Sari Filipino Kusina

Supreme Barbecue in Annandale is history, but its legacy lives on at this fast-casual Filipino storefront, whose co-owner Paolo Dungca kept the smokers that flavored the previous occupant’s menu. “Such a pure art form,” the chef says of barbecuing. “It’s nice playing with temperatures.” (Juan and Jeremy Canlas, the father and son behind Supreme Barbecue, are Dungca’s business partners.)

The hand-me-down equipment helps explain the haunting notes in kare kare, a Filipino stew that’s thick with peanut sauce, tinted with annatto oil and bulked up with vegetables, on my visit, Chinese long beans and okra. Commonly made with oxtail, Sari uses beef brisket that’s cured for 18 hours before being smoked over wood. Per tradition, the stew is accompanied by bagoong alamang, salty fermented shrimp paste. “Filipinos love it. Try it first,” a staff tells my posse. The condiment infuses the stew, which Dungca remembers eating on weekends as a child, with welcome funk. (His grandmother used inexpensive tripe as a base.)