Chef Eugene Santiago reinterprets timeless Filipino food with a farm-fresh, community-focused perceptiveness

An enthusiasm for using farm-fresh fruit and vegetables initially brought chef Eugene Santiago to Long Beach.

When he understood he wanted to reconnect with the capability to utilize hyperlocal fruit and vegetables with his food, he was helping out frequently at a farm in Sierra Madre.

Now, his food, under the name Baryo, can be discovered at Union@Compound, a dining establishment accompanying an art gallery on Coronado Avenue just south of East 14th Street.

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Baryo is Filipino for the Spanish word "barrio" implying village or neighborhood.

Part of the mission statement on Baryo's site consists of Santiago's vision for his food: "It's essential to us to work towards the idea that food can be grown, prepared and shared within a little proximity."

While doing pop-ups to serve food at farmer's markets around Long Beach, he came across Farm Lot 59, a 0.6-acre urban farm on California Avenue north of East Willow Street.

During the pandemic, Sasha Kanno-- who runs Farm Lot 59-- lost a lot of her dining establishment partners and had an overabundance of produce. Given that he was currently helping her farm, Santiago decided to cook the food and contribute 100 meals a week to a local women's and children's.

"What initially was supposed to be like a two, three-week program developed into 3 or four months," Santiago said.

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He continues to donate meals in Long Beach, now to an adult day care center he got in touch with by calling around to find out who needed catering.

"We were simply kind of navigating where the needs were and supplying meals to the senior felt right," Santiago stated.

Small plates served at Compound consist of roasted cauliflower, pork asado bao buns and pancit, while larger plates include an oyster mushroom skewer, black cod with a side of Filipino convenience soup and Filipino-style Galbi-- a grilled bone-in brief rib with a side of coconut rice.

Via the Baryo site, Santiago likewise uses celebration trays with a range of options along with homemade coconut jam.

The jam is made from coconut milk prepared down with pandan leaves and sweetened with demerara sugar, which is produced from sugarcane and consists of large grains.

Santiago stated his end game is to have his own brick-and-mortar shop in Long Beach.

"I see it more like a little market, a little corner market," he said.

Union@Compound is at 1395 Coronado Ave.