|
|
SAVOR Talking with Billy Dec about Sunda, Filipino heritage and 'Food Roots' film
by Andrew Davis 2023-10-16
|
|
This article shared 4461 times since Mon Oct 16, 2023
|
|
It's safe to say that Billy Dec has accomplished a lot. Dec, a local celebrity, has been a restaurant (Sunda New Asian), actor, philanthropist, podcaster, nightclub owner, LGBTQ+ ally and Emmy-winning actor, among other things.
In fact, when it comes to choosing a project, Dec replied that he's always been the busy sort. "We needed money when I was younger and I was always helping my family a lot," he said. "I was always working, day into the night. Then when I was working at the clublike being a bouncer at Shelter back in the daythat was more money. Then, relationship-building and collaboration allowed me to work with a lot of great people.
"It eventually hit me that I wanted to be more intentional and thoughtful about what I wanted to accomplishand I started to look at what was important. I stayed away from things that were not important to me and didn't fulfill what I was looking for."
Two of those items that were relevant to Decwho has been an appointee on the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders as well as the White House Bullying Prevention Task Forcewere his upbringing and his Filipino-American heritage. However, he initially hid the latter. "Kids can be mean," Dec said. "[Bullying] can make you confused and you hide who you really are, and you try to fit inand I later learned that bullying comes from a lack of conditioning or education." But despite all of his subsequent successesincluding becoming a lawyerDec said what "really mattered were my heritage and culture."
And, adding to his resume, Dec also recently became a filmmaker, having filmed his first documentary, Food Roots, an hour-long work that took him to The Philippines to learn the recipes of his ancestors. "It brought me full-circle," he said. "I'm really excited about it." The film is slated to be screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, fittingly, during Filipino American Heritage Month.
As for Sunda, Dec said, "It's the living embodiment of the culture and culinary [influences] of Asia, including the Philippines, that's elevated to a wonderful level. It just makes me feel honored to elevate something that made me feel awkward as a kid." Dec added that he appreciates that he can educate others about Asian cuisine through the restaurant, which also has branches in Tampa and Nashville. "It's about celebrating that unique difference. Everyone should do so," he said, also saying that his commitment to helping others led to the creation of #SundaService, which involves providing meals for those without the means to purchase their own. (BTW, Sunda is expanding its Chicago presence with another spot in the city's Fulton Market area, at 333 N. Green St., in addition to the current River North site at 110 W. Illinois St.)
Dec said that he loves that the Filipino scene has seemingly exploded in Chicago, with restaurants such as Cebu and other spots incorporating Filipino dishes into their menus. "The mainstream never gave it a shot at all so I think the change is amazing," he said. "Chinese, Japanese and, as of late, Thai and Vietnamese food has been around but Filipino food has been off the edge. That's weird to me because, first of all, the relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. has been so rich. The second thing that blows my mind is that it's one of the most dynamic and diverse, always-evolving culinary genres," adding that said evolution "is a result of the people being so open-minded."
And with Dec being a restaurateur, it seemed the right time to get his thoughts on the Chicago City Council recently voted to eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped employees working within the city by July 1, 2028. "I don't know the details," Dec replied at the time. "It's a tough one. The bottom line is that we all need to be treated fairly. However, a large number of restaurants are already on the brink of permanent closure and the writing is on the wall with respect to increases of cost with food, labor, property, and on and on."
However, with all of the talk about Dec's professional roles, his most important one is a personal one: fatherand that played into one of the benefits of visiting his homeland for Food Roots. Dec said, "The movie is packaged with adventure, excitement and food. But one of the underlying [goals] is to inspire people to find out about their ancestors. This movie is about ancestors passing down recipes, and what that says about their DNA and heritage. If everybody found out about their heritage and presented those dishes, there would be a lot more celebration in life about our diverse offerings."
Food Roots is slated to screen Oct. 19 and 21 at the Chicago International Food Festival (at the AMC NEWCITY); see www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/food-roots/ . For more about Sunda, visit sundanewasian.com . |
|
|
|
This article shared 4461 times since Mon Oct 16, 2023
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | SHOWBIZ 'Priscilla,' Tony nods, Oscars, Ncuti Gatwa, Jonathan Bailey, GLAAD event 2024-04-26 - Stephan Elliottwho directed the cult classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desertsaid a sequel "is happening" and that the original movie's stars (Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving) are back "on board" 30 ...
|
| | WORLD Queer-friendly spots, religion items, Argentine protests, Iraqi bill 2024-04-26 - Following a travel warning issued for LGBTQ+ tourists in Greece, euronews published a list of the European spots that are most welcoming to queer people. Even though same-sex marriage was recently legalized in Greece, the British ...
|
| | The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20 - Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19 - I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ film fest Queer Expression to feature Alexandra Billings in 'Queen Tut' 2024-04-12 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Pride Film Fest celebrates its second decade with a new name—QUEER EXPRESSION—and has announced its slate of LGBTQ+-themed feature, mid-length and short films for in-person and virtual events in April and May. QUEER EXPRESSI ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Jerrod Carmichael, '9-1-1' actor, Kayne the Lovechild, STARZ shows, Cynthia Erivo 2024-04-12 - Gay comedian/filmmaker Jerrod Carmichael criticized Dave Chappelle, opening up about the pair's ongoing feud and calling out Chappelle's opinions on the LGBTQ+ community, PinkNews noted, citing an Esquire article. Carmichael ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05 - For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29 Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...
|
| | WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29 - Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...
|
| | JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22 - series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...
|
| | WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21 - It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21 - Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15 - Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08 - Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01 - Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctora film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...
| |
|
|