FilAm Owned Winston’s Cafe Spicing up the Napa Food Scene
When people think of Napa, Filipino food isn’t necessarily the first cuisine that comes to mind. Napa is mainly associated with French and American food. Even compared to other Southeast Asian cuisines, Filipino food is often overlooked. Perhaps it’s because people are not familiar with it or may mistake it for Chinese, Spanish, or American – countries that have had a heavy influence on the Philippines. Currently, there is no full blown Filipino restaurant in Napa. However, there is one spot in downtown Napa that serves some Filipino-American fare: Winston’s Cafe!
We had the chance to sit down with Alex and Casaan Macaraig, owners of Winston’s Cafe. Fourteen months ago, they took over the Alexis Baking Company (ABC) space, along with their partner Paulie W. Brown of Paulie’s Bagels.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and where you’re from.
Alex: I was born and raised in Napa. I moved away and lived in San Francisco and San Diego, but ultimately came back home to open what's now called Winston’s Cafe & Bakery. I’ve always had a passion for food and I’ve always enjoyed it. I worked at juice bars in San Diego and restaurants such as The Charter Oak here in the valley. Other than that, I've been in corporate sales and operations roles.
Growing up in a Filipino-American family, I couldn't go into cooking from the beginning. In our culture, there's a lot of pressure to make sure that you're self-sufficient, that you're going to be successful in life, and typically, that's not associated with cooking. So, I intentionally did not pursue cooking. I just kept it as a hobby until I was able to financially feel stable enough to take on this venture. That’s really the reason why it took so long. It's scary!
Casaan: I grew up in Saudi Arabia, moved to Denver, and decided I hated the snow. I went to San Diego, which is where I met Alex. We were working at a non-profit for adults with disabilities. I’ve been working in the restaurant industry for 20 years, though I was always front of house, never back of house. Ever since I've known Alex, it's been his dream to open up a restaurant. He dragged me to Napa a little bit kicking and screaming. And here we are!
I'm a trained licensed clinical social worker. When we moved to Napa, I got established working in mental health in Solano County. We found out that we were pregnant in October of 2020. In February of 2021, Alex came home and shared that there is a space available, and that he wants to open a restaurant. Since we both have experience working in the restaurant industry, we figured we will make it work. We’re still here, doing it.
2. Tell us about Winston’s Cafe and how you got started?
Alex: Winston’s is named after our dog. We wanted to call our spot something that was really meaningful to us and that really plays into what we do here. We make breakfast and lunch, and we try to make food that folks can eat regularly. We try to make something that you can come to eat every day or at least once a week. The most rewarding thing for us is the community that we've been building here. Winston’s is a meeting place for locals. I have heard some customers say that they always see a friend or someone from the neighborhood.
Casaan: It’s a family-friendly establishment that’s accommodating. We don't care that your kid is in the corner screaming. We intentionally put changing tables in the bathrooms. We have seen families go through pregnancies and then bring their newborns in. Seeing their kids grow up has been a really neat experience. We have been able to connect with other humans in a way that we haven't been able to do for so many years because of COVID.
3. What makes Winston’s Cafe different from all the other local spots in Napa?
Alex: We make Filipino food! We use fresh ingredients and everything is made fresh! The feeling you get from being here – it feels very vibrant and refreshing. We try to keep our food light, and as healthy as we can. Though we do see Instagram posts about people coming in on their cheat days. I know you're coming here to eat good. We put a salad on our two egg breakfast which is a really simple thing that we did and the mindset that we try to take to our food.
Casaan: Paul and Alex have incredible attention to detail. They are constantly working and evolving the menu. They come together and brainstorm. They ask each other how we can make this better and how can we keep it consistent? We don't want to be the fastest restaurant in Napa. That's not our goal. We want the food to come out right, fresh and delicious, every time. There’s no cutting corners and those two are so adamant about that. And I think that really is reflected in the dishes that are served.
Alex: That's why we were very intentional when we hired fine dining chefs. We hired the best to make a meal that's not normally known for being fun and thoughtful. We took all of the skill sets that we learned from fine dining dinner settings and tried to reapply them where we can, when we can at breakfast and lunch.
We partnered with Paulie’s Bagels to be our official baker. When I met Paul, he was making bagels out of his house, and was getting to the point where he had to either expand or close up shop. It’s a lot of work, but I happened to find the right place, at the right time. We immediately connected, did a couple of pop-ups before we went down the road together to open up a restaurant. We're constantly revisiting something or working on the next best thing. It just doesn't stop. That's partly why we are different from other local focused restaurants.
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced along the way while creating Winston’s and how did you overcome it?
Alex: Honestly, there hasn't been many except that we took over the ABC space, which was an established location. Coming into the space was really intimidating because the former owner of ABC had set a precedent. The community just loved her. And we got a lot of comments and criticism about how we’re not ABC. The community was questioning how we were going to cater to locals. To come into a space of that caliber was a lot of pressure. We did not want to try replicating her because we are different. We just made sure that we were doing the right thing and that we're taking care of our community.
Casaan: Once we started moving, the stars started to align. We got extremely lucky with our baker, and our staff is incredible. We are so lucky to find these people, especially in a time like this. We are so fortunate to have the people that we have that are caring and compassionate and like, focused on our mission and staying true to who we are.
5. You were born and raised in Napa, and you said that it’s surreal to see it become more diverse. Do you think Napa is ready for Filipino food?
Alex: Yes! I don't know if they know they want Filipino food? But they are definitely more adventurous, wanting something different from the standard French toast breakfast or bagels. They are becoming more adventurous and really interested in the Filipino dishes we’ve introduced.
We just have to go out there, knowing that no one’s done it! But, we're going to do it! The idea of Filipino food is so foreign to Napa, especially for breakfast. I have a really hard time believing that it's happening. As I go down this road, I ask myself what does it mean to be Filipino-American? What is Filipino-American cuisine?
We have the craziest menu: pork belly loco moco, longsilog, spam, Philly cheese steaks, bagels with lox, French pastries, and a sprinkle of health options. I am sure my friends in the restaurant business and consultants are wondering what we are doing. When you put it on paper, it already looks crazy. They’d tell us that we are going to fail, and that it’s too much to work with, and it won’t work because it’s too out of the box.
One of the hard things that we face is identifying who we are, what our North Stars are, and staying on track because it is very easy to pivot a little bit here and there. We will experiment and learn as we go – we can test out Filipino food and get feedback. We just have to trust ourselves and trust the process. If they want more, we will give them more good food. It may just be that the food happens to be Filipino inspired or influenced.
Though, I’ve noticed more and more Filipinos coming in. I've never seen them in Napa. Where are you guys coming from? I do like to look out in the line and tell the chefs, “Let’s make some longsilog”! At first, I was intimidated to put Filipino food on the menu, but the way it was received and how excited people were, I gave longsilog and spam a permanent spot on the menu.
Casaan: We have seen anyone and everyone order our homemade spam. We have a lovely couple that comes in regularly, every weekend, and they split The Breakfast Don (house spam, rice, poached egg, avocado, cabbage, pickles kimchi).
6. Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? If anything?
Alex: There’s not really much we would do differently. At this point, we're looking at how to keep going and how we can do more. I'm sure there's so many operational things we can do, but that's not fun. For the first eight months, being a new business, we had to focus and get customers to trust that we are making good food. And then, later, we introduced new things like our homemade spam and longsilog.
7. What kind of advice would you give to someone who is interested in entering the food industry?
Casaan: I think everybody should work in the industry. I think it's such an incredible life skill that you get from doing customer service and multitasking and dealing with all kinds of different people. It's such an experience – you learn how to work hard. We have a great team.
Alex: Entering the industry or opening a restaurant are very different. For people trying to open a restaurant, it's hard and it won't be easy, but you have to keep moving forward. You have to trust yourself and find your North Star, your guiding light, or whatever you want to call it. Keep going, but be open to feedback. You have to listen and hear people. Be open to that.
8. What is the one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned so far ever since starting Winston’s?
Cassan: Trust your employees. Trust them to do the right thing and allow them to be leaders. That's really hard to do as a business owner. But you have to allow them and see it through.
Alex: One of the hardest things for me to do is let my leaders lead. When do I step in or not step in? I try not to be overbearing. Our menu is eclectic. That’s because we let our staff put their passion on the plate. We create opportunities and allow their creativity to come through the restaurant.
9. What does it mean to be Filipino-American for you?
Alex: There's no definition. I studied Asian-American Studies at San Francisco State, and throughout my time there, I was questioning myself on what it means to be Filipino. Even after all that, all I can tell you is, I am who I am. Being Filipino-American means being yourself and letting your life experience show up in how you interact with others. We all have a different lens – to some, I am not Filipino enough because I am half Filipino or because I can’t speak Tagalog. I was born and raised in Napa, and I didn’t go through the same struggles as others. Though, one common theme I’ve seen amongst Filipino-American children is that our parents are well intended, but they’re really hard on us.
Our parents will never admit that they’re proud of us, but they do show it through their actions. My dad will come in to eat, and sometimes help out around the restaurant. Some of his friends will come in and let me know that my dad or aunt told them about my restaurant. Or sometimes he will forward me text messages from his friends raving how good the food was.
Casaan: That’s Alex’s dad’s way of telling us, he loves us. He's proud of what we're doing, even though he’ll never directly say so.
10. What are you currently working on?
Alex: We're doing a pop-up on May 19th here at Winston’s. I'm sure that people will enjoy it and want more of it. We're partnering with Catch and Release, a natural wine company that makes these really great low intervention wines that they’ll be pouring during the event.
Casaan: No reservations are needed. People can just show up. Just like how our locals walk-in. It’s going to be easy, casual, and come hang out starting at 4 PM for happy hour. Since it’s our first pop up, we will serve until we run out. It’s first come, first serve. We're not trying to compete with other dinners in Napa. We just want to create a vibe. We're dipping our toes in the pool and we're gonna see how it feels and how our new concepts are received.
Alex: We’ll find out if people like it, and if Winston's should just stick to what we know best. For now, we will experiment with the wine bar and tapas style plates.
The biggest compliment that we ever get is watching non-locals and tourists come in on Friday, and we see them again on Saturday. When they tell us we just had to do it one more time before we leave. It’s fantastic!
Casaan: When we travel, Alex says that we're never going to the same place because he likes to try different things and places.
Alex: We want to make our food memorable, whether a person is coming for the first time or last time. We like to take our time and make it right. Sometimes people wait in line when we get packed. It might take 30 minutes before food is served, and our customers put all that trust into us. We want to give our customers what they asked for. We want to make sure we deliver on that every time. It’s really important that we uphold that standard for people – we want them to appreciate and enjoy our food.
11. What is the last meal you would have on this earth?
Alex: Bistek (Filipino beef steak)! I grew up eating it all the time.
Casaan: Beet burgers! Alex makes these beet burgers at home. They are super hard to make, which is probably why he hasn’t made them in a while.
Who’s ready to make a trip to wine country? While you’re in town, make sure to visit Alex and Casaan. Winston’s is located in downtown Napa at 1517 3rd Street, Napa, CA 94559. Follow @winstonsnapa on Instagram.
Written by Jennifer Redondo
Co-Founder and Co-Author of In Her Purpose
A tragic incident struck Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Festival as an SUV drove into a crowd, leaving multiple dead and injured. The driver is in custody. Stay updated as this story unfolds and join us in keeping the Filipino community in our thoughts.