Filipino Food Hasn’t Taken Off in Miami – Nicole Ponseca Is Changing That

Miami is no stranger to international food; from Cuban cuisine to a slew of other Latin American and European cuisines that have crossed over in the past two decades, this city is as cosmopolitan as it gets. One country not often represented in our food scene? The Philippines. Thankfully, James Beard-nominated chef and cookbook author Nicole Ponseca of Jeepney in Wynwood plans to change that.

A first-generation Filipino, Ponseca got her start in advertising in New York City, never thinking she was going to become a chef. At her day job, she worked on many campaigns, some food-related, with very little representation for people of color and virtually zero for Asians.

She knew she needed to change that, even if it would take years of hard work and dedication. Over the next 12 years, she worked her full-time job during the day while doing kitchen rotations at night, which started with dishwashing all over New York. She always knew that when her time came, she wanted to be an amplifier for her native cuisine.

Eventually, in early 2011, she found a space to do just that, and that's where the precursor to Jeepney NYC, Maharlika, was born. "When we opened, we had no idea what to expect. The word 'pop-up' didn't even exist, so we called it limited engagement," explains Ponseca. "It was first coined because of us." That success spawned Jeepney, which she opened more than a decade ago in New York's East Village neighborhood but has since closed. At the time of its opening, Jeepney was praised for being "pioneering and innovative" by multiple outlets.
Unfortunately, in 2020, COVID hit the U.S., and Manhattan was one of the hardest hit areas in the food world. "I couldn't keep doing it. For over ten years, I carried all the weight by myself. Women are not often afforded the same infrastructure and venture capital support that men do. I was tired and didn't think we could survive COVID. But I knew I didn't want this to be the end of Jeepney and my mission," says Ponseca.

Fortuitously, that's when Miami came calling. On January 2, 2021, ten years to the day that her original New York City restaurant Maharlika opened, Jeepney was reborn in Miami at Wynwood's 1-800-Lucky Asian food hall.

But the shift to the Magic City didn't come without its growing pains. "The Miami market was very humbling. People here to a degree know Japanese, they know Thai, and they know Vietnamese mostly through pho, but almost no one knows Filipino," she says. "In New York, we had a captive audience that was already in the know. In Miami, education, even for the vendors, is essential. Sometimes, even sourcing ingredients is difficult cause people simply aren't familiar with them."

Writer and fellow Filipino Cheryl Tiu attributes the lack of knowledge to the little Filipino representation on this side of the country. "The Filipino community is so small— and when I tell this to people in other parts of the U.S., especially California and New York, they are so surprised because Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian-American group in the United States," says Tiu. "But in Miami, we are literally 0.2% of the population."
Thanks to Tiu and Ponseca, events spotlighting Filipino cuisine have popped up across Miami. "I cohosted the first annual Banana Catchup Filipino Block Party in honor of Filipino American History Month at 1-800-Lucky last October, and Smorgasburg Miami, in partnership with Philippines Fest and Cross Cultures, also hosted the first Ube Festival last December— and both events were so overwhelmingly received," adds Tiu.

For Ponseca, emphasizing Filipino cuisine education in Miami is equally important. One way she's continuing to teach is through her new Filipino dinner series, which takes place every third Wednesday of the month. Her initiative, A Kamayan Dinner Series, launches at 1-800-Lucky on Wednesday, March 27, with fellow 1-800-Lucky vendor Sili.

Kamayan is an elaborate, large-format Filipino meal served on banana leaves and with or without utensils. "This is a way of feasting on banana leaves, and it's how my dad would eat," explains Ponseca. "It allows me to introduce people to even more Filipino flavors through deep braises."

Kamayan Dinner Series with Jeepney and Sili at 1-800-Lucky. 143 NW 23 St., Miami; 305-768-9826; 1800lucky.com. Wednesday, March 27, 7 p.m. Tickets are required via exploretock.com.