Baby’s Kusina & Market, a cozy tribute to the Philippines, takes shape in Brewerytown

For more than two years — through permitting and contractor hell — Raquel Villanueva Dang and Tam Dang chased their dream of opening Baby’s Kusina & Market, a modern Filipino restaurant and market in Brewerytown, the stretch along West Girard Avenue north of Fairmount and just east of the Philadelphia Zoo.

Baby’s opened on Feb. 8 at 2816 W. Girard Ave., a warmly decorated industrial-feeling space with lush plants, exposed-brick walls, and 15 seats on the street level. There’s a soaring ceiling that accommodates a wrought-iron-ringed balcony for 25 out-of-the-way seats upstairs. There’s also a modest grocery section with imported foods. (If you’re jonesing for Lucky Me pancit canton noodles or Theo & Philo chocolates, here is your hookup.)

The concept grew out of Tita Emmie’s, the roving Filipino pop-up dinner series that the couple launched in 2018. Raquel Dang, 36, is first-generation Filipina American raised in Central New Jersey, while Tam Dang, 39, is first-generation Vietnamese American and a firefighter in the Air Force. She made the big move: In March 2022, she quit her pharma job and headed to the Philippines for a month to immerse herself in her homeland’s food and culture.

After her return, the Dangs bought not only the long-ago toy store that previously housed Rybrew, a cafe that relocated several blocks away, but their nearby home.

Baby’s — named after Raquel’s mother, Ermelita (also known as Emmie, or Tita Baby) — fits neatly into Philadelphia’s Filipino scene, which includes the energetic Tabachoy by Chance Anies in Bella Vista; the cozy Perla, with Lou Boquila’s family-style kamayan feasts in Passyunk Square; and Tambayan, Kathy Mirano’s bustling lunch counter in Reading Terminal Market. Baby’s comfy cafe setting calls to mind the approach of Thu Pham’s Càphê Roasters — creative food and coffees sharing equal prominence amid a third-space vibe.

“I think [Raquel’s] creating more than a third space,” Tabachoy’s Anies said. “I think she’s trying to create a community. I think that’s really exciting, especially for the neighborhood where she lives. I don’t know when the last time I ate anything in Brewerytown, and here we have the new New June [bakery] and Baby’s opening up within three blocks [of each other on] Girard Avenue. It’s a cool thing for some young people to be doing really impactful things in the neighborhood.”

All the coffee beans are sourced in the Philippines. Drinks include hojicha coconut and matcha coconut lattes, iced shaken espresso, and peach black tea soda.

The food menu, reflecting both traditional and more modern takes, is sprinkled with affectionate Filipino terms such as tita (“aunt”) and jowa (“lover”).

Drinks, pastries (calamansi doughnuts), and two breakfast sandwiches served on house-made pandesal (a sweet yeast roll usually served for breakfast in the Philippines) are available in the morning. The Rich Tita ($13.95) has a patty of longganisa — a chorizo-like pork sausage — plus Cooper Sharp American and a sunny-side-up egg. The roll gets a squirt of chilimansi aioli, a creamy chile-lime sauce.

After 11 a.m. comes the main menu; two of the five dishes are vegan. Dang said the mango salad ($14) is not traditional, but “definitely has flavors that Filipinos would be familiar with, like the pandesal bread crumbs and calamansi-miso dressing.” There’s also a gluten-free sauté of green beans and tofu in a spicy coconut sauce called gising gising ($16.25) and the pork-belly classic lechon sisig ($19.50). In the crispy jowa ($18.50), a panko-crusted fried chicken thigh — cured tocino-style — is nestled into a bowl of garlic rice and pickled cabbage, with an egg on top. Crispy sinigang ($18.50) also features a panko-crusted fried chicken with jasmine rice, pickled cabbage, and a choice of tamarind gravy or pork bone broth.

An abbreviated menu (lumpia, adobo, fries, pastries) kicks in from 3 to 5 p.m., after which the regular menu resumes till 9 p.m. On weekends, the cafe closes at 4 p.m.

Through March 8, Baby’s is holding a 5-course dinner series on Saturdays with two seatings. The current offering is called Balikbayan, a term referring to Filipinos living overseas. The dinner was inspired by a preopening staff trip to the Philippines. Dang says more dinners are in the offing.

“Yes, our food may be a modern take, but at the core of it, we’ve heard so many other Filipinos say, ‘This reminds me of home,’ even though it doesn’t necessarily look like what their lola [grandma] might have cooked at its core,” Raquel Dang said. “The taste is there and the ingredients are familiar.”

Baby’s Kusina & Market, 2816 W. Girard Ave. Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Tuesday.