1.

This blog is a long time in the making.  From its initial conception (Fall 2016) to establishing a website and username (Spring 2017) to finally muster up the courage to write my first post (Winter 2019), it’s taken three-ish years to reach the starting point of Beverly Blvd.  But, I suppose like all travel, it’s about the journey as much as it is about the destination.

I started this blog for a number of reasons.  For reasons of accountability (and because I just really enjoy making lists), here’s what to expect from Beverly Blvd:

Writing. Storytelling.  I want to capture my family’s stories, memorize them, rehash them… especially when it comes to food!  And what are family recipes if not stories told and retold through ingredients and interpretation.  I want to grow up to be a storyteller in the kitchen.

Food.  I fancy myself an equal opportunity eater, but when I first thought of Beverly Blvd my goal was to document my adventures living on my own in my first apartment in Historic Filipinotown.  Specifically, I wanted to reach two “destinations” with my blog: 1) write about eating my way down Beverly Blvd and Temple Street (the main thoroughfares in HiFi) and 2) document my triumphs and failures in cooking Filipino food.  I still want to reach my original two destinations, but why stop there?  This will be an exploration of the Filipino Food Movement and all of its varied, nuanced, delicious forms.

Culture.  Culture is a fascinating thing, especially when its located at an intersection (or a hyphen).  Por ejemplo, I’m a second-generation Filipina-American, a lifelong Angeleno currently residing in Pico-Robertson. My adventures explore East meets West, Eastside meets Westside.

Exploration.  If Los Angeles is 88 neighborhoods trying to become one city, California is one of 50 states, and the Philippines is 7,107 islands that make up one country… then I have a lot of ground to cover.

Above all, Beverly Blvd is a road map to all the things I love in life.  I’m sure there will be plenty of detours and side trips but I’m excited for the journey ahead.