Long overdue but... What's the Kwento on Andrea Bueno?
Okay, so before I get too excited let me back up a bit…
This pop-up event was hosted by my friend, Andrea Bueno, a former cook at Miku who began her career in the food service industry in early 2008. Initially starting her humble beginnings at Cafe Crepe, she eventually worked her way to Lucky’s Donuts and quickly realized that she wanted to become a Pastry Chef. Her pursuit of her dream also directed her towards a formal education at Northwest Culinary and Pastry School, as well as training for a year in Tokyo, Japan working at Cafe Nomu.
As a Pastry Chef, Andrea specializes in plated desserts and has curated some amazing edible artworks over the last ten years. Below are a few plates that she has done :)
Kuwento/Kwento (pronounced: Quen-toh) is the Tagalog word for “story” or “story telling”. It also happened to be the theme of a pop-up dinner I attended a few months ago :)
As a Filipino, I was very intrigued by a pop-up dinner with the word kwento as its title. The name itself was enough for me to get excited about celebrating Filipino culture, I had to immediately reserve a spot for me and a friend… AND OH MY GULAY - it was the freaking bomb! A dinner I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves to eat and try new dishes!
Pictured above are Andrea Bueno with her wonderful fiancee, Randy.
FUN FACT: Apart from plating desserts, Andrea also has a passion for belly dancing, taking long walks at a park or beach, and reading. As shown above, her current favourite and recommended book to read is “You are a Badass: How to stop doubting your greatness and start living an awesome life" by Jen Sincero.
Now back to the amazing dinner…
Andrea had always longed to host her own dinner event and the concept for Kwento had been in the makings since 2015. After her working trip to Japan, Andrea finally decided to take the plunge and carry out her vision of a five-course dinner with Filipino influences. From the place settings and cute floral centre pieces, to the sweet and savoury aromas emanating from the kitchen, Andrea was able to successfully curate a fine dining experience with the help of her cook team, Nadia (Miku) and Sunny (Hawksworth), and front-of-house server, Guislen Rose.
Currently, Andrea is residing in the UK as part of her learning journey. You can find her on instagram @andreaamb to follow her food and travel adventures before she returns to Vancouver!
Also, please feel free to have a look at some of the dishes we were able to experience at Kwento. All photos are taken by Lula-Belle (ig: @lulaxbelle)
Overall, I strongly feel that Kwento was a huge success and a memorable experience. One that I would recommend for everyone to try :)
A long overdue but still very well deserved congratulations goes to Andrea Bueno, Nadia, Sunny, Lula, and Guislen! You all did so amazing in sharing your Kwento… full of colourful themes and aesthetically pleasing dishes resulting in hearty laughs and full stomachs <3
