Top Chef Alums Team Up For Backyard BBQ

Top Chef alums Dale Talde and Sheldon Simeon (AKA Tito Dale & Tito Sheldon) are combining cuisines and teaming up for a one-night-only Filipino/Hawaiian Backyard BBQ at Arlo NoMad.

On Friday, August 18, the chefs who run in similar circles and have both competed on Top Chef are bringing their unique idea for a one-night-only dinner collaboration with their two cuisines. Sheldon, who is the owner and chef at Tin Roof in Maui, made the trip to NYC especially for the event.

The food, they say, will be special. “For the most part, the dishes are all updated versions of traditional dishes – some of those dishes Filipino and some Hawaiian.” It’s food the chefs grew up eating and cuisine that deserves the spotlight it has been getting recently “I love Filipino food, I’m cooking it, and it’s what I grew up eating,” explains Talde.  “To me, Filipino food is not a trend – we’ve been eating this food for centuries.”

Served family style, guests will have the opportunity to sample all the chefs have to offer at the backyard-style BBQ including beef luau with coconut braised short rib, miso butterfly musubi, homemade Longaniza sausage, Pulehu pork belly and green tea shaved ice.

There will also be a selection of drinks to enjoy – from San Miguel Beer to Hard Core Hunch Punch to Vodka cocktails – created by Arlo’s bar and lounge, BARlo.

“My favorite dish we are making is the Pig Feet and Black Beans,” says Talde. “The dish is made with beans, baboy-pig, and green jack fruit, it’s an adobo-style, very regional dish from my mother’s Provence. The acidity comes from a dried fruit, similar to guava.”

Talde is the chef and owner of Massoni, the restaurant in the Arlo NoMad hotel, and with Three Kings Restaurant Group also owns Talde Brooklyn, Talde Miami, and Atlantic Social. Their newest project is running the F&B for Hotel 50 Bowery in Chinatown. Restaurant Rice & Gold will be opening this fall, and the rooftop bar The Crown is already open.