These essays credit a new generation of Filipino-American chefs with the current emergence of Filipino restaurants in the country. The following month, Eddie Lin of Los Angeles Magazine declares that 2015 may very well be “the year of Filipino food in Los Angeles.” Most recently, in July 2016, Saveur published a piece on how Philippine cuisine continues to break through LA’s food scene. What took it so long?” writes Tim Carman on The Washington Post in April of last year. Even then, our cuisine has only recently come to the awareness of the larger American dining public. Here in the United States, Filipinos constitute one of the largest groups of immigrants. Perhaps it is this growing global presence that is slowly but surely pushing Filipino food into the culinary mainstream. Goldilocks products are also sold by retailers around the world to meet the demands of a growing Filipino diaspora. Additionally, there are eleven locations in the United States (ten in California, and one in Las Vegas, Nevada), and two in Canada. It has since grown to become the largest family-owned bakeshop in the Philippines, with hundreds of stores all over the country. Goldilocks Bakeshop first opened in Makati City, Philippines as a small family-run bakery in 1966, and later debuted in the United States in 1976. The management team hopes that these simple gatherings will bring the traditional Filipino cuisine offered by Goldilocks to the attention of a younger generation of Filipino-Americans and non-Filipinos alike. We gathered for lunch in the Cerritos branch the night before, dinner was held for another group of social media savvy guests at the store in Carson. While the company specializes in baked goods, it has recently transformed its Cerritos and Carson stores into full-service restaurants where families and friends can sit down and enjoy an authentic Filipino meal. I sat at a table with other bloggers/Instagrammers, and we were served a satisfying assortment of Filipino food. It’s a very simple baked bread which definitely everybody would love, so if you want to try this one out either find a Goldilocks branch near you or try this recipe out.My most recent revisiting of the baking institution of my childhood (for, truly, it wasn’t just about birthday cakes, but all sorts of pasalubong goodness in the form of mamon, ensaymada, polvoron, sansrival…) was a few days ago, when I attended a lunch hosted and organized by owner Rob Yee and marketing director Agnes Francisco in celebration of Goldilocks’ 50th anniversary. Mamon for those who does not know is a very soft yellow sponge cake with a moist buttery top and grated cheese toppings, it’s one of the all time favourite baked goods in the Philippines, can be consumed freshly baked or straight from the fridge. Filipino shops all over the world even import these baked goods in the country they are in, I had seen that at least in Malaysia (Kota Raya), Singapore ( Lucky Plaza), Hong Kong ( World Wide House) and even here in Auckland. 2 years ago dining in at Goldilocks Cerritos was a part of out itinerary as we don’t have it here in New Zealand. Now 30 years later Goldilocks became the standard of Filipino baked goods and delicacies it even went international that’s why when we visited L.A. This was also and mainstay brand in birthdays and occasions that have cakes as most of it can only be purchased at Goldilocks during that time, there no good competitors around. Most of us also grew up with its baked goods such as birthday cakes, roll cakes, brazo de mercedes, mamon, polvoron and many more as these were the items our moms put on our lunchboxes. I remember during the 80’s when McDonalds and other Fast Food restaurants was not yet existing or popular in the Philippines this and Aristocrat was the restaurant to go to in any type of occasion. You might start noticing a lot of Goldilocks mentioned in this blog that is because it is one of the most iconic family bakeshops and restaurants that people with the same age group as me grew up with in the Philippines, this restaurant also had popularized a lot of Filipino food items such as savoury dishes, desserts, cakes and pastries like this post “Mamon”.
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