"When Danté Fernandez was growing up in Portland, many other Filipinos told him he wasn't really Filipino-because he didn't speak the language, because his family had immigrated from the Philippines too many generations ago, because the food he ate wasn't exactly like back in the islands, or because his family was a mix of Filipino, Black, and Native American."
Danté Fernandez grew up in Portland amid pressure from other Filipinos who questioned his Filipino identity due to language gaps, generational distance from the Philippines, and differences in food and family background. He later worked at Magna Kusina as part of the opening team, serving as operations manager and chef de cuisine. In December 2025 he opened Dear Lola inside the cocktail bar Too Soon on Northeast 28th, naming it for his grandmother who died shortly before opening. His grandmother had limited access to Filipino ingredients, so she used substitutes like tomatoes for umami flavors. Using widely available “real” Filipino ingredients later helped him recreate her flavors accurately. He now serves diaspora Filipino cooking through familiar classics and regional specialties shaped by his own experience.
Read at Portland Mercury
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