The Manila Social Club’s gold-dusted donut. CONTRIBUTED
CHICAGO – An array of flavored and fresh Filipino-style donuts, including the highly praised Golden Cristal Ube donut, will be presented at the Kultura Festival, Sunday Oct. 2, at Emporium Logan Square, 2363 N. Milwaukee Avenue in this city.
“Chef Bjorn DelaCruz and the Manila Social Club team are ready and excited to celebrate and participate in Kultura Fest!” says Toki DelaCruz, director of operations for the family-owned and operated Brooklyn-based restaurant that makes the donuts.
“We’re committed to sharing the beautiful culture of the Philippines as Filipino Americans through the arts and music and food, whether it be traditional or moving in a more progressive direction. Being part of Kultura fest is the perfect platform for that. Come enjoy the fresh donuts, socialize with the team, and meet the chef!” DelaCruz adds.
“We love what Bjorn and the family at Manila Social Club are doing in Brooklyn and happy to see them return to their Midwest roots (by way of Indiana),” says Filipino Kitchen co-founder Natalia Roxas. “The donuts celebrate the flavors of home in a bold and audacious way, and that’s what embodies the mission of Kultura Festival.”
The Manila Social Club Golden Cristal Donut is made with ube, a naturally purple sweet yam found in the Philippines and Cristal champagne, making it a unique and decadent donut. The Golden Donut is filled with an ube mousse and a Cristal gelée, covered in a Cristal icing, dusted with 24K gold dust and hand-gilded with 24K gold leaf. Each donut is handmade by Manila Social Club’s Executive Chef, Co-Owner and creator of the Golden Cristal Donut, Björn De La Cruz. An individually hand-made Golden Cristal Ube Donut is $100.
A limited number of Golden Cristal Donuts can be pre-ordered and picked up at Kultura Fest on Sunday, Oct. 2. Additionally, pre-orders can also be taken for the Golden Cristal Ube Donut to pickup on Monday, Oct. 3, at a Chicago location TBA. The Golden Donuts can be pre-ordered through the Manila Social Club website (no same-day sales will be made): https://www.manilasocialclub.com/donuts/
At Kultura Festival, Manila Social Club will also offer a donut bar of ube, gin-calamansi and buko pandan donuts.
Manila Social Club joins this year’s roster of Kultura Festival chefs: Chef Kristine Subido of Pecking Order Catering; Top Chef season 10 alumna Chef Chrissy Camba of Maddy’s Dumpling House; night market favorite Hapa Chicago; Melissa Yen of JoSnow Syrups; Oxtail Filipino Inspired; Dorothy Hernandez, co-owner and creative director of Sarap Detroit (Detroit); Chef AC Boral of RICE & SHINE and Naks Tacos (Long Beach, CA); and Chef Sharwin Tee of “Curiosity Got The Chef” on Lifestyle TV (Manila, Philippines).
Tickets to Kultura can be purchased online at https://ti.to/filipino-kitchen/kultura-2016. Student and senior pricing available. Children under 5 years of age are free. Carefully curated to appeal to those who personally identify with Filipino culture and the curious or uninitiated, Kultura Festival aims to reintroduce Filipino cuisine to Chicago and the Midwest. More information can be found at https://filipino.kitchen/kultura-festival/.