I’m Rob, a Filipino food writer and chef. I read dishes like documents. I ask who profits, whose work disappears, and what we have been trained to swallow without noticing the cost. My kitchen work informs the page. Heat, timing, and labor shape how I write about taste.
I learned from Filipino scholars who treated taste as method. They followed lasa to class, to colonial rule, to the gatekeepers of “authentic.” Their work set my path. Food is never neutral. It records power. My essays trace those records in markets, in dining rooms, and in the small math of a family table.
I run LASA, a home for writing that treats Filipino food as evidence. We examine climate shocks that change what grows. We study platforms that hide riders behind clean interfaces. We look at seed control, wage theft, and the way fine dining claims to elevate while long-time cooks are priced out of the room. We ask why fusion collects stars while indigenous knowledge fades from view. The name comes from lasa or taste. The domain, walangLasa.ph, points to the risk of going tasteless while scrolling past supply chain harm.
My practice crosses kitchens, research, and technology. I test recipes with farmers’ realities in mind. I speak with riders, vendors, and line cooks. I read receipts and policy. I present work in clear language so readers can follow the chain from soil to plate to paycheck. As a Filipino food writer I file essays that name power without gloss, and I welcome debate that sharpens the facts.
I would welcome the opportunity to work with researchers, journalists, and organizers on food sovereignty, labor rights, climate justice, and indigenous knowledge. I value knowledge sharing, careful attribution, and grounded examples. If your project needs a writer who understands kitchens and systems, let’s talk.
I write for readers who want more than flavor notes. If you are hungry for essays that treat eating as political work, you will find them here. I’m Rob, a Filipino food writer committed to making power visible on the plate. Read the essays. Follow the threads. Tell me what I missed, and where the next story should start.
