Lapu-Lapu Day fundraiser will unite 10 chefs for celebration of Filipino food in Vancouver

CTV News

5 days ago

TJ Conwi is among a number of chefs who have rallied to provide meals to those in need following the attack on a Filipino festival in Vancouver.
Two months on from the Lapu-Lapu Day Festival tragedy, chefs from across the city are gathering to raise funds, support and spirits by doing what they do best, and tending to the community's collective tastebuds.
Come July 3, A Night of Too Many Chefs will see 10 chefs and eight dessert masters take over the Museum of Vancouver for a culinary experience that champions Filipino food.
Guests can expect traditional Filipino dishes cooked from chefs that helm the kitchens of various Vancouver restaurants, including Top Chef Canada alumni and Janevca chef Andrea Alridge, ¿CóMO? Tapería's Rafael Racela, and Alden Ong of Farmer's Apprentice.
'It's just a different way for us to come together in a setting where we can all just sit down, talk and share a meal,' said Ono Vancouver's TJ Conwi, the organiser behind the event.
'That's something that is really important for our community.'
For Filipinos, food is more than just a source of nutrition. Conwi says it plays a vital role in their culture, often being at the crux of community, family, and celebration. Traditional dishes like adobo and lumpia, expected to be served at the event, will connect the community to their heritage and provide them an opportunity to move towards healing together, he says.
For those in attendance who come from other cultural backgrounds, for the event is open to all, it offers a chance to try a cuisine that is often overlooked in the Vancouver culinary scene, he adds.
'This is food that is going to uplift the Filipino food profile, which is a mission we've always been on. Filipino food, in general, doesn't have the spotlight it should have,' says Conwi.
The chef says he hopes those in attendance will also see the event as an occasion to champion the work of the volunteers who have offered their efforts tirelessly in previous weeks.
In the days that followed April 26, a date now inextricably linked to the horrific car-ramming attack that killed 11 and injured dozens at the Filipino festival, Conwi had rallied chefs across the city to make and deliver culturally comforting dishes to the victims and families that were impacted.
The meal program has since shifted from a delivery to a pick-up service but it is still very much in effect, with over 6,500 meals served up to the community since it was first initiated in April.
Proceeds from July's fundraising event will go towards the ongoing program, alongside Ono Vancouver's community meals program, said Conwi.
'There are still people that are hurting, there are people that are healing physically and emotionally and it is now that collectively we need to figure all that out,' says Conwi.
'We want to make sure that people understand that this is not going to be quick, it is going to be a long-term thing.'