Mestiza: Reimagining Plant-forward Pan Asian and Filipino Flavors in San Francisco, with Deanna Sison and Chef Syl Mislang

Mestiza: Building Community and Sharing Food Traditions Across Cultures

On the podcast, I recently spoke with Deanna Sison and Chef Syl Mislang of Mestiza, a new plant-forward restaurant in San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMa) and Filipino Heritage District, otherwise known as SOMA Pilipinas. 

Mestiza is the vision of Deanna Sison, who is known for championing her cultural roots in all her restaurant and hospitality endeavors, including Little Skillet, farmerbrown, Victory Hall, and the Mestiza Taqueria. 

Chef Syl Mislang brings Mestiza’s vision to life. Her expertise as a plant-based chef hails from her beginnings at the Sacramento Co-Op to her pop-up concept, The Roaming Spoon, and as Executive Corporate Chef at Miyokos. Chef Syl now brings all of her experiences to the Mestiza table, featuring the flavors of the Philippines with hyper-local and hyper-seasonal plant-forward foods. 

In this episode, we chat about the inspiration behind their restaurant, the rewards and challenges of creating a plant-forward Filipino-inspired menu, and the joys of mixed-influence cooking. Listen to the full episode or keep reading for some of the highlights from our conversation.

What is Mestiza?

In the Philippines, the term “mestiza” is used to describe a woman of mixed heritage. The new restaurant celebrates a rich fusion menu, a reimagining of flavors, and a philosophy of building community and sharing food traditions across cultures. 

What are your mestiza stories? Where did the idea for Mestiza come from?

Deanna and Chef Syl both come from diverse, multi-cultural backgrounds. Deanna’s parents are both from the Philippines, and she lived in the US and Germany while growing up and traveled often. Chef Syl has Filipino, Mexican, and Native American heritage from her parents and grew up in the US. For both, food has been a huge center point in their lives. 

“I love being in the kitchen, showing hospitality, and surprising people with creativity in my cooking and food presentation,” says Chef Syl. “Food is good.”

How did your partnership in Mestiza get started?

Deanna originally opened a version of Mestiza in 2016 but had to close during the pandemic. She didn’t have plans to restart the restaurant until the perfect location opened up just around the corner from one of her other businesses. 

Coming out of the pandemic, Deanna had a sharpened focus on creating a healthier lifestyle through nourishing and sustainable plant-forward eating. She wanted this restaurant to reflect that. She spent about a year consulting with chefs until she found Chef Syl, who was a perfect fit for the role. 

Chef Syl is culturally familiar with Filipino and Southeast Asian cuisine and appreciates using plants in cooking, rather than treating them as “just as a side.”

With Mestiza, it is important to both of them that they understand the challenges and needs of the plant-based community. They focus on imparting rich flavors, celebrating seasonal Californian ingredients, and creating dishes that are playful and fun. The evolving menu includes their reimagining of beloved traditional dishes and flavors, staying true to their mixed cultural backgrounds and all that California has to offer.

“Filipino food, by nature, is already a mixed influence, including Malay, Chinese, American, and Spanish influence,” says Deanna. “Our interpretations, upbringings, regions, and personal expression all impact the spectrum of fresh flavors and vibrant spirit and heart in our beautiful food.” 

Learn more

Listen to the full podcast episode here, learn more on their website, mestizasf.com, and follow the restaurant on Instagram @mestizasf and follow along with Deanna @ladydeesf and Chef Syl @theroamingspoon.

Related posts

Redefining Filipino Food with Jacqueline Chio-Lauri and the Contributing Authors of We Cook Filipino