CULTR Finds
A list of places is easy to make. A list with reasons is harder.
So here are four picks for October. A restaurant, a book, a getaway, and a set of dishes. Each one comes with the reason it made the list.
The restaurant: Patio Filipino, San Bruno
IG: @patiofilipino_
Patio Filipino serves Filipino-Spanish food on El Camino Real in San Bruno. It has been open for more than 20 years. Its owners have said the goal is good food and good service, given with sincerity.
Why it made the list. Whole families eat here. The menu is built for sharing, so you order for the table and pass everything around. Sinigang, kare-kare, and sisig are the dishes guides point to most.
Go with more people than you think you need.
The book: Lakas and the Manilatown Fish
Anthony D. Robles wrote it, and Carl Angel illustrated it. It started as a bedtime story Robles told his own son, Lakas. In the book, a talking fish jumps out of its tank at a San Francisco fish market. A crowd of manongs, Filipino elders, chases it down Kearny Street and all the way to the Bay.
Why it made the list. When it came out in 2003, it was the first bilingual English-Tagalog story set in the U.S. Every page carries both languages, so a child can hear Tagalog in a story about a place they could actually visit.
Read it once. Then walk the street.
The getaway: Kona Village, Hawaiʻi Island
IG: @konavillagerosewood
Kona Village sits at Kaʻūpūlehu, on Kahuwai Bay. It reopened in July 2023 after a full rebuild. The land holds sacred archaeological sites and anchialine pools, and a cultural center on the property explains how to care for them.
Why it made the list. Kids can weave with coconut fronds at the cultural center. The programming is built around ʻohana, family, so a grandparent, a parent, and a child can all have something to do.
It is a splurge. We're including it because the idea behind it is worth knowing, even if the trip is a someday.
The design object: Hasami Porcelain
Taku Shinomoto designed it. He grew up in Japan, worked as a furniture designer in Tokyo, and now runs Tortoise General Store in Venice Beach, California. The porcelain is made in Hasami, a town in Nagasaki that has been making ceramics for about 400 years.
Why it made the list. The pieces stack, and they borrow from the jubako, the tiered boxes used for celebration meals and bento. A plate becomes a lid. A lid becomes a tray. One set does a lot of jobs at one table.
Designed in California. Made in Japan.
One more thing
Where would you send us? Tell us in the comments on Instagram, or reply to the CULTR Letter. We read every answer.