Our Purpose
We are a small minority, family, and woman-owned Filipino American Social Purpose Corporation located in south Seattle. We seat 12 at a time in a communal dining room, where we create an interactive experience dedicated to telling the story of how Filipino Americans have contributed to the landscape and history of the Pacific Northwest.
Our purpose is to uplift our people, our community, our collective beings, by building a foundation that fosters long-term growth and creativity. We do this with the guidance of our pillars—identity, culture, and empowerment. They are the values that steer our journey.
Identity: celebrating the personal and unique journeys that reveal the wealth of resonance in our diverse community.
Culture: celebrating the shared manifestations of our collective creative and intellectual achievements.
Empowerment: celebrating the opening of doors, the uplifting of a people, and the building of strength and space.
Our mission on this path…
COMMUNITY EQUITY
We are dedicated to building community equity, putting education and money back into our people and local economy. We employ a team of BIPOC individuals fighting to preserve and push their culture forward within our greater industry of service and hospitality. Our communities often lack access or exposure to industry experience, training, or education that would allow them to be vocal contributors. By ensuring that one, we are hiring the underrepresented, and two, also paying them well and providing benefits and education to allow them to not just sustain themselves, but to thrive and grow, we can help empower them and in turn our community.
Building community equity also means sourcing locally from small, family-owned, BIPOC, and women-owned farms, producers, and businesses, again, paying them full cost for their work and oftentimes buying from them what they need to sell and not the other way around. Again, just like those that we employ, we believe strongly that the money coming through our business should go back into our community, and that means ensuring that our small local minority businesses are also thriving and growing.
SUSTAINABILITY
In addition to focusing on the sustainability of a people, we are dedicated to the land they live on. We aim for zero waste and work with producers focusing on sustainable practices. The restaurant industry is sadly known for having a significant carbon footprint, taking into account a percentage of food waste daily along with non recyclable containers, plastic gloves, and more. Our format requires that all guests who dine with us book and pay in advance, this allows us to only purchase and prepare what is needed as well as ensure that all who put in the work get paid for it. We also focus on food preservation, allowing us to extend the life of a product when it cannot be used immediately.
Beyond the food, our goal is to also create zero waste from our processes and supplies, providing our team with biodegradable gloves and soap, reusable paper for notes, and more.
THE INDIVIDUAL
And then of course, there is the individual. It’s important to us to also create a sustainable model that goes beyond economy and land. We want to prioritize and care for the mental health and well-being of our team. We hold ourselves accountable to building a culture and environment that ensures personal growth and health—one that fosters career goals and work-life balance. We allocate time, resources, and financial support to our employees as a way to invest in their journey and personal contributions as global citizens.
Our mission is to lift up our culture and community in a way that does not provide short-term assistance, but builds a foundation to allow future generations to grow, flourish, and be proud.