13 north

13 north refers to Guam's latitudinal placement. 13 north is a pop up restaurant in San Francisco, headed by Chef Bayani Inclano. The menu usually showcases the flavors of Guam and Philippines. A few nights ago, they hosted a small dinner to help send aid to the Philippines for Typhoon Hayain. I've never had Filipino food like this: seasonal, local, beautifully plated, and unexpected. The following photos are of our meal, including dishes that reminded me of sinigang, pinakbet, and ginataan. Our amuse buche of a coconut panacota, oil, and shrimp paste was perfect for starting our meal. It was an indication of the creative and fresh flavors we were about to ingest.  First course was a tamarind soup with the freshest and lightest cod in it. His personal touches to the soup included using what seemed like dried tomatoes and of course, a tamarind broth, made from actual tamarinds. The juniper pork belly in the our second course was well seasoned, fell apart tender, but was also had a crispy crust. It was definitely one of the best and different pork dishes I've ever had. I also appreciated how seasonal it was having just seen fresh juniper branches being sold while I was buying my Christmas tree.  This dish also had a good mix of textures, including a kombocha squash puree, crunchy okra, and fresh bitter greens. The intermezzo of tart calamansi granita and fresh papaya sorbet was refreshing and made my mouth water. It made me think of Starbust candy. Not sure if you get what I mean. The dessert of granola, coconut milk, pomergranates, bluelerries, and fresh coconut meat (we heard Chef whacking that coconut open), tapioca pearls,  and basil  was served warm  and was perfect for the cold weather.