ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Auntie’s Brings the Island Life near Campus 15 | maceandcrown.com
Paula Phounsavath Photos by Anthony Evasco A few blocks away from campus and alongside Colley Ave, stands a small Filipino-Hawaiian fusion restaurant called, Auntie’s Tiki Bar and Restaurant. The restaurant is based in Virginia Beach, where it all began when Doddie Braza and his brother, Raymond, opened the restaurant out of deep admiration for the Filipino and 1960’s Tiki culture in 2018. Looking forward to today, Auntie’s has been very successful in the Virginia Beach area. Braza decided to open Auntie’s Norfolk in mid-<strong>2019</strong>, and it has been just as successful as the original restaurant. The restaurant itself was relatively small but cozy. The inside was dimly lit, with the exception of the afternoon light. The walls were painted pink and black to mimic palm tree leaves. Laughter and loud chatter filled the place, as patrons with their drinks chatted at the bar as well as the outside patio area. Like any other restaurant, when seated, the waitress will be able to greet customers with water, along with the option of another drink. Though there was only one waitress on a steady Saturday night at Auntie’s, she was very patient with customers ordering and took a generous amount of time to come back to take orders. Because Auntie’s is a fusion restaurant, the menu had a smaller amount of choices to choose from. However, the menu is still growing with more Filipino/Hawaiian dishes. The restaurant’s head chef, Abrizl Levantino--former chef at Bad Saint, is always being innovated at perfecting their craft; oftentimes, Auntie’s menu has a section of limited time dishes. If the dish is favored by customer reviews, then usually it will be added to the menu as a permanent item. The word, “Sisig” originated back in the 18th century, it comes from the full word, “sisigan” which is an old Tagalog dialect for, “to make it sour.” With such strong influence by the Spanish, a friar named Diego Bergaño initially defined sisig as a, “Salad, including green papaya, or green guava eaten with a dressing of salt, pepper, garlic, and vinegar.” Lumpia are a Filipino take on fried spring rolls, since the Chinese had influenced the Philippines. Lumpia are a staple to any Filipino party, street vendors and of course, a perfect appetizer. <strong>Fall</strong> <strong>2019</strong> | 16