“We’re not trying to just put it on a plate and there you go,” Calupig says. But where Cancino takes elegant liberties with the classics, Platito chef Karlo Cunanan (formerly of Momofuku Noodle Bar) does homestyle recipes he picked up from his grandma and aunt, then gives it the kind of plating befitting a downtown hot spot. The most obvious comparison to Platito would be Queen West’s Lamesa, which enjoyed a well-deserved bump in popularity when Daniel Cancino took over the kitchen last year. They’re not cooking it – so where are they going to go?” (Somewhere with killer white sangria and cold bottles of San Miguel beer, obviously.) “First-generation Canadians were taught by their parents how to cook the food or else it’s just not passed on. “A lot of the Filipinos in Toronto grew up eating at the table, and now, if they’re not living with their parents any more, they don’t know where to get it,” offers Aaron Calupig, who co-opened the place with his godfather, Jonathan Mirasol, and his cousin, Derek Linay. Platito brings those dishes within range of a young downtown crowd – whether that’s newbies to the cuisine or young Filipinos who haven’t picked up their parents’ recipes.
Thus far, Filipino restaurants in the GTA have mainly been mom-and-pop shops in the burbs serving big family gatherings or cranking out catering and takeout. Even the excellent fried chicken – the breakaway hit dish and only concession to “fusion” – comes perched on top of a fluffy waffle stained a striking grape-purple with ube (purple yam) extract. Most of the brunch dishes come with garlic-fried rice.
Sisig, palabok, kare-kare and lechon kawali pepper the lunch and dinner menus. But there’s plenty that many Toronto diners won’t immediately recognize, given the lamentable lack of Filipino food in the downtown core – until now, anyway. Baldwin Village’s Platito fits right in with every other cool small-plates joint in the city: a gorgeous two-floor space (formerly the home of Agave y Aguacate, then Reforma) with a modern look, tropical touches, a hip-hop soundtrack and a sunny front patio.
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