MIAMI: La Paz Batchoy By Roel Alcudia At Yuzu Miami, St. Roch Market

Roel Alcudia of Mandolin Aegean Bistro and Andrew Zarzosa of Yuzu Miami (Photo by Andrea Lorena / Fuji Film Girl)

We were so excited to partner once again with Yuzu Miami at St. Roch Market, helmed by chef Andrew Zarzosa, on our second leg to highlight Filipino cuisine in Miami  last September 10 to 14, 2018. This time, we had Roel Alcudia of Mandolin Aegean Bistro as the guest chef. He cooked up his version of La Paz Batchoy, a Filipino pork noodles soup, that originated from his hometown, La Paz in Iloilo City in the Philippines.

“As we march on to the sound of progress and innovation and as we continue to redefine ourselves in every aspect, one thing that keeps us all grounded and connects us are food memories,” shared Alcudia. “Having been born and raised in a small city in the Philippines, I remember the home cooking, of course, but the one thing that evoked near fanatical obsession was this little noodle soup called La Paz Batchoy, served a few blocks from my childhood home. I remember constantly begging and bartering with my parents for household chores just to get a bowl of this stuff. It was everything I ever wanted in life at that point—the unctuous broth fortified with offal, the crispy pork cracklings and the sharp, crisp slices of scallions to cut right through it all.”

Roel Alcudia’s version of La Paz Batchoy, Filipino noodles soup dish, which we served in Yuzu Miami from Sept 10 to 14 (Photo by Andrea Lorena/ Fuji Film Girl)

Miami enjoyed this special dish, priced at $17, at Yuzu Miami all week– and the first 20 customers received chocolates from Auro, an award-winning, sustainable bean-to-bar company from Davao, Philippines. “Yuzu Miami was very excited to collaborate again with Cross Cultures to continue to help spread the good word of Filipino cuisine in Miami,” shares Zarzosa, who led the F&B programs in five-star hotel properties in Southeast Asia, including Fairmont Jakarta in Indonesia and the Makati Shangri-La in the Philippines. “This time, we are humbled to have worked with the super talented chef, Roel Alcudia, who will be cooking a dish very close to his heart.”

The first 20 customers received an Auro bean-to-bar chocolate from Davao, Philippines (Photo by Cheryl Tiu)

We were so lucky to have some of Miami’s top chefs, restaurateurs and foodies join us:

Roel’s Mandolin Aegean Bistro family, owners Anastasia Koutsioukis and Ahmet Erkaya (Photo by Cheryl Tiu)
Alter’s Brad Kilgore, who just opened Kaido, and wife Soraya Kilgore of Madlab Cremery (Photo by Cheryl TIu)
Luciana Giangrandi and Alex Meyer of La Pollita (Photo by Cheryl Tiu)
Dave Morales aka DMO enjoying San Miguel beer from the Philippines– yes, they do have it in Miami! (Photo by Cheryl Tiu)
Eleanor Hoh aka Wokstar and husband Ralph (Photo by Cheryl Tiu)
Buko pie!!! On our last day, we had another surprise– we gave out slices of Filipino coconut custard pies to pie to anyone who came by and had the La Paz Batchoy with us that week! PS These buko pies were lovingly baked by Roel’s other half Jessi Hernandez, the talented pastry chef at Mandolin. (Photo by Jessi Hernandez)

Our founder Cheryl Tiu shared, “Cross Cultures was founded to promote the exchange of cultures through food, in order to dispel misconceptions and build a more global community. Last June, we had a special Filipino noodle dish made with taba ng talangka (crab roe) produced by Asia’s Best Female Chef 2016 Margarita Fores, that did really well. We’re thrilled to be continuing our quest of introducing and spreading Filipino food in Miami.”

Andrew Zarzosa of Yuzu Miami, Cheryl Tiu of Cross Cultures, Roel Alcudia of Mandolin Aegean Bistro (Photo by Andrea Lorena/ Fuji Film Girl)