Peace, Love and Delicious Filipino Food at Filled Cafe

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Welcome to The Dish, airing weekly since Staten Island Advance Facebook page / SILIVE.com. The show features the borough’s vibrant food industry and takes a behind-the-scenes look at some of the unique businesses that cook for the community.

This week’s episode brings us to Filled, a Filipino bakery and breakfast house. On the menu, the silog – a plate topped with banana leaves with garlic fried rice (sinangag), meat like longganisa sausage or sautéed beef tips called tapa to accompany an overly easy egg. Because of this particular dish, Filled is nicknamed a “Silog House” and it is the only one of its kind in New York City.

Open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Christian themed cafe at 400 Victory Blvd., Tompkinsville; 347-857-6360) was inspired by the “church family” of owners Ellen San Miguel and Kats Alvir.

In the Philippines, Ellen and Kats sang professionally. Their love for music is now reflected in their restaurant with live music on Saturday evenings from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. They can accommodate up to 10 guests – by reservation only – at each session.

For a little coffee, there is a lot to discover in Filled. So take a look at the accompanying video as the smell of fresh bread, a coffee specialty, wafts through the dining room.

Filled Cafe, Tompkinsville, is a Christian cafe offering Filipino cuisine.

Fun fact: Ellen and Kats say prayers right before they cook the dishes. So all food comes with good blessings.

Our travels last week took us to Beverage Island at 66 Willow Avenue in Rosebank with its new 32,000 square foot beer and soft drink warehouse. Next week we are heading to another place for breakfast. See where we hang out by logging into The Dish on Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Pamela Silvestri is Editor-in-Chief of Advance Food. She can be reached at [email protected].