WASHINGTON 鈥� Cliff Wharton has no idea what initiated D.C.鈥檚 recent obsession with Filipino food, but he thinks it鈥檚 awesome.
The Philippine-born chef recently opened Robert Wiedmaier’s聽, one of four Filipino restaurants and pop-ups set to debut聽this year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like the whole Filipino thing is starting to evolve,鈥� says Wharton, a former chef with Matchbox Food Group and TenPenh. 鈥淔or some reason, it wasn鈥檛 around [a few years ago], but 鈥� these last three months 鈥� it started popping up everywhere; people started talking about it. 鈥� And why? I think people are starting to realize it鈥檚 good food and that it is table-worthy.鈥�
Wharton, whose family moved to Kansas City from the Philippines when he was 5, says it鈥檚 difficult to compare Filipino cuisine to any other, mostly because it draws on a variety of influences, including Spanish, Malaysian and Indonesian.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty unique to itself, with all of the different influences,鈥� he says.
On a typical Filipino menu, one can expect to find 鈥渁 lot of rice, a lot of braised meats鈥� and sweet and sour flavors. Lumpia is a popular dish in the cuisine 鈥� Wharton compares it to a spring roll, only with a thinner wrapper.
鈥淭here was always Filipino food and I was always sneaking lumpia out of the house for my friends,鈥� says Wharton, who serves the fried rolls at Urban Heights. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just something I grew up with and it stuck with me all of these years.鈥�
Chicken adobo is another Filipino staple. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like gumbo is to New Orleans cuisine,鈥� Wharton says.
Filipino is just one of several Southeast Asian-inspired restaurants to open in the District this past year. In December, D.C. welcomed its first Laotian restaurant when Thip Khao opened in Columbia Heights.
Why, in such an international city, is D.C. just now seeing a boom in formerly underrepresented cuisines? Kathy Hollinger, president and CEO of the (RAMW), says a lot of it has to do with D.C.鈥檚 diners and the city鈥檚 growing population.
鈥淲hat we saw in the past was that there was somewhat of a need for the chef to have a one-size-fits-all approach to menu development. We were catering to maybe visitors that were coming in to the city,鈥� Hollinger says.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing now is that we have a regional dining scene, and we have diners whose palates are much more sophisticated and chefs have the ability and creativity to really cook what inspires them, versus what they feel they have to do, because they have a clientele who will support them.鈥�
Redevelopment in some of D.C.鈥檚 neighborhoods, such as 14th Street, Bloomingdale and Petworth, is another reason for the restaurant revolution.
鈥淩estaurants are really the anchor, or have become an anchor, in that community or in the development process.鈥�
In addition to Filipino and Laotian, Hollinger says the city is also seeing more South American-inspired restaurants. Rural Society, Toro Toro, Tico and Del Campo are just a few examples of recent additions to the city鈥檚 dining options.
鈥淧eruvian cuisine has exploded and it鈥檚 been on the high in terms of a trend list for the past three years,鈥� she adds.
Later this month, Erin Gorman and her husband will open the Turkish restaurant in the former Levante鈥檚 space in Dupont Circle. While other restaurants serve Turkish food in the D.C. area, Gorman says few are dedicated solely to traditional Turkish dishes; many offer a fusion of Persian, Lebanese and Greek.
鈥淭urkish cuisine has sort of been there in the background, and every once in a while, some place will pop up. But there aren鈥檛 very many places sort of four-square focused on Turkish food,鈥� she says.
D.C. diners aren鈥檛 just getting adventurous with their taste buds; they鈥檙e getting adventurous with their travel, and Gorman says that is another reason her family decided to open Ankara.
鈥淭urkey has become an incredibly popular tourist destination 鈥� it was named one of the top tourism destinations in the past three years, and so I think more people are interested, aware, intrigued,鈥� Gorman says.
鈥淭hey want to go to Turkey and going to a restaurant that features the food of the place you want to go is a good way to experience it before you actually get there.鈥�
RAMW鈥檚 Hollinger adds diners鈥� expectations also have changed when it comes to eating out, and this has fueled the city鈥檚 trends in food.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very, very interested in having experiences versus just dining out.鈥�
