Roxas

Gina Roxas, program coordinator at Trickster Cultural Center in Schaumburg, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, has also agreed to grow Native foods to help the chef minimize costs.

When a bag of wild rice costs $20, “you end up going to a fast food place instead to feed your family,” Roxas said.

In 1951, their burgeoning community would be officially recognized as the municipality of Roxas, Villarias’s hometown.

On his phone, Villarias, 36, has a photo of the resolution that established a permanent marker dedicated to the pioneers who “displayed their selfless dedication, perseverance and diligence” in making Roxas what it is today.

When he started his own adventure, a pop-up restaurant inside Bullfrog Bagels on H Street NE in Washington, Villarias named it Balangay, for the type of boat that his great-grandfather used to navigate the rough seas between Cagayancillo and Roxas.