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When Rose Samaniego opened the first Kulinarya 15 years ago in Coquitlam, she wasn’t trying to start a movement. She was just trying to feed people the way her mom used to feed her.

At the time, there weren’t many Filipino restaurants around. She was working full-time in finance, commuting downtown on the West Coast Express, and juggling life with young kids. She’d finish work and head to the restaurant kitchen, phoning her mom for recipes.

Noting it was kind of like having an expensive hobby, she laughs and says, “We didn’t want to over-extend ourselves, so we started small—12 seats. It felt like eating at home.”

Back then, the restaurant was for the Filipino community: a place to get a taste of home and a sense of belonging. But over the years, something shifted. Word of mouth spread. Social media kicked in. And when Kulinarya opened a second location on Commercial Drive, new guests started showing up in droves.

“It was mostly Filipinos,” Samaniego says of the early days. “But now, especially on Commercial Drive, I feel like it’s reversed. Now there’s more non-Filipinos coming in than Filipinos. That’s a great achievement.”

It’s the kind of change she didn’t expect, but fully embraces.

“Even some Filipinos who walk in and see that the diners aren’t all Filipino—they themselves are proud of that,” she says.

Part of the turning point came with the restaurant’s introduction of kamayan—the traditional feast where dishes are served directly on banana leaves and eaten by hand.

“We were so scared,” she remembers. “Imagine Canadians eating with their hands. That was unheard of. But it’s doing so well now.”

That invitation–to eat, to experience, to share—has always been part of how Samaniego runs things. Long before the dining room filled up with out-of-towners and adventurous eaters, Kulinarya was built on friendship and community. Her original business partners were her husband and a friend she met on the train. Her earliest helpers were people she commuted with—Filipino immigrants riding the West Coast Express together every day, talking about food and building friendships between stops.

Even now, that community shows up in the restaurant’s DNA. Her kids worked shifts during summers in high school. So did their friends, Filipino and not.

“They loved it,” she says. “They said they loved the Filipino hospitality.”

Ask her what that means, and she doesn’t hesitate.

“It means everyone’s welcome,” Samaniego says. “There’s always a lot of food—and then more. After a meal, there’s always food to take home.”

Catering, in fact, has become one of the biggest parts of the business. Party trays are a staple of Filipino culture—abundant, festive, and designed for sharing.

“Filipinos love to host big events,” she says. “But now, companies are ordering them too for work functions and corporate events.”

Every so often, she gets a laugh out of the team’s observations. “Every time we cater, the staff will say, ‘There are no Filipinos!’ ”

The team has stayed true to its culinary roots, but also made intentional choices to bridge gaps. For example, Samaniego tested dishes like dinuguan—a pork blood stew—in Coquitlam first, where more guests were familiar with it, before rolling it out on Commercial Drive. And while traditional dishes remain the core of the menu, she’s introduced new ones too, including vegan takes on Filipino classics. Her peanut-based kare-kare, traditionally made with oxtail or tripe, became a hit.

“Filipinos are heavy meat eaters,” she says with a smile. “But we made a vegan version and even vegans enjoy it.”

One thing that’s in almost everything? Fish sauce. She rarely leaves it out.

“I don’t even use salt in these dishes—it’s mostly fish sauce,” Samaniego notes. “That’s one thing I’ve always used.”

Recognition for Kulinarya has come in waves. One early milestone came when a local magazine named it a notable Southeast Asian spot back when there wasn’t even a separate category for Filipino cuisine.

“That was a good, happy memory,” she says. “People didn’t even really know what Filipino food was all about yet.”

More recently, the restaurant, and the community it serves, faced something much heavier. When violence struck Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day festival earlier this spring, with a vehicle-ramming leaving 11 dead, Samaniego was there. She knew people who were impacted. The tragedy hit close.

“Customers were bringing flowers to the restaurant,” she says quietly. “That tragedy really highlighted bayanihan, the Filipino spirit of helping one another.”

She remembers fellow chefs, Filipino and not, reaching out right away. The whole industry seemed to wrap itself around the community in solidarity and care.

“There are a lot of good people out there,” Samaniego reflects, “and we felt that.”

Today, Kulinarya seats 40 people on Commercial Drive. The original Coquitlam location closed earlier this year, allowing Samaniego to focus on the bustling Vancouver spot. A small team of 12 staff keeps things running, and they serve around 400 diners a week, not counting the catering orders, which make up roughly 40 percent of the business.

Samaniego is thinking about what comes next. She’s a grandmother now and wants more time with family. She’s brought on a new chef who may eventually take the reins.

“We’re planning for succession,” she says. “Whether I stay on as a consultant or not, we don’t know yet. But for now, we’ll keep doing what we do best.”

One dream still lingers: opening a Kulinarya in Spain. She loves it there—loves the sunshine, the pace, the way Filipino cooking often draws on Spanish cuisine for inspiration.

“A lot of our dishes are Spanish-inspired,” she says. “That’s the focus of the menu I’d want to do there.”

Until then, she’s proud of what Kulinarya has become.

“I never thought this would be my life,” she says. “But I’m so proud of what we’ve built.”

Kulinarya is located at 1134 Commercial Drive.