Cris Arago-Pedley, owner and chef at Kusina RestoBar on Holyrood Street, Newport, brings her life experiences and stories to the restaurant, all through the medium of cooking.
Cris said: “I love cooking, ever since I was a kid. It’s a part of me.
“Back in my younger years, my grandmother and auntie loved to cook for the entire street. We had fiestas, 50 families busy cooking.
“That’s what I remember, and I love the fact that it brings people together. Food that does not have a story is pointless.”
From Cebu, Cris opened multiple restaurants in the Philippines before moving to the Island, working corporate jobs alongside the restaurant, and procuring ingredients in the early hours each morning.
She opened Kusina RestoBar three years ago, returning to her passion and serving traditional Filipino food using Island produce.
She said: “Being in the kitchen is something that makes me happy – I love cooking.
“Even on a Sunday, when we’re closed, I still cook at home.”
Although no longer travelling to get fresh fish at 4am, Cris still has a morning round around Newport – visiting Farmhouse Fayre on St James Street for vegetables, Easy Weigh on Pyle Street for herbs and Fernando’s on Pyle Street for shrimp paste.
The restaurant’s meat is supplied from The Butcher Shop in Cowes fresh every day, and Cris also uses Island Foods and Harvey Browns.
The restaurant prides itself on its decorations, with paintings donated from friends and guests, and its hospitality.
Cris said: “One thing I love is we try to show the hospitality of the Philippines. My husband will talk to everyone like it’s our house. The guests talk among themselves.
“We have a lot of guests from the mainland. They have their whole week with us. From strangers, they become friends.”
Kusina is the culmination of many stages in Cris’s career – and visitors to the restaurant get told her story through food.
From her family’s cooking growing up, to opening restaurants in the Philippines, to her restaurant in Newport, Cris’s food brings people together.
