For Camille Poliarco, who emigrated from the Philippines to the in 2016, food is much more than just sustenance.
“All of the love we share for each other and any other Filipinos — it comes from food,” she says.
Now, Poliarco and her husband Nik — who both hail from Manila, Philippines — are sharing that love with Madison. Their pop-up Filipino restaurant, Kanto Fiesta, opened on June 7 in The Hub Marketplace (located at the Urban League of Greater Madison’s Black Business Hub), where the couple continues to dish out Filipino classics like lumpia and adobo every Saturday. On Sundays, Kanto Fiesta can be found at the Northside Farmers’ Market, and will vend at Taste of Madison on August 30 and 31.
The business is a family affair: Camille Poliarco’s parents, who joined her in Madison in 2020, are part of the business, too. Her mother makes pancit (rice noodles with mixed vegetables and chicken) and lumpia (Filipino egg rolls), as well as Kanto Fiesta’s weekly specials. Poliarco’s father handles dessert, preparing sweet and sticky rice treats called biko and leche flan, a Filipino crème caramel…