The Oasis Lake Travis, Sunset Capital of Texas was opened in 1982 by Beau Therlot, the owner. 40 years later, it has hosted 40 – 50 weddings yearly. Its culture of kindness, diversity and happiness all starts with the philosophy of one man, the owner. “It’s not worth having if you can’t share it.”
The Oasis has been furnished by and decorated with pieces from Therlot’s personal collection. It is apparent by the pieces he chooses that he sees no fundamental difference between pieces of furniture and pieces of art. To him, they are one and the same, as evidenced by the flow of eclecticism in every room. The artistic flare extends to the menu as well.
True to the culture, a diner offered to take a photo of us.
“As a fellow Kapampangan, I am truly proud of Chef Jo Dijamco’s culinary talents and accomplishments. His extensive experience as a chef enables him to craft a delightful menu that resonates with many. Serving as the chef at the renowned [1917 Restaurant] in San Antonio Winery in Los Angeles, he is a source of pride for Filipinos!” – Fr. Rodel G.Balagtas, Pastor of Incarnation Church, Glendale
(L-R) Mike Zuniga, Don Sagarbarria, Prosy Delacruz, Chef Jo and Ana Burog at a 2022 dinner gathering. Photo by Enrique Delacruz
“Everything that Chef Jo prepared for us was beyond our expectations from the lamb chops to the bone marrow, from the salads to the desserts! Delicious, Michelin-star quality and definitely one of the best cuisines in my book! Paired with San Antonio Winery’s Proseco and wines, everything was perfect!” -Janet Susan Rodriguez Nepales, co-founder of Manila International Film Festival in Hollywood, CA
“I absolutely love Chef Jo, He’s amazing! Every time I take my family and friends to the winery, their tummies are genuinely happy.” – Jennifer Lorenzana, distributor of Stella Rosa wines in the Philippines.
Diosdado “Jo” Dijamco was the opening chef who trained line cooks to prepare the Italian dishes at La Bella PinseriaRomana in Glendale, California. He developed the restaurant’s opening salvo of menu offerings. The dishes convey memories of what we tasted in Italy, but with something extra. Could it be the morsels of love from Chef Jo and his line staff, recalling what I read about Chef Raymond Oliver in his book, “La Cuisine: Secrets of Modern French Cooking?”
Chef Jo’s meatballs
Like the fruit of great love
“Cooking is like the fruit of great love: a strong and slightly egotistical love on the part of the men, altruistic and sensitive on the part of the women. Be it one of the other, it is always present, demanding its share of gratitude and recognition. Isn’t this natural?” Chef Raymond Oliver wrote in his introduction to his book.
Chef Jo seems to have the same mindset, saying, “a line cook is an artist, but a chef manages the team and the business side. I never settle, I just want to be better every day. Each time I cook a dish, I feel like my mother, Aurora Dijamco, is standing beside me.”
When my goddaughter, Nicole David Yalong — a Kapampangan cook, a great singer, and mother of twins — came with me, she said: “My personal favorites among the dishes we were served were the citrus salad & the steak & potato paste. The citrus salad was refreshing and beautifully tangy that I couldn’t stop thinking about it after. It was my first time to have steak with bone marrow and veal sauce and it was a wonderful combination. He instructed our server to pace the serving of each dish.”
Cultural roots behind the ‘heart of his cooking’ from Pampanga, France, Italy, Spain and Southern CA
Jo was named after Diosdado Macapagal, a lawyer, poet and the 9th Philippine president. He was born to his mother, Aurora, his foundational teacher in cooking. His father is Marcelino, a businessman. His grandparents were businesspeople, pioneering in grocery stores and rice stores.
Jo recalls the excellent example of his mother, Aurora, whose daily dishes met high marks of satisfaction in his hometown, Pampanga. It is a province where talented cooks and housewives take pride in preparing high-quality meals. It is a province where generations upon generations have passed down their cooking styles and flavor profiles, preserving the flavor standards of their dishes: tocino, buro and sisig, among many.
“She was magic!” Unlike my cooking, her cooking was spot on, he said. “I can’t remember na sumablay ang pagluluto niya.” [I can’t remember her cooking missed the mark]! Each time I cook now, it feels like she still stands next to me.”
His father, Marcelino Dijamco, Jr, a businessman and distributor of Shellane (liquid propane gas) in Tarlac, Central Luzon, went to the U.S. in 1986.
“Like many businessmen who panicked following the assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. and went abroad, my father did, too,” Jo shared.
The family emigrated, opening up an opportunity for Jo to obtain more knowledge in culinary arts at Orange Coast College.
It was experience and taking risks that honed his culinary skills. He joined Hilton hotel as a prep cook, and under the chef’s guidance, developed the “heart of cooking”, the foundation of making batch recipes: batch cooking of chicken, lobster, and veal stock. He acquired the skills of preparing demi-glace, a half-brown sauce and half-brown stock reduced in half.
Quick to learn, he was promoted to a line cook and a saucier, making small batches of sauces that when combined with other ingredients, became the signature entrée.
He methodically shared how to make a signature dish, Chilean sea bass with the sauce made from slowcooking of tomatoes (first blanched to remove skin and seeds), mixed with herbs, olive oil, and garlic, the triad of ingredients that make up the basic Provencal sauce, and baked at low temperature for three hours to form the fish stock and later finished with cream.
Chef Jo’s branzino with orange segments
He traveled to France, Italy and Spain to broaden his knowledge about these countries’ finest cooking methods. In the South of France, he was influenced by seafood and sauces found in Marseilles. In Spain, he was influenced by Basque cooking — the use of high-quality, seasonal ingredients from local farms and seafood caught in the Cantabrian Sea. In Italy, he learned how to make pesto, including homemade pasta, gnocchi and tomato sauces.
Jo prepared dishes on August 4, 2024 for a very dear friend, Carol Ojeda-Kimbrough, a discerning foodie and a retired professor of Asian American Studies at Cal State Fullerton, and her spouse, David Kimbrough who turned 65 years old, a water quality systems expert.
“I chose for summer birthday celebrations this year at the 1917 Wine Bar and Bistro because my family deserves the following: (1) the quality of the food prepared by Chef Jo Dijamco; and, (2) the professional and friendly staff of this place. I have had the pleasure of previously dining here when my good friend, my Biyaya (Grace) sister Prosy de la Cruz invited me.
Hamachi Crudo
We celebrated the birthdays of our 3 Leos – my husband David (65), son Andrei (50) and son Daniel (39). While waiting, San Antonio Winery Chairman Santo Riboli walked by and saw the kids waiting patiently. He asked them if they wanted sparkling grape juice, and they had a resounding “yes.” He got them each a glass.
Spaghetti or noodles are traditional dishes served in Filipino birthday celebrations to wish the celebrants’ long life. I tried it and I found the sauce (or “sugo”) to have that beautiful tangy taste of tomato without being overly acidic.
We had the Creekstone Farms Rib Eye with Bordelaise Sauce with bone marrow; steak was perfectly seasoned and cooked. We had sides of Yukon potato puree and the broccolini that provided a balance.
The catch of the day was the Seabasswith basil sauce, potato puree, capers and had blueberry brioche pudding and tiramisu for dessert.
Chef Jo greeted our party, a surprise. He was unassuming and humble, and a superstar when you taste his creations.”
Jo described his goal to cook more Filipino dishes. “Our gift to the world is braising, a form of slow cooking of caldereta,kare-kare and mechado. I did not learn those in my job experiences, instead, I learned more about French cooking,” he said.
He worked as sous chef of Chante Claire, which is no longer in business, before he got promoted at the age of 26. From there, he became executive chef, or chef de cuisine, at Pascal Restaurant in Newport Beach, California, where he had 12 staff under him.
“This is where Provencal cooking was refined for me,” he added.
Three years later, he became the executive chef to Constellation Concept with multiple restaurants consisting of California Café in Mission Viejo, a sushi bar, and Vugo which shut down during the 9/11 period of frozen travels.
He was the chef of Café D’Rey in Admiralty Way and the opening chef of The Sunset in Malibu and Zuma Beach where Japanese cooking has a twist of French cooking. He has also been fusing Thai cooking with Japanese influences at The Cannery in Newport Beach for seafood cooking.
When I asked Jo who he looks up to as masterful chefs, he named: Thomas Keller of French Laundry, a three-star Michelin restaurant; Charlie Trotter, who for 25 years, ran his namesake restaurant in Chicago; Daniel Boulud, who runs Michelin-starred Daniel, a pillar of French cooking in New York for 31 years; and Claude Tayag, a Filipino artist, restaurateur and writer, who operates Bale Dutung, serving the rich heritage of Kapampangan dishes in Angeles, Pampanga.
Jo has been the opening chef to successful restaurants: La Bella Pinseria Romana in Glendale, California and 1917 Restaurant in San Antonio Winery in Downtown Los Angeles.
Wild mushroom pizza and a citrus salad AJPress photo
His daily theme: ”You never settle. Basta na lang is not. (Mediocrity is not to be). The crescent is there – find that – tatagos sa utak (seared in one’s memory), because of cooking, people will not forget you.”
Much like Mother Aurora who is kept alive by Chef Jo’s cooking daily.
The end of a great era of delighting palates with Pan-Asian food!
Day 3 is as full as the nights before. I heard 200 covers were served every night of this closing week. Looking at the faces of the staffers and wait staff, they seem tired, yet are patient and solicitous serving us. Romy Dorotan was cooking as fast as he can, with the same level of attention for each plate. He took the time to say hi, even some selfies and served wine in one table. By the time we left, the 7pm customers were already in line. One couple tried to get in, but without reservation, all seats were spoken for.
Tonight, two of us only, with no guests. We had okoy, eggplant with mango, tomatoes, jicama, bittermelon slice, and burnt coconut cream. It got paired with barbecue spareribs served on a bed of steamed bokchoy and with a light pineapple marinade. Dessert was ube tikoy with champoy ice cream. The last time I ate champoy was 6 decades ago. There’s no mistaking their high quality, unique flavors – ube tikoy is not available anywhere else except here.
When Purple Yam – Brooklyn closes, it is a sad realization that this era of great Filipino foods with organic, fresh ingredients has come to an end. Yet, ever grateful that they held their own with integrity to only serve the best, healthy dishes that support our healthy bodies, causing no harm.
Well there is, as I want to eat everything in the menu, but my stomach’s capacity is limited. Joking aside, this restaurant serving dishes fit for royalty has one more night, tomorrow, Friday, before they close their doors in Brooklyn.
I am so happy I went back 3 times this week to eat my favorites.
Maraming Salamat Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan. Your two restaurants, Cendrillon and Purple Yam Brooklyn, that were operated for 25 years, have left us beautiful memories of what royalty dishes must be, exceeding palates’ expectations and not making them weary with too much salt, too much fat and too much sugar. Your balance of flavors delivered to our plates is exceptional in harmony and stunning colors!
The end of a great era of delighting palates with Pan-Asian food!
Day 3 is as full as the nights before. I heard 200 covers were served every night of this closing week. Looking at the faces of the staffers and wait staff, they seem tired, yet are patient and solicitous serving us. Romy Dorotan was cooking as fast as he can, with the same level of attention for each plate. He took the time to say hi, even some selfies and served wine in one table. By the time we left, the 7pm customers were already in line. One couple tried to get in, but without reservation, all seats were spoken for.
Tonight, two of us only, with no guests. We had okoy, eggplant with mango, tomatoes, jicama, bittermelon slice, and burnt coconut cream. It got paired with barbecue spareribs served on a bed of steamed bokchoy and with a light pineapple marinade. Dessert was ube tikoy with champoy ice cream. The last time I ate champoy was 6 decades ago. There’s no mistaking their high quality, unique flavors – ube tikoy is not available anywhere else except here.
When Purple Yam – Brooklyn closes, it is a sad realization that this era of great Filipino foods with organic, fresh ingredients has come to an end. Yet, ever grateful that they held their own with integrity to only serve the best, healthy dishes that support our healthy bodies, causing no harm.
Well there is, as I want to eat everything in the menu, but my stomach’s capacity is limited. Joking aside, this restaurant serving dishes fit for royalty has one more night, tomorrow, Friday, before they close their doors in Brooklyn.
I am so happy I went back 3 times this week to eat my favorites.
Maraming Salamat Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan. Your two restaurants, Cendrillon and Purple Yam Brooklyn, that were operated for 25 years, have left us beautiful memories of what royalty dishes must be, exceeding palates’ expectations and not making them weary with too much salt, too much fat and too much sugar. Your balance of flavors delivered to our plates is exceptional in harmony and stunning colors!
Day 2, A full house at 530pm, we were lucky to sit in the backyard to escape a bit NY’s 95 Fahrenheit in the summer. Our guests tonight are friends we have not seen for 25 years, Rebecca Asedillo and Doug Cunningham. It was a lively exchange of lived experiences from taking care of grandchildren, to being retired, to archiving documents of our organizing days as young folks for the return of democracy in the Philippines.
What did we eat, more like what did we not eat? We ate dumplings, fresh lumpia, mussels, ribeye steak bistek, okoy, bibimbap with 21-spices roasted duck, eggplant with smoked coconut cream, sisig, halo-halo with ube, coffee, macapuno, champoy ice cream and bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream
We came back to the hotel quite satisfied, but never bloated by extenders or preservatives. This is what fresh, from scratch, cooking with the freshest ingredients. Doug kept complimenting that each bite is amazingly fresh and flavorful, not over the top, quite restrained and self-assured dishes not needing any more seasonings.
A great evening of fellowship centered in how else can we help Kamala Harris win? I shared my 2008 experiences of campaigning over a weekend for Barack Obama. Thanks Rebecca Asedillo for my homemade soap and for driving an hour and a half from your residence to break bread with us.
What a beautiful evening of soulful conversations!!
A hefty thanks to Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa who were kept so busy with two sittings, 530pm and 7pm! Daghang Salamat! Muchas Gracias!
Tribute to Culinary Arts Visionaries of 28 years: Valuing the ‘community of humanity’ for a healthy public!
Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa are culinary arts visonaries, inviting us to treasure our indigenous flavors and with an open mindedness of using ginger, tamarind blossoms, coconut milk, coffee beans, mangoes, guavas, and even heirloom black rice from Ifugao’s rice terraces, masterfully executing each dish, and enticing folks to travel and to savor these high quality foods, prepared with such love in the details.
It is an inclusive cooking style that all ingredients are invited to play their fullest flavors to mix in with others, not clashing, but harmonizing.
Who would fly from LAX to JFK just to have dinner and visit with friends Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan at Purple Yam in Brooklyn? Someone obsessed about a high-quality Filipino restaurant with a signature of sustained excellence, exceeding it each time – that’s me.
One time, I took Hydee Pichai with me and friends and Hydee took a photo with Romy that became the featured photo in my book, Even The Rainbow Has A Body.
Another time, I took my cousin’s family, Mila and Alfred Tecson and their teenagers then, to Cendrillon in SoHo. We drove from DC to NY to see a solo play about Immaculee Ilibagiza, performed by Leslie Lewis, speaking multiple languages and animating 9 characters. It was a story about Immacullee hiding in a bathroom space, with other friends for 91 days, to escape the genocide in Rwanda. That was in 2019.
When we had our lunch, Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa warmly welcomed us. It was early enough that customers were trickling in. By the time we left, the restaurant was quite full. We had black rice paella with squid, prawns, clams and mussel, okoy and more. We had bibingka, so light and cheesy, that Ollie Cantos, a blind attorney who went with us for a 19 hour drive back and forth called his mom to share about his experience. We had their sinigang and of course yummy desserts.
It was more than the food, it was their hospitality and generosity of spirit. The price we paid was so undervalued, given the solicitous, high-quality, and the warm service that we usually get, which truly was priceless.
After the play, we consulted about dinner – the unanimous choice was Cendrillon, so we ended eating lunch and dinner at Cendrillon, all in one day. Ollie ended buying bibingka to bring home to his mother, who lived in DC. I wish I could, even then to share this amazing experience, with loved ones, of course in part.
Fast forward to more experiences at Purple Yam.
One time it was with Hydee Pichai and her friends. She had a photograph with Chef Romy Dorotan, this time in the new restaurant, Purple Yam in Brooklyn. In recent years, ube or purple yam became popular, appearing in cocktails, drinks, cakes, and muffins.
Who would have known that to eat lamb curry with chutney, bok choy, and steamed rice would make us all open to this unique combination, previously unheard of in our palates?
Tonight, even my husband, usually a man of few words, shared his love of this flavorful lechon, a delicately marinated and tender flesh meat, with of course the crackling skin.
We were served omakase, 11 dishes tonight with 2 delectable desserts: chocolate crepe with mango chunks in light syrup paired with guava sorbet and buko pie paired with ice cream, made by Chef Romy Dorotan. The ice cream closes this dining experience and the delicious attractant to come back for more.
What made this night’s experience is the presence of my husband, Enrique Delacruz and my godson, Robert Dalmacio Soriano-Hewitt who practices law and teaches law in NY. I loved the dialogue as they both were animated in deconstructing the dishes: noritaco with chopped fresh and pickled vegetables that looked like a piece of art; okoy that disappeared quickly for how light and flavorful; sotanghon with 21-spices cooked duck legs on a bed of flat clear noodles, and snapper cooked in banana leaves with seasonings that enhanced the fish.
The bonus: a group of 30 who were paying tribute to Romy. One said that he has been coming since 1998, being warmly welcomed, first at SoHo, now Purple Yam – Brooklyn with Romy being so open, and so spontaneous in his creativity, and with high quality in execution! Isn’t that what a community of collective humanitarian should be? They make the world brighter, safer and healthier!
