Bellingham Beginnings | The Birth of Bintana

Bintana began its mission to feed the world in a humble former bodega converted into a 12-person duplex. The space was filled with the best kind of people: hungry souls who loved to play and talk as much as they loved to eat.

To help said souls, I began serving Filipino food, my version of comfort food. Bought some old elementary school chairs & tables, hung up some lights underneath an overgrown tree, lit up a heavily used open sign, and began serving this tangible form of comfort out the kitchen window into our little hidden driveway. ("Bintana" is both Spanish & Tagalog, a reference to my cultures)

What started as an excuse to feed and see our friends who had just started their careers blossomed into a beautifully rare and fulfilling form of communion. As more & more Bintana's kept occurring, the crowd started becoming filled with new friends; members of the community outside of our social circle began showing up. Bintana was growing, which meant I had to as well.

This was the beginning of Bintana's journey, and ultimately would go on to define Bintana's objective: to explore & learn about the world through food, feeding those who are hungry along the way.