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This is the first installment of our series Getting on the Map, presented by Apple Maps. Over the next three weeks, we’ll be sharing how some of the most creative bars and restaurants are marketing themselves to stand out in a crowded hospitality scene.
When I spoke with Cyed Adraincem, he apologized for stumbling over any words; he’d been up at 4 a.m. to wash the sidewalk in front of his forthcoming restaurant. “I wanted to beat all the foot traffic,” he said.
Adraincem seems to have brought that same dedication to outfitting Hoy, which will serve Filipino street food in a Manila night-market-like space. Though not yet open, the restaurant has already garnered a lot of attention for its loud and off-kilter aesthetic, smart pop cultural ties, and behind-the-scenes peeks into R&D. I asked him about designing the space, the merch plan, and how opening is going.
Mary Anne Porto: Can you tell us about the restaurant concept?
Cyed Adraincem: It’s Filipino street food, super fast casual. I’m trying to introduce Filipino food to a broader audience because I feel like we’re underrepresented in New York City. We’ll be serving barbecue skewers, lumpia, and a couple different sandwiches. It’s a pretty simple menu, nothing too fancy, mostly traditional, with chef techniques that we’ve learned over the years. I think the New York dining scene wants something more casual, more affordable right now. They don’t want something pretentious; they just want to eat and have a good drink.
The space is based on American diners because I love them. I’ve also been working in cocktail bars for the past seven years. So if you come into the restaurant, it’s kind of a mashup of the two. Those two things [feel similar] to the Manila night market [theme] we’re going for. It’s very high energy; everyone is front-facing; it’s loud and fun. Since everything is counter service, everything is front-facing. The kitchen is open, so I think the energy will keep going throughout the restaurant. We’ll communicate in front of everyone, and it’ll be like a street-market affair.
How did you come up with the branding and logo for Hoy?
My designer is Kristofferson San Pablo. He’s a Filipino American, and he’s actually my cousin. He’s a well-known artist in LA. We decided on this design based on all the intense fun of a Manila night market. So there are a lot of different colors, a lot of visually stimulating stuff, without being too overwhelming. The pattern on the walls comes from one of the oldest textile patterns in the Philippines. It was an easy choice to showcase our culture in a cool way.
[We have] shelves of snacks that are supposed to mimic a sari-sari store in the Philippines. They are usually on every street corner and typically operating right out of the owner’s home, selling an assortment of everyday essentials. Cookbooks [on the shelves were] passed down from my parents. Some of them are very old. They are the baseline of what we will be creating for the restaurant. We also have cookbooks from our local favorites.
We tried to stay away from the typical Filipino [branding] stuff, like the star and the sun and barong tagalogs, things that are very obviously Filipino. We wanted to use things like the barrel man, carabao [water buffalo], farmer life, which are a little bit different from the mainstream.
It’s super Filipino culture. And the other fun part of it is I get to teach people who don’t know about this. These barrel men were made-to-sell souvenirs for poor people to make money. But it’s also how Filipinos act: It’s fun, it’s a gag gift.
I also have a bunch of art pieces from different artists around the city and LA as well. We’re going to try to stick with as much Filipino art as we can, but I’m open to [any artists]. As long as it’s local and made with community in mind, I’m happy to support them.
Before even opening, you’ve channeled these pop-culture moments through some of your designs, like your Knicks-themed choking sign. How quickly can you and your designer put together this art, and what’s the process like?
Everything’s on the fly, baby. Kris’ art is very pop-culture heavy. For him, it’s kind of second nature. I bring things up, and he’s like “Oh yeah, I’ve already been working on something like that.” He keeps up with all of it. He works fast.
What merch are you planning to have?
A bunch of different things. We entertained the idea of making our own barrel man, or barrel man key chains, and even house slippers. Our standard products we’ll probably carry are shirts, hats, and totes, and we’ll probably cater to the season. As we get open and understand the space better, we’ll start producing more merch. It’s going to be fun, and most of this merch is going to be collaborative with other artists and creatives, too.
Some restaurants open with a bare-bones design while they get their footing, then expand into merch as they grow. But it seems like you’re going all-in with your opening, with a very designed space and a merch line. Why did you decide to do that?
I’ve been in the industry for almost 17 years. And working in cocktail bars for seven of those, I saw that merch was flying off the shelves. Bartenders were always wearing other bars’ shirts, representing other industry spots. I think more people are wearing clothes that [signify] places that they love. I see Kikkoman jackets and T-shirts from all of my favorite restaurants, and that’s all I wear, too. So I thought it was important to spread the word, and eventually have it as another outlet of revenue.
How did you approach the inside of the restaurant?
Realistically, [furnishing a restaurant] is a lot of legwork. Everything is so expensive right now. It’s probably the worst time to open a restaurant. So it’s about doing your due diligence and comparing prices. I go to Home Depot, Amazon, The Container Store and see who has the best price, then go from there, so it’s a lot of searching and researching. And everything on the shelves is pretty personal: knickknacks and art from friends and family.
We’ll also have a lot of vegetation to try to mimic the tropical Philippines. We made a pot pond out of a large planter pot, and we’re currently growing lemongrass, a calamansi tree, and labuyo chiles in a garden next to the pond. We’re in a corner building, so we get lots of light. We’re going to make a jungle and grow and eat what we can.
What’s your path to opening look like right now?
We have an issue with our gas firing with the DOB [New York’s Department of Buildings] right now, so we can’t cook onsite until it gets all sorted out. Until then, we decided to open up for the community and have a residency in the space. We’re [hosting] Arellano Pandesal from Queens, which does Filipino pastries, while we do the beverages. We’re also planning to launch a community market place with local vendors and friends and family. It’s a good way to get people in the space and get people excited.