
The Philippines has a “positive experience” rate of 82, same as Panama and Uzbekistan, who ranks third and fifth in the highest positive experiences index. — Art by Uela Badayos
