Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

IT’S been a little bit over two months since the opening of the White Rabbit Filipino fusion gourmet truck and less than that for the Tapa Boy truck and one thing is certain, both trucks serving Filipino cuisines throughout Los Angeles are receiving positive responses from the Fil-Am and mainstream community.

Bloggers and yelpers alike love the Filipino food both trucks serve.

"All I can say is sisig!" Arlene M. wrote on Yelp, a social networking website, about White Rabbit. "I loved the sisig burrito and sisig taco!"

"Thanks Tapa Boy for the amazing tocino bowl… it was bomb-didliumptious!" Yuri C. wrote on Yelp about Tapa Boy. "The caramelized pork was really flavorful and great with vinegar like you said, and the garlic fried rice with the egg on top was just perfect with the pork. A little nibble of the sweet and sour papaya pickles after each bite of the pork really added another dimension to the meal."

Chris Teodoro, the General Manager for Tapa Boy, said this is exactly the kind of response he had hoped for about Filipino food when he thought of starting a food truck a year ago.

"It’s really awesome the support we’ve been receiving from the Filipinos, mainstream and other cultures," said Teodoro. "This was our mission: to get Filipino food out there. The three [Filipino food] trucks that are out right now are awesome. It’s really gotten Filipino food out of the neighborhood. That’s a great start. People now know The Manila Machine, White Rabbit and us. We just have to keep it going."

The Manila Machine became the first Filipino gourmet truck in Los Angeles when they launched in June. The White Rabbit Truck followed in July and Tapa Boy in September.

All three trucks hope to bring Filipino cuisine into the mainstream, although in their own way. The Manila Machine focuses on traditional flavors, White Rabbit is known for Filipino fusion, or combining elements of Filipino food with other flavors and Tapa Boy keeps it simple—just "meat and rice," says Teodoro.

"We just want to send out the message that Filipino food is here to stay," said Melvin Chua, one of the owners of The White Rabbit Truck. "Our goal is to get the food out to everybody. We want everybody to try Filipino food."

"We know the cuisine and the taste we’re after. We don’t try to hide who we are," said Teodoro about Tapa Boy’s approach. "We’re serving tosilog (tocino, garlic fried rice and egg) and longsilog (Longganisa, garlic fried rice and egg). We’re trying to keep the recipe simple, nothing too crazy and make sure people know what they are eating."

White Rabbit

The White Rabbit truck is the brainchild of three long-time friends from Alemany High School in Mission Hills. Fil-Ams Michael Dimaguila, Melvin Chua, and James Du got the ball rolling on the Filipino fusion truck late last year. Dimaguila and Chua have finance and real estate background. Du is a graduate from the Le Cordon Bleu and worked at Gordon Ramsay and Chateau Marmont.