Dampa: Filipino haven for foodies in California

CASTRO VALLEY, California—Castro Valley, the East Bay town nestled between San Leandro and San Ramon, typically is not in the radar of anyone on the hunt for anything Pinoy.  To begin with, there are only a little over 1,200 kababayan there, out of a total population of around 63,000.

And so when the immigrant couple, Julsunthie “Sunthie” and Marites Calalo, opened Dampa (Tagalog for “small, modest abode”) Restaurant in August 2010, Castro Valley has since hosted  its first and, to date, only Filipino dining place and catering service — as well as the regular and increasingly frequent visits of diners from neighboring towns and cities.

“What amazes us is that our growing customer base now includes more non-Filipinos,” Sunthie, the restaurant’s chef, told FilAm Star.  “The other day, we had a middle-age white couple who ordered pork ‘sinigang’ and they told us how much they enjoyed it.”

Truth is, Sunthie, and Marites — who’s in charge of everything else in Dampa outside of the kitchen — have gotten used to such customer reaction of delight.  And for a reason.  The novelty of a lone Filipino restaurant in Castro Valley may have worn off, but the freshness and superb taste of every dish Sunthie personally puts together are as consistent as the intense passion for cooking he has nurtured since childhood.

Recounts the native of Batangas province to FilAm Star:  “As a kid, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  I always volunteered to help in the food preparation for town fiestas, wedding banquets, and other large gatherings.  I inherited this love for cooking from my father.”

Sunthie’s biggest break came as early as when he was just 11 years old. The cook who was supposed to take care of their spread for the town fiesta wasn’t able to show up, after all the ingredients had been procured and prepared the night before.

“Without hesitation, I announced to the household that I could do it,” Sunthie continued.  “My grandmother looked at me rather suspiciously, but gave me the nod.  I whipped up ‘menudo,’ ‘afritada,’ and ‘dinuguan’ because while these three dishes are all different, they are cooked pretty much using the same approach.  Everything turned out fine.  Our guests enjoyed the food.”

That early, Sunthie’s cooking savvy was already evolving, and which he continued to refine with the many years he spent in the kitchen of various food chains, restaurants and hotels in the Philippines, Guam, and California.

He fondly remembers working with the executive chef of a top hotel in Guam, where his dad, a retired US, Navy man, first brought the family as US-bound immigrants.

“He was Japanese, and from him I learned that Japanese food is held sacred.   There are exact rules to follow in the preparation ….. no exceptions, no shortcuts, no nonsense,” Sunthie said.

It is the same code of conduct, discipline if you will, that Sunthie brings to the fore every single day.  He starts off at dawn, preparing breakfast for the children who come to the couple’s day-care service that Marites manages until late afternoon on weekdays.  After that, he hits the road to the market to pick up the freshest ingredients he will need for the day.

The almost-daily trip to the food market is critical, Sunthie pointed out, because he doesn’t stock up, especially on vegetables and seafood; at Dampa, these are guaranteed to be the day’s freshest harvest.  The primary rule:  entrées  are cooked as they are ordered.  No wonder, even a serving of ‘turon’ takes 10 minutes to get from the kitchen to the customer’s table.

“That’s because we peel the bananas only after receiving the order,” Sunthie said.

Asked why it took him a while to put up Dampa, Sunthie confided that while he had always dreamed of owning and operating a restaurant, he thought his kitchen skills still wouldn’t cut it.  This is where Marites was key.

“Marites has always been my morale booster,” Sunthie declared.  “It’s from her that I learned patience and persistence.  To her I owe the confidence I now have that this restaurant will always serve nothing less than perfection.“

That’s saying a lot about Castro Valley’s Dampa Restaurant — and about Marites, who could be on a mission to help Sunthie flesh out a mini-dream:  to personally meet his idols, celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse and Anthony Bourdin.