Du Jour: Jojo Nardo and Val Suico, Pinoy Restaurant

The fact he knew nothing about the restaurant business didn’t stop Jojo Nardo from opening Baton Rouge’s first and only Filipino restaurant, Pinoy, earlier this year. Ever since he had moved to the Capital City from the Philippines with his wife in 2005, Nardo had cooked his native dishes for friends, receiving enough positive feedback to take his show to the masses. Nardo and his business partner, Val Suico, also from the Philippines, figured Baton Rougeans were curious enough to give their country’s cuisine a try. It’s been a good run, so far, but the team would like to develop a stronger following to go along with those 12 hours days. “What we serve is typical Filipino food,” says Nardo. “We have lots of regular customers and we get good feedback, but we still need to educate people about what we have.”

The Pacific Rim cuisine features the use of seafood, tropical fruit, pork, and egg or rice noodles, coconut milk and sometimes hot spices. Beef is rare in the Philippines, so pork gets top billing. Pinoy serves pork shank and pork belly, both deep fried. Other popular items include lumpia, or pork and veggie egg rolls and adobo, in which pork or chicken are cooked in a savory soy and bay leaf-infused sauce. Nardo says while he’s had to adjust to the long hours and the business end of running a restaurant, cooking is a blast. “It’s just in me,” he says. “It’s something I’ve always done.”

To read previous Du Jour features on local chefs and other culinary experts, click here.