EJ Macayan and Hitomi Wada are the force behind Ox & Tiger, an up and coming Filipino and Japanese food concept right here in SOMA Pilipinas. 

We first worked with them for Kulinary Confidential, a food crawl in the cultural district that highlighted cutting edge Filipino cuisine from emerging, local chefs. EJ and Hitomi’s dinner sold out quickly with the promise of an intimate exploration into Japanese and Filipino cuisine through the couple’s evolving love story and desire to share their cultures with each other through food. 

”Ox & Tiger was partly started from the act of finding another way into Hitomi’s heart, which was most definitely through her stomach,” EJ says.

“I got through to it a lot when we lived together for the first time in Chicago. We cooked a lot for each other what we grew up eating. So one time we decided, ‘what if we made something together from our own cuisines?’ That is when we jumped into testing and developing dishes we felt represented us.

“When we moved back to the bay area in 2018 we had opportunities to curate our first pop ups. Our first few pop ups were prix fixe dinners held at Joint Venture Kitchen. At these dinners we created a family atmosphere that represented our vision of our future Restaurant. We were both so juiced to see our passion turned into something other people can enjoy. 

As we kept pushing forward more opportunities to serve our food opened up. We not only continued our dinners but we worked with different creators and businesses to do quick service pop up events.”

Going into 2020, Ox & Tiger was on the rise. Their bespoke flavors and distinct approach to food had created a strong community of foodies and fans. Their food was in demand, and what had started as a shared way of communicating with each other through food now called for a larger team to bring their cuisine to a larger audience. With new opportunities coming down the pipeline, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and EJ and Hitomi pivoted. 

“We offered different forms of special take out meals like at home meal experiences, ready to heat meals, a la carte and delivery. For a brief time during the pandemic we were able to host outdoor dinner style pop ups again with our friends at Vineyard Gate in Millbrae and Hunters Point Brewery. Since the closure we have moved back to take out and delivery from our Conbini location in San Francisco.

We went through a lot of changes but the support of the community helped us throughout the year. As the year went on we were able to do a couple outdoor pop up events with our friends at Undiscovered SF, Hunters Point Brewery and our dining patio with Vineyard Gate in Millbrae. We built a lot of great relationships with these families and they have always given us a space to serve up what we love to do.  Being able to offer our food in these spaces has helped us survive.”

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ox & Tiger was one of the first food businesses to join Filipinos Feed the Frontlines. FFF started as a way to raise $100,000 that would be donated to chefs and food businesses in need to stabilize their operations while creating meals that would be distributed by non-profit partners to healthcare workers, scientists, families, and seniors in need. 

“Working with Filipinos Feed the Frontlines made us feel at home while maintaining social distancing throughout the pandemic,” EJ says. “The strength as a collective to band together and offer all of our unique services made us stronger. We were able to see our peers navigate and persevere through this challenging time and It made us work harder to survive. FFF helped stabilize our business significantly because it was a significant boost to keep us afloat throughout the year.

Without the support of FFF it would have been really difficult to offer the meals we created. We love that the campaign was able to raise so much for everyone in the community. Kultivate Labs definitely took initiative to support their colleagues and that mentality is truly a blessing. The expansion [to a national campaign] was even more exciting because there are so many great communities that can offer the same thing. We hope that it can continue to expand and offer the same to others around the world.” 

In 2021, even as businesses start to rebuild after the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ox & Tiger continues to grow as they move into their new location at a commissary kitchen in the SoMa. Close to the Twitter building and other popular food spots, their new commissary is not without its own set of challenges.

“...The major change was the time we had available to serve food. At our previous commissary we were able to serve lunch and make our own deliveries to our customers that were outside of the delivery platform range. In our new commissary we are serving dinner service and don’t have the availability to deliver to those customers anymore. It's a setback that limits our reach,” EJ observes. 

Never one to let a challenge deter them, EJ and Hitomi are looking on the bright side.

“Occupying the new space has helped in different ways...The new location is helping us develop our menu better because of some of the equipment we are able to utilize. The main cooking vessel that will enhance our dishes is the kawali, metal cooking pans similar to chinese woks. These pans help impart flavors and execute dishes we were not able to achieve before.”

With the new space and a larger arsenal of tools, the couple is excited to share their new dishes with an eager audience. From their early days, they’ve led with a mission to share their cultures and stories through food. Their new commissary kitchen location provides them with a chance to develop new chapters in this evolving story of Japanese and Filipino cuisine rooted in EJ and Hitomi’s family histories and native ingredients from each country.

“To create a dish, we usually remember a meal we’ve had or ask family and friends what they love about it and how they best enjoyed it,” EJ explains. “The importance of each dish is where they ate it or who taught them how to make it. The stories about these dishes helps us understand how to translate it into our own story. We then create our own story with what we like most about the dish, and it could range from sour flavor bombs to clean vegetable bites and smoky fish flavors.” 

With these pillars guiding their experimentation and dish iterations, EJ and Hitomi are adding classic dishes like lechon kawali to their menu that are sure to be bestsellers.

“We have added Lechon Kawali to our menu which needs the high temperature oil that the wok creates to form that crispy skin everyone desires. We are in the process of developing dishes highlighting the regions my (EJ’s) grandparents were from: the Ilocos Sur region. Some dishes like our house made longanisa and whole fried fish sets are Ilocano inspired dishes from the northern part of the Philippines. Hitomi and I grew up eating a lot of vegetables and fish. With the Philippines and Japan surrounded by bountiful waters with seafood and great produce, we love to integrate those ingredients into our menus.”

With a light at the end of the tunnel marked by restaurants opening up again for business, Ox & Tiger is standing strong after an unprecedented year of challenges and loss. At the end of 2020, EJ and Hitomi were honored to be voted Bold Italic’s Best Restaurant Pop-Up.

They’ve also been working hard to release their first merch collection, Year of the Ox. Although the collection was only available for a limited release (orders are now closed), the pieces included in the drop reinforce the creativity and dedication to their roots that Ox & Tiger embodies. 

“Our family has worked hard at designing our merchandise. Artist Stu Sugawara and Chieri Wada took hold of this and created some fire. We worked with our fellow Filipino business owners at B2bprints in Hayward to print these.”

As we return to a new normal, Ox & Tiger continues to innovate through their food while staying rooted to their values of family and community. 

Order for pickup or delivery from Ox & Tiger's website

Visit Ox & Tiger at their new commissary kitchen at 1355 Market St Suite 180 in downtown San Francisco where they’re open Tuesday-Friday from 5-8pm. 

Follow Ox & Tiger on Instagram to hear about their latest dishes! 

Written by Cat Jimenez.