Born and raised in San Jose, California, her love for food was constant and culturally significant. Like most teens, Allie was not sure on what she wanted for her future and spent most days playing World of Warcraft. When she was needed in the kitchen, it was to cook rice or smash a few cloves of garlic. Soon, she would start baking classic sweets as her mother would purchase them occasionally, but not often enough. As she assessed what her options were, her older brother started attending culinary school in San Francisco when she was nine. This inspired her to do the same when she graduated high school and her dreams of opening a family restaurant felt like moments away.

As time went on, her dreams of a family restaurant waned, and her dreams of having her own bakery grew. Allie worked many roles in the restaurant industry and as she found that her personality complimented the front of the house, her passion for cooking and baking never subsided. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd and the necessary explosion of the Black Lives Matter movement, Allie discovered an inner fire of self-worth and a need to act. She had always felt “other’d” throughout her formative years and never felt a sense of belonging with her Filipino roots. Inspired by the importance of Black and Brown people around the country, she felt it was her duty to use her talents in the kitchen to show and share Filipino flavors and dishes that she had grown up with, with the community around her. Food is essential in every community and with diverse flavors and cultural dishes comes new knowledge and a possibility for equitable kinship.

KAINAN NA!

Let’s eat!