Fhred Batalona (Palay, Fitzroy) - From Home Cooking to Industry Change

Speaker A: I genuinely love this industry, but I also know that to love it is also to hurt yourself sometimes, and that's dangerous. So you have to be mindful and be aware what you're going into.

Speaker B: Hi, everybody. You're with Dani Valent, and you're listening to Dirty Linen. Uh, I am coming to you from my studio at home, uh, where I love to sit and have wonderful food chats with people all over the world and often in my hometown of Melbourne. That's where we are, uh, sticking today. My guest is Fred Batalona.

Speaker A: Ah.

Speaker B: Fred is the owner of Palai, a Filipino restaurant in Fitzroy. Fred, welcome to Dirty Linen.

Speaker A: Hello.

Speaker B: It's so good to have you on the show. Tell us about Palais. You're there now. Like, tell us about your special place that you've created.

Speaker A: Oh. So Palai is a Filipino restaurant in Fitzroy. So we call it the first Filipino house in Fitzroy because it was. It used to be an old house back in the 60s, and it was a restaurant prior to that. But we wanted to, um, brand ourselves as a house. So we just said Filipino house, where, you know, you go in, you eat all Filipino food. You get fattened up by your aunties or your mom or your grandmoms or your dad. Really depends. But because I own it, basically it's your Tito, that's me.

Speaker B: What kind of food do you do there? Tell us some of your specialties. What do you. What do you love to feed people?

Speaker A: Well, basically we have adobo, and we do it in, uh, three ways. Um, essentially, it's my mom's recipe, which I asked her about, um, because she's a Filipino mom, a standard one. She doesn't measure stuff. It's always like a pinch of this, a bottle of that and stuff. So we have chicken adobo skewers, we have chicken. We have adobo tofu. We have, ah, truffle adobo chips as well. The truffle adobo chips is just like. Because I wanted some chips, I just wanted to be truffley. So I was like, okay, let's combine the two. We have the sauce anyways. Might as well. Um, we have a lot of dishes from regional areas as well. So our main focal point for Palai is to re. Explore regional food where we go up north, really down south in the middle, and not just like, um, cook the food that Filipinos know all of a sudden, like, it's simple to make the cinegal, it's simple to make the lumpia. But wouldn't you want to try something you've never really known as, as a Filipino, but also for other nationalities to explore too.

Speaker B: And do you feel like Melbourne is a good place to showcase Filipino food and to do that culinary exploration?

Speaker A: Hell yeah. I mean, the thing is like, Melbourne has always been the, uh, the place to be for multicultural food. And I feel like it's akin to New York City to London, where all the food barriers are just like being broken because there's such a growing, um, community of multicultural people around us that wants to showcase different like, cultures. Um, Melbourne is the best. Plus, if I think about it, there is a global rise on Filipino food. And Melbourne actually has the most kind of like, increase of Filipino things going on from your hole, um, in the wall, to a food truck, to a full blown restaurant and even bars. So it's kind of really cool to see.

Speaker B: Yeah. If I think about, you know, maybe the last six or seven years, the cuisine I reckon I've learned the most about from a very low base. I'm happy to admit that I would say it's Filipino food definitely. I have, you know, 1,000 million things still to learn. But I would say, um, even in just in and Melbourne, there so many different Filipino expressions to explore. Um, and it's really exciting. Uh, the one thing I found consistent and you've touched on it already, is that sense of generosity and hospitality, that love of, um, of sharing.

Speaker A: Well, but the thing is like, I think because Filipino cuisine in general originates from a, uh, house perspective. And this is, this goes to every single culture that is like, you know, family centric, the Italians, the Greek does it, you know, Southeast Asian people do it too. Um, and essentially the idea is to really be bountiful always. But of course we need to curate that. In a sense that makes sense because you can't just be bountiful and then charge people a small amount because then you're, everything goes skyrocket. But the idea is to really showcase the warmth, the love, uh, the care, because that's what home cooking is. It's just like really full of flavor. It's um, it makes you feel like you're giving a hug sometimes, especially during winter time. You want like hearty soups because, man, everything is just like windy today.

Speaker B: Well, you know, take us then back to the home where you grew up, Fred. And you know, you mentioned your mom already. She's obviously a big influence on you. Tell us about growing up, ah, in the Philippines. What was the, what was the food like? You know, what was, what was the atmosphere and the Scenario.

Speaker A: Not gonna lie, because I grew up as a, uh, my dad's Korean, Um, but he's my stepdad. But I grew up with him since I was a baby, so I always say he's my dad. Um, the house itself is multicultural already to begin with, so we will have, like, um, Korean food with Filipino food. Uh, one thing that I've seen in the past, I was, like, getting a lot of traction. I think this was in, um, la. Um, there was, like, a food truck that was combining adobo and kimchi in a burrito, if I'm not mistaken. Then I remember seeing that and them saying, oh, that's basically either breakfast or lunch or dinner, depending on, like, what it is like for me personally. So the household has always been combined with those two, where you have the banchans, which is the kimchi, uh, the kimchi, the side dishes, um, alongside with very hearty Filipino food like the sinigang, the adobo. And then at some point, my dad would do, like, jajangmyun, and my mom would bring out Nicole Express. And it's the amalgamation of different food in one setting that I grew up in. That was normal to me. So when that was the household. It's very loud as well, in the sense of. My mom really showcases the Filipino aspect. You know, um, she'll wake up really early in the morning, she'll make us our breakfast, and she'll wake us up and say, it's very 7:00am M, although it's only 5:00am and there's going to be, like, a spread of food already ready for you to eat. And if you don't eat it, and if you suddenly decide to be, um, not Filipino that day and said, I want cereal, best believe you're in the wrong household. Because there's going to be a lot of, like, I work a few hours to prepare this food, and you're not going to eat it. You know, the guilt tripping is there. So I thought it was never going to happen to me. But then I realized after becoming a chef and then serving people, uh, I do that to my customers soon. I reinvigorate their trauma of being Filipino sometimes. Um, and tell them, hey, you know how our parents do this thing? I'll do that to you too. So eat your food. Do not waste the rice. Okay, I see that there's takeaway containers. I'm watching you.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. So, Fred, tell us your path to becoming a chef.

Speaker A: So essentially, I think there's like, a recent, um, kind of, like, understanding of It. My mom used to be a chef, uh, training, and she loves to cook every single time. And my dad also likes to cook, but because he's always busy working, um, he would do it on the weekends from time to time. It'll be quite good. Um, one of the things I already talked about a while ago was jajangmyun, which is like the black bean noodles. My, uh, dad really loves making it over the weekend and really make it spicy. And then we love that. Um, and they really affected my, um, kind of thinking of wanting to be in this industry. But in saying that it was never really my first base to do because I wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer or an accountant. Essentially the typical Asian trope and, you know, medical field and something that people would think, oh, yeah, you'll earn money. Um, because growing up I was already quite on the artistic end. I would say I like to sing, dance, paint, write, play, um, instrument, you know, dabble around music. And I just like colors in general. Um, and I remember watching the movie last holiday, this was on our way to Seoul, um, because usually we'd go home, uh, go back to Korea on a yearly basis to visit our families there. And my dad chose this movie, and it's a Queen Latifah ll cool J movie back in the 2000s. Um, and she has this thing for, like, wanting to cook. You know, like, she kind of got diagnosed that she was gonna die, but, uh, she went to Prague and then really just have a scene in there where she was just served a lot of food, like every single course that they had that day. And I remember being so enthusiastic about it because there was like, such a level of, like, the service, bringing the food, the plating, the ambiance, the idea that food can be this beautifully, like, made. And during my high school, there was cooking competitions every year. And I would join in, I would win. Um, and I went to, uh, visit different unis, and one of them was my mom's uni, where she studied culinary arts. Um, but they changed. They, you know, evolved. It's a new kitchen and whatnot. Um, and we were doing the tour. They, uh, made us eat in their bistro, which is their semi fine dining restaurant, uh, that is run by students and instructors, which is pretty cool. And the moment we walked into the demo kitchen where you would do your classes and stuff, I always say when everyone asked me about it, it just shined. It was just like shiny. And I thought, wait a minute, am I in love with this? Because, like, I was only 14, I was like, am I gonna do this? And I told my parents my mom was pretty keen into it, uh, mostly because she went to the uni. The same instructor that taught me, uh, the first term was there too, when she was studying. Um, and even when he saw me, he was like, I remember you. You were still young when your mom brought you in. And I'm like, I guess. I mean, I don't know you, but cool. And I think from there I just started, um, snowballing into the industry. Been really curious about stuff. Um, I practice at home. And I think for the first few years of my, um, culinary journey, I wanted to be a pastry chef. And when I did that, I finished uni around like 17, um, because it's a short course in the Philippines, but it's like, packed. It's like trimester. And you can do it in, you know, in two years. Um, and did my internships in between, um, around 19, um, I asked my parents and told them, hey, would it be fine if I moved to Melbourne to pursue management, A bachelor's degree, uh, in William M. Angus, and then really just to stay away from the Philippines. Because I think the Philippines is a beautiful country and stuff, but there's not much growth in terms of, like, where I want to be as a chef, as a person. I wanted to be independent. I wanted to learn more about myself and who, who I am and what I can take. And almost 12 years now, I'm still in Melbourne, and I've been just, um, doing kitchens for the longest time. I was a pastor for three years. Um, and then I started running my own kitchen at 21. Um, and from there I just been like, you know, taking care of kitchens left, right and center, um, improving, creating systems. Even now, when I own a restaurant, I'm still learning. I'm still trying to improve stuff. So it's kind of those things. And the one thing that kept me going was that there's always something new to learn. There's always fun things to play around with, to re. Explore, even with Filipino cuisine. And that's kind of the amazing part of it.

Speaker B: Wow, Fred, this is such a beautiful story. I love it. There's so many, uh, like, plot points, twists and turns. I just have this beautiful image of you watching that movie and being really captured by that scene, which I guess sounds like it was so different from what you'd experienced personally, but it really sort of shone a light on the possibilities of hospitality and cooking and looking after people in restaurants. Um, yeah, you really paint a beautiful picture. And, yeah, that sort of Korean fusion, um, notion. It's a really powerful one as well. Absolutely love it. Um, so, you know, you came to Melbourne and you studied, um, at William Anglis. Like, what were some of your experiences like in Melbourne? What was it like coming here as a young professional?

Speaker A: Uh, one was like. I mean, one thing is, like, we always talk about homesickness and everything else when you come to a new country. I just went and, and I was just like, whatever. I'm gonna do anything and everything. I'm gonna be open to the possibilities. I'll learn. Um, the first thing I did here was that, ah, I didn't go in for a kitchen job that requires me to be a chef straight away. I actually started as a, a dishy to begin with. I just washed dishes first because I'm like, one, if it pays you, it's amazing. Two, it doesn't, it doesn't, um, it allows you to observe, listen, and understand the culture first. Um, and I didn't want to jump in straight up and then not understand what I'm getting into. And it's just low barrier entry essentially. And washing is so easy, especially when you have a machine, like, imagine hand washing, like a pot every single time. And, uh, all the plates, man, that will be horrible. But there's a washing pot here. And I think my experience for the first few months were pretty light and amazing until it becomes, you know, a bit. You understand? Okay, I get it. Okay. Now it's getting to the point where the racist remarks, the, um, comment on your, uh, movements being thrown around like it's nothing. Um, I remember one of the things that, um, that I had as an experience when I was dishwashing for, um, this restaurant, uh, two months in, the sous chef kept on insisting, you're gay, right? You're gay, you're. You're gay. And I'm just like, um, I don't know yet. You know, I have an inkling that I might be bisexual or something, but I was still learning. I'm 19. I literally turned 19, so in a different country. So I really don't know. I have no idea what I was doing or whatnot. I was still exploring. And that conversation alone made me so uncomfortable because I was like, once was okay. I was thinking, you know what? Ignore it. It's just having a, uh, moment. But doing it the entire service because you'd feel like I walk a certain way, I speak a certain way is kind of really stupid. And I was just like, well, maybe because I'm young and I look Very thin. I don't know. And then the term would be like, I look like a twink. That's. That's. That's the thing for the gay legal, I think. But it was one of those moments I was like, okay, this is kind of weird. This is not right, I guess. And then, um, after I left, I got into another job as well. And I remember I was so excited because it was one of the few pastry jobs I had, and I had three in the time, and I was rotating them because I really wanted to learn, um, and expedite my process and because my understanding is that, oh, pastry could be this. I had an understanding of some pastry products, but I have no understanding of the skills that are, like, required for this type of thing. Um, and it was canaling, essentially making a football shape, something. And I was there for at least three months, I think. And, um, because the experience wasn't great, um, you're getting yelled at every single time. You're being told that you're slow, you're not amazing. And then you're working with, um, sorry to say, French people as well, who are really, um, blatantly racist sometimes, especially in the kitchen, um, they would really just like, make a mockery of you when you fail, when you do something incorrectly. Um, and I remember stepping out of the train. The moment I stepped out, your body just suddenly starts to, like, convulse. And as I'm walking towards the workplace, I'm just tearing up. And the moment you go inside the workplace, I back out and I just do an automatic. Like, you just automatically just work, you try your best, but, like, you're slowly breaking apart. And I think that's why I was like, this is not okay. I don't know. And this was like, within the first year I moved to Melbourne, I could have. I could have changed careers by then, but I still kept going. I found workplaces that were not too bad. Um, not the best sale, but it wasn't as crazy as this one. Um, and there's. There's a separation between production and service. Um, and that's why I feel like service is really, like, you need to be on it because, like, the dockets are piling. Things need to go out. There's a certain level of timing issue you need to go into. There's production. You just need to do a buttload of different things in one go. A. You just have to finalize it at some bit. Um, but it's not always bad. I found some mentors, some friends, um, that I still have until now that we all share our, like, traumas, essentially. And it's always good to find someone that you can talk to about it, because we do have a higher rate of people not being able to, um, take it on and be overwhelmed and just. And just, you know, not carrying, uh, that load of burden. And I feel for them. So whenever I have, like, kind of like, especially for palai, for example, we try to just be normal. Actually. We don't even fight here. Like, when we make a mistake, we just like, okay, we made a mistake. That's fine. Like, what. What. What fell down a skewer. We can cook that again. Just be careful. Just be careful. That's why, you know, that it's like, well, it, uh. So basically being an asshole was not necessary at all. You know, like, it's not. It's not required.

Speaker B: Yeah. So. No, so true. Um. Yeah, it's really distressing to hear about those experiences and, um, the racism and abuse that, um, came your way. It's. There's obviously, like, no excuse for it. Uh, and I feel. Yeah. Really ashamed, you know, on behalf of Australia and the industry that you walked into, that that's what you experienced. Do you feel that it was, um. I mean, is this, uh. Is this something very different from what you experienced in kitchens in the Philippines?

Speaker A: No, they're probably the same as. Well. I think the problem is that this is just me being direct. The Western countries have created the system to follow how it is to run the kitchen. And because, um, Asia in general revere the Western culture so much that we adapt it, and because we are also flown in, out of the country to learn from this Western culture and bring it back home, sometimes they think that's a standard. Because I remember even though I was doing internships in the Philippines, I have an inkling of how it is. It was just different. It wasn't racism. It was more, um, the if it's hot in the kitchen, get out kind of mentality. If you can't handle it, if you don't understand me, get the fuck out. But, um, I'm just like, hold on. I get. I guess I understand that we need to be strong and stuff. And some people would start doing their internship at an earlier age, um, and would learn cuisine from crazy people. And then it's romanticized. Like, a good example is Anthony Bourdain. Um, his movie's coming out where he's like, you know, he's suddenly stage or, uh, be a dishy and became one of the cooks in the thing. It's so romanticized that, oh, yeah, he lived a life of this and that. But let's be honest, like, it was abuse in a movie. It was like. It was like, you have to take on so much shit for a thing that you make a mistake on. You have no leeway to make a mistake on. But how can you improve without mistakes? But then again, they would say, yeah, that's why I was telling you off, because I wanted you to be better. But telling off someone and then telling them they're stupid, they're not great, they're dumb. And then all the other things you would say, oh, you can't speak English. That's why you don't understand me is it's kind of like, what kind of culture is that? And, yes, there's an element of pressure and there's an element of criticism or feedback that we need to grow. But surely there's a sustainable way to do it, right? There's a better way to approach it, because this industry is supposed to be. The main purpose of hospitality is to show care, like, warmth, um, and care for the things that you do to the people, to feed people's soul. Like, um, I find it funny when people do that and use it as their leading thing. We're here to feed your soul. We're here to enrich your mouth or something. And then the same people are the ones that are causing the opposite. It's all facade. It's all, like, you know, smoke and mirrors at that point. So it's kind of. Nah, it's the same in the Philippines. The only difference is that it's hierarchy. And they would be like, well, I'm the head chef. If I tell you this, this is the only way you should be doing. There's no collaboration in between. Um, during the time that I started, because I was trained by Gen X and boomers, so all the chefs that I had were, like, the previous Escofier, the brigade system, military, like, where, like, you are a soldier. You are not allowed to tell me what to do until you get to the point where you've earned your stripes and you are called the chefs. Uh, uh. And I'm like, okay, I guess. And not until, you know, you run your own kitchen and place. You just, like, understand. Oh, uh, that's. No, that's. You don't need to be like that, actually. It's nice to be chill. So nice to finish a service and feel like, oh, uh, no, I'm tiring, but we're all good. We'll be fine. We just need to prepare for stuff tomorrow. Good night.

Speaker B: Yeah, that sounds a lot more pleasant and sustainable as a human being. I mean, it's interesting that there are similar issues in the Philippines, but, of course, there's such a extra vulnerability to come somewhere as a migrant and be, as you say, learning the culture and trying to understand what's going on, and then to be faced with, um, some of those, yeah, unconscionable, um, challenges. I mean, when you decided to open your own place, you know, was it. Was it purposeful, um, in terms of creating a different culture, or is it just sort of, you know, who you are and how you do things?

Speaker A: No, it was very purposeful, I think, also including the who you are bit, because, like, this would be like, how many kitchens have I run? Let me just. I've run, like, at least eight kitchens already as a head chef, and the eighth one is this one. Um, and every single kitchen that I've ever had is always systemized. It's approachable. It's dumbed down to the point that anyone with, ah, common sense can do the recipes. That's how I made it. Because in my opinion, there's no need for me to make it seem like, ah, uh, you want my recipe? You have to work hard to get it. Like, but then did you hire this person to be efficient, or did you hire this person to haze them? Because, like, are you just wasting money? Are you rich? Are you a millionaire? I guess. I mean, if you want to do it. But it was purposeful because I wanted to feel like I have a second home. Because one thing is, the truth of the world is that we, as people, spend half of our time in the workplace, you know, or more than half of our time. Half of our energy is doing work. So if we're gonna make your personal life and your workplace at least enjoyable, then it's better. Because you see, like, you know, you'll see me and my team members in front. We'll just banter, we'll just laugh. We'll dance around like crazy people in the bar. We don't care. There's customers there. We've served you guys already. Unless you call us if you need a drink, we'll be like, um, uh, you know, in the kitchen, it's the same. If I'm working in the kitchen with my, uh, with my sous chef, I'll be just like, okay, what song are we singing today? Are we gonna be, like, you know, insane? Are we gonna do Adele or are we gonna do Filipino ballads? Either way, they're both Very painful. And we'll just, like, have that, and then we'll just converse and we're like, okay, are we ready for tonight's service? We are ready for tonight's service. We're fine. We're good. You know, um, and there's a lot of communication. There's no separation as well, because that's the thing that I see in other restaurants where the kitchen and the front of house and even the bar area are all, like, separated in a sense of, like, there's always someone who's trying to undermine the other, and I'm just like, y' all are stupid. Don't fight, guys. Don't fight. It's. It's just a job, you know, we just need to serve the food, serve the drinks, be kind to one another. There's nothing to, like, go about it, really. Just. I mean, we were all here from 11. We were all tired. Calm, um, down. Calm down, you know. But, yeah, it was.

Speaker B: Yeah, m. Well, I mean, it sounds like you've created a space that's, yeah, really supportive and fun, and I'm sure it's a fun place to be, um, as a customer as well. I've got to come and eat some of your food one day. Uh, I mean, what would. What would you like to see in the broader hospital. What would you like to see in the broader hospitality industry? Um, to make it a safer and more sustainable place for people, you know, whether they're born here or they come from overseas, whether they're exploring different, um, gender or sexual identities or, you know, have, I don't know, any, um, disability or any other, um, just a difference that people might look at and think, well, that's something that I can exploit. Like, what would you like to see change in hospitality to be a safer. A safer place for everybody?

Speaker A: I think more workshops in hospitality would be great, like, um, and also involving venues and stuff. Um, so that it's not just like, oh, we're doing a workshop, but it's because we were burned by this. I would like to see venues supporting this kind of initiatives and applying it to their thing and having. I mean, it's not a union per se, but almost like a union for, like, how we should behave in an environment. Because, like, I think the moment you're. You make a name and you're like, one of the oldest or one of the most expensive restaurants in Melbourne, you seem to, like, accept that, oh, uh, if you're going into this place, you best believe you're going to get, like, you're gonna See? Crazy stuff. And that's always been, um, true for fine dining. That's always been true for older, um, establishments in Melbourne. But I feel like, as, ah, um, professionals, we should be able to impart some nuggets of knowledge of, like, if people say this, it's not okay, but also at the same time, there's also a limit of being just, oh, it's not okay automatically. You have to also suss out, uh, your boundaries and understand where your limits are as well. Because growth is not made for people who cannot handle pressure. Although pressure needs to be, um, healthy. It cannot be toxic always, because the pressure is just, you know, as I was saying, like, you're just yelling at your team member and you're yelling at them for 30 minutes to fix one thing. And 30 minutes is a long time. And then you're. And then suddenly the dish that you're supposed to serve is waiting for 40 minutes. So there should be a better conduit to also, like, navigate our emotions and the way we speak to people. Is it necessary to do it on the pass or during the time that we're serving food, um, and just have more voices? I guess it has to be one. Genuine voices. And this was something that I was discussing with my team, uh, at the cooking show because they asked me as to my, why am I doing a cooking show? My main answer was, I want genuine, authentic voices that really showcases what it is to be in this industry. Because if you're going to be just one of those people who pretend like, oh, yeah, amazing stuff, and you collate people and you advocate for it, but in the background, you're one of those toxic people. Get the hell out. You're seeding, uh, you're putting bad seeds. And we need more people that can shape the generation after us, the legacy leave behind, um, to be better than us. Because that's all I aspire for, to be as a person.

Speaker B: So when you say the cooking show, is this dishes and dialogue?

Speaker A: Yes. Yes.

Speaker B: So tell us what that is.

Speaker A: Oh, it's just a fun cooking show. Uh, I just wanted to do something fun with my friends, and we started it two years ago, um, and we started it again this year after two years with a different type of energy where we explore different food. Mostly at the moment we're just doing Filipino food. Um, my co host, Liam, doesn't know what we're doing all the time. I never tell him. It's always like, oh, uh, we're cooking this right now. But they never know. Um, and it's funny. Because we always try to call Ringling it because he's Vietnamese, I'm Filipino. We call really good to, like, maybe Vietnamese food. Food, uh, Filipino and Korean sometimes. And we were all asking her why we stayed up until 1am this was just recently before, um, the Triple J thing came out. Um, and basically was telling them the reason why I wanted a voice in. In the media space or like, in the hospitality space. Because the abuse was so apparent that, um, the thing I told Triple J was not even half of the things I had to go through. And some of the things I told you here are, like, just a little bit of it. So they've asked our wise, our North Star, essentially what we aspire to be. And I just said, well, I just want people to know that they're not alone and there's people out there who will sympathize with them and we'll listen even. It's not even just like, you know, you don't need someone to tell you what to do. Sometimes you just need someone to lend you an ear and really vent and. Because sometimes you get to the point where you're like, oh, the solution is that I just need to leave the job. And it has to come from you, because your solution is you. Most of the time, um, we can only influence people a little bit, but it's never really the way. Um. So, yeah, that's the cooking show. It's a fun, uh, thing where I almost always just roast Liam because he's not a chef. He always kind of makes a mistake and also, like, asks me questions again and again that he already asked and I said no. So it's that, ah, that's the cooking show that we have.

Speaker B: I love it. And so when you mentioned Triple J, just for people who may not know. So there was a Triple J hack report about migrant, um, workers in hospitality that you appeared on. So, um, yeah, just exploring some of the same issues in the industry. Fred, I really. I really admire the way that you can point to things that are wrong and that, you know, that are bad and that need to change, but that you're also leading with such positivity, um, in your restaurant and with the cooking show. Um, yeah, it's a really. It's a really beautiful mix. Um, what would you. What would you like to be? Your legacy?

Speaker A: I wanted to be mostly, even though I'm half Korean. Um, I want. I want people to know more about Filipino food, of course. Um, and for Filipinos to have more m. Understanding that Filipino food is not just what you think is Filipino food. There's more, there's different regions. And you cannot just put us in the capsule number two is like, for people to find, um, the courage to do something always. Because I feel like we're always stuck with the what if? And never like, oh, I've done this. And I feel like that's something that I know I live by because I take a lot of risks. It doesn't always, always pays off, but you have to do it. Um, and, and now actually start to maybe advocate for, for like, you know, hospitality and the abuse and stuff and further understand how we can support one another. Um, because the moment the Triple J thing came out, uh, people have asked me if I want to advocate for it more. And to be honest, I don't know. I don't know how it was supposed to be. And, uh, I took the interview for the premise of, like, oh, uh, I just want people to know the truth, that it's not always beautiful. When you dine out in a restaurant, be kinder to your servers, be kinder to your bartenders, because, like, most of the time, customers are entitled way too much that they forget that those are people too. You know, they're not machines. So a simple thank you, a simple please, a, uh, simple smile, or like, even just, even if you don't feel like it, uh, just a nod of like, you know, you acknowledge them is important. So those are the things I want to leave behind. I want, I want to leave a full on positive kind of like, footprint of, uh, you know, the industry can be good because I, I generally love this industry, but I also know that to love it is also to hurt yourself sometimes, and that's dangerous. So you have to be mindful and be aware what you're going into, because if not, it's too overwhelming.

Speaker B: But, yeah, oh, it's really brave of you to share all that. Um, and I really admire you for being the change that you want to see. Um, Fred, thanks so much for talking with us today. It's been wonderful to get to know

Speaker A: you a little bit. Oh, thank you for having me. It was a fun conversation.

Speaker B: This is Dirty Linen. I'm Dani Valent. We bring you, um, untold stories from the food world. Real, raw, unafraid, hopeful. We're driven by a belief that food provides endless opportunities for learning, connecting and creating the world we want to live in. Delicious, open hearted, meaningful. If you know a story that needs telling, get in touch. Write to Dirty linen@, uh, deepintheweeds.com au thank you for listening.

Speaker A: This is a deep in the weeds production.