Today we’d like to introduce you to Krizzia Yanga.
Hi Krizzia, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My family and I are originally from the Philippines. After immigrating and moving around a lot, we ended up settling down in Pickerington, Ohio, a suburb outside of Columbus. After college, I moved to Chicago and got a job at a tech firm and quickly realized it wasn’t for me. My mom called me one day and asked if I was interested in coming back home to open a cafe and I said yes. In 2015, we opened up a cafe in Downtown Columbus and began experimenting with Filipino flavors – first in sandwiches and then in a traditional Filipino brunch pop-up on the weekends.
Eventually, it began to outgrow our small 15-seat cafe. Because I grew up in a Midwest suburb, I really never saw my culture represented and it wasn’t until we started seeing lines outside our doors that I really believed Columbus was ready for Filipino food. In 2016, we turned a former Wendy’s into Bonifacio: Modern Filipino, the first full-service Filipino restaurant in Columbus. While we were starting to get some visibility and local media recognition, we still had to learn how to create, present, and sell Filipino food to a mainstream audience while staying true to our roots. Our dream was to not only create a space that emulated the Filipino parties that represented community to me growing up but to make Filipino food a regular part of Columbus’ culinary landscape.
In the past 6 years, we’ve been recognized as Food and Wine’s Best Filipino Food in Ohio and one of Columbus’s Best New Restaurants and Top 10 Restaurants. We have also been featured on Cooking Channel’s Burgers, Brews, and ‘Que and Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games. Last year, we expanded into a street food concept at Budd Dairy Food Hall in Italian Village called Boni: Filipino Street Food and are getting ready to launch a new concept in Cincinnati.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all! As a small, family-owned business we didn’t have a lot of resources, so building a business with a cuisine that was new to Columbus was an uphill battle for a long time. Slowly, but surely, we were able to build a following – through social media, networking, creative menu items, and experiences, and consistency in our food and service.
One of the things that really put us on the map is our Boodle Nights – a traditional family-style dining experience that we host on Thursday and Sunday evenings. Our tables are covered in banana leaves and a spread of food is placed directly on top. Traditionally, this style of dining is eaten with your hands. It’s a great way to engage with others and a tactile way to interact with food. When we opened, there wasn’t as much interest in international food and culture as there is now, so we were pushed to be creative and persistent, which ended up helping us survive the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, we hardly had any takeout business because we really focused on our dine-in experience from our plating to the education and hospitality of our front-of-house staff. When the pandemic started, we opened up the old Wendy’s drive-thru window and had to rework our menu to be takeout and delivery friendly.
We even figured out a way to convert our Boodle Night dinners into take-home experiences. What we discovered over the year and a half that we operated as takeout-only is that Bonifacio and Filipino food was becoming a regular part of Columbus’ weekly diet, an idea that we could have only dreamed of.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Bonifacio: Modern Filipino, opened in 2016, is Columbus’ first full-service restaurant. We specialize in creating a dining experience centered on sharing Filipino culture through food, focusing on traditional flavors with a contemporary presentation and authentic hospitality.
We are best known for our Boodle Nights, a traditional communal dining experience where an extravagant spread is placed directly on tables covered in banana leaves, traditionally eaten without plates or silverware.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bonifacio614.com
- Instagram: @bonifacio614
- Facebook: facebook.com/bonifacio614
Image Credits
Love Emma Photography and Emma Parker Photography
