-
L.A. Times’ 101 Best Restaurants Reimagined for 2020
“Petite Peso’s chicken adobo is engineered to withstand the culinary indignities of takeout. Garlicky and vinegary, flecked with crisped chicken skin and mustard greens, smoothed out by coconut milk and served over rice, the dish tastes delicious at any temperature and in any setting. Its counterpart, an adobo riff on a French dip sandwich (jus included) that perfectly encompasses Los Angeles, is best picked up and eaten the moment you can find a quiet spot.” —Bill Addison
-
38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
“Ria Barbosa Dolly opened this small but mighty Filipino restaurant in Downtown inside the former Rice Bar space, but taking the menu to new heights with familiar classics interpreted into modern dishes, like an adobo French dip or chicken sisig salad. Though LA boasts a lot of great Filipino food, Petite Peso is the place to see where the cuisine is going next.“ —Matthew Kang
-
The 15 best new Los Angeles restaurants of 2020
“Filipino food has always been cool but at Petite Peso, it’s unabashedly so. Chef Ria Barbosa’s first standalone restaurant serves fantastic kare kare, chicken adobo, lumpia and other Filipino classics along with streetwear (hi, branded bucket hats), playful specials like a reimagined take on Jollibee chicken and spaghetti, and, in the absolute most essential section of the restaurant’s new online shop, “The Good Good”: value packs of frozen lumpia available in both pork and meatless Impossible Foods varieties, naturally.” —Stephanie Breijo
About Executive Chef Ria Dolly Barbosa
Ria has combined her traditional French culinary education with the Filipino flavors of her heritage. She was recently nominated for Eater LA’s “Chef of the Year 2018”. Beginning her training in the time-honored French kitchens where hard work and initiative are expected, Ria is a product of The Mansion LV, Lutece LV, Michael Mina LV, Daniel Boulud Brasserie LV, and Liberty Heights Fresh SLC.
Ria’s first major culinary accomplishment was opening Sqirl with her team, and as the Chef, she propelled the unconventional brunch spot to its current status of celebrity regulars and a perpetual line of hungry guests out the door and around the block. After Sqirl, Ria went on to launch the lunchtime pop-up WILD at Canelé. At WILD, Ria continued her playful and experimental style, incorporating the best fresh, local produce Sqirl is known for, and infusing an expansion of the Filipino flavors she grew up eating. The year-long residency at Canelé was a success with food critics and diners alike. She then rejoined former Sqirl colleagues Kyle Glanville and Charles Babinski to open the Los Feliz branch of Go Get Em Tiger. (continued below)
“Just shy of two decades into my career, what scares me the most now is NOT taking the risk and missing out on what could be. It’s safe to say that where I currently am in my personal and professional life is the result of more than a few calculated risks. I think the reason why I was afraid to fail was because I didn’t yet understand that when you do, you are presented with very important lessons I guarantee are necessary to help guide you further down your path. Having been raised in French brigade kitchens, it was a risk to step away from preparing cuisine that a majority of the dining public felt comfortable eating. It was a risk to start cooking my family’s food in L.A. during a time when there weren’t Filipino restaurants in the mainstream dining scene. And now in the time of Covid, it is a risk to reopen our restaurant to the public after a nearly three month hiatus but it’s a risk we are willing to, and feel good about taking because a life without risk is a life without growth.”
— Executive Chef Ria Dolly Barbosa-
Executive Chef / VP of Culinary Ria Dolly Barbosa
(Continued from above) After Sqirl and WILD at Canelé, Ria’s experiences led her to oversee all the Go Get Em Tiger locations. Following her time at GGET, she joined Sydney based Paramount Coffee Project to oversee the opening of their expanded offering at The Row in Downtown Los Angeles while also overseeing their original location on Fairfax. Today she is the Executive Chef / VP of Culinary of Peso Hospitality.
-
President Co-Owner Robert Villanueva
Robert has a combined 25 years of experience in the hospitality, food and beverage industry. His experience includes leading the teams at Cal Mare Los Angeles, Stripsteak Waikiki, Bardot Brasserie Las Vegas, Stripsteak Las Vegas and Botero Steakhouse Las Vegas has lead him to his current position as the Director of Food and Beverage of the RSG Group & Mina Group in Los Angeles. Robert has worked with the likes of Chef Michael Mina, Chef Jean-Louis Palladin , Chef Bradley Ogden, and Andre Rochet.
-
Rice Engineer Tiffany Tanaka
Tiffany is of Filipino and Japanese descent and a local to Hawaii. Her global studies at USF, CCA and Parsons School of Design in NY & Paris developed her love for culture, hospitality, purpose-driven brands and the communities they create. Building, strengthening, preserving yet innovating is her passion. Tiffany’s roots stem from an entrepreneurial background but has helped corporate teams like Saks 5th Avenue and Michael Mina Restaurants. Tiffany is active on the Board of Hawaii Food and Wine Festival Epicurean Leaders for Denise & Roy Yamaguchi.
-
FILIPINO FOOD
"Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go." - Anthony Bourdain
We couldn’t agree more with Uncle Tony. We want to share our Filipino culture with you through our food and hospitality. Accentuating authenticity while being progressive and approachable - it’s a balance and a big part of the Peso Hospitality experience.
Now more than ever traditions are forgotten or have evolved. At Peso Hospitality we believe good food is storytelling - it is memories in time, equations of the future, bringing people together near and far. Food is our love language. Filipino food is our soul.
-
DEFER(ISM)
“Alex “Defer” Kizu is synonymous with the West Coast street art scene, and is known for his typographic work, expressed through his distinctive hand style. Defer's art pays homage to the original Los Angeles graffiti crews, while also acting as a bridge between the underground graffiti movement and the realm of fine art.” - Artlife.com
Petite Peso DTLA is blessed with Defer’s artwork greeting our customers at the doorway and inside our common floor area. His artwork is universal and is especially rooted and recognized in LA. Defer is an incredible artist, person and keeps it the realist! Follow his journey and art work on instagram at @deferk2s and on his website at DEFERK2S.COM.
-
DTLA JEWELRY DISTRICT
In 1920 the 2nd theater of LA City was born at the corner of 7th x Hill - Pantages Theater. Four operators later The Jewelry Theater is a thriving multicultural oasis thriving with merchant cubbies full of gold and diamonds and was named “Downtown Jewelry Exchange” in the late 1980s.
419 W 7th Street is one of many little pockets in the building. Our petite 400 sq ft space was home to two other Filipino restaurant operators. Blessed to have the stars align for 7th x Hill to be the first restaurant concept - Petite Peso. The team strives to perpetuate the legacy of sharing Filipino culture through food in DTLA.
Los Angeles County alone accounts for over 374,285 Filipinos, the most of any single county in the U.S.
