Rod ongpauco barrio fiesta

Crispy Pata is Rod Ongpauco’s proud—if not accidental—invention.

Though he was convinced not to attend the shoot (the first in a few years), Rod stands in the living room clad in a suit, and someone from our team whispers to us, “I just really want to shake his hand and say thank you [for Crispy Pata].”

Long before it became a staple, a guilty pleasure, and the archetypal centerpiece of any Filipino fête, matriarch of the clan and Barrio Fiesta founder Chit Ongpauco told her son Rod to stop selling Crispy Pata, in turn frustrating a local crowd with a newfound mania for the deep-fried pork.

Rod then set out on his own, with sacks of pride making up for the lack of cash, and elevated the Crispy Pata from a cult favorite to a household staple.

“The main thing I consider in building a restaurant,” shares Rod, “is coming up with something first and different.” It was in Chit’s kitchen that Rod’s influence took hold.

“Mama Chit [told us to] stop treating friends [to the restaurant], s