EPISODE · Jun 22, 2025
EP 34: Cooking From The Soul With Budgie Montoya
from Exploring Filipino Kitchens · host Nastasha Alli
On this episode we chat with Chef Budgie Montoya, who envisioned and brought to life Sarap and Apoy - two uniquely Filipino restaurants in the heart of London, UK. I caught up with Budgie on his last few weeks in El Nido, Palawan, where he’s started work on his next project - a visiting guest chef program linking cooks and local food producers with the tourist market in El Nido. We talk lots about other things that overlap in our diasporic worlds, too!
What this episode covers
Show notes 03:10 About Budgie 04:30 Getting to El Nido 06:20 Kitchen takeover 08:50 Local realities 11:30 Sourcing duck 14:40 Food tour dreams 15:50 Ebb and flow of the islands 17:10 Online maps 20:10 Diasporic returns 22:00 Food and detachment 23:50 Rediscovering your way 27:00 Gastronomically Filipino 28:30 Cooking through memory and experience 30:20 Current state in the UK 31:30 Fine dining background 36:30 Identity and food journeys 40:40 Mindanao and Indonesian cuisine 44:10 Guest chef program
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EP 34: Cooking From The Soul With Budgie Montoya
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