French Laundry alums debut one of the Bay Area's most exciting new restaurants

San Francisco Chronicle​

18-06-2025

When Jade Cunningham left her native Philippines for Napa Valley in 2018, she had never heard of Michelin Guide or the French Laundry. She thought her future husband, Mathew Cunningham, was 'working at a laundromat.'
But just a few years later, Jade Cunningham scored a job in the kitchen at the famous three-Michelin-starred restaurant, and now, the couple is opening their own spot: Carabao, Napa's first Filipino restaurant.
Carabao (145 Gasser Dr., Suite C), named after the Philippines' national animal, a water buffalo, opens June 20. The intimate and tropical space will serve classic Filipino dishes with a modern twist. The traditional peanut stew known as kare kare will be paired with a braised oxtail croquette; tacos are filled with crispy pork sisig and topped with a quail egg; and the sweet spaghetti sauce will be a Bolognese made from Wagyu hot dogs.
It's surprising Napa Valley didn't have a Filipino restaurant until now. According to government data, the Philippines ranks as the second most common birthplace for foreign-born residents in Napa County, behind Mexico. Moreover, Napa County's fastest-growing immigrant population is Filipinos in American Canyon, the city south of Napa. But Carabao's significance goes beyond Wine Country. It's also one of the only modern Filipino restaurants in the Bay Area from a chef with a fine dining background, joining San Francisco's Abaca. And it comes at a time when Filipino food is gaining more recognition across the country, with Chicago's Kasama becoming the first Filipino restaurant in the world to earn a Michelin star in 2022.
Cunningham's first gig in the U.S., however, was far from the world of fine dining. At 16, while earning a degree in hotel and restaurant management, she spent a summer in Ohio, cooking burgers and hot dogs at Cincinnati's ballpark. 'I got culture shock. I had never used a microwave before,' she recalled, noting that much of the food at the grocery store required one. She would try to cook meals that reminded her of home, but struggled to find the right ingredients.
After graduating from university, Cunningham dreamed of working on cruise ships. She needed experience, so she returned to the U.S. in 2018, this time landing in Napa to work at the Meritage Resort. California immediately challenged her first impression of American cuisine. 'I learned that there are different colors of cauliflower, broccoli and bell peppers,' she said. 'I was so amazed at that.'
After she met Mathew and learned that he did not, in fact, work at a laundromat, she was offered a stage at the French Laundry, a sort of unpaid internship that lasted a few days. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cunningham volunteered in the French Laundry garden. Once the restaurant started hiring again, she joined the team as a commis, a junior chef, and spent most of her time peeling tomatoes. She quickly moved up the ranks, eventually working at every station in the kitchen, including canapé, where the oysters and pearls dish is constructed.
At the end of 2022, Cunningham and Mathew launched Carabao as a Filipino popup when a French Laundry alum lent them his food truck, Butter's Burgers (now set up at Armistice Brewing), for the night. She and Mathew 'texted everyone we knew,' she said, and set up in a church parking lot in downtown Napa. They sold out in one hour.
About a year later, the pair started hosting regular Carabao popups on the weekends at Napa's Winston's Cafe. For a few months, Cunningham worked seven days a week, until she eventually left the French Laundry to pursue a brick-and-mortar. She and Mathew found a partner, Eric Gonzales, a follower of their popups whose grandmother opened Vallejo's first Filipino restaurant in 1980.
Carabao's menu will feature dishes like pork and vegetable lumpia ($7-$11); bistek ($72), a sirloin steak served with onions prepared five different ways; and the Santa Fe salad-inspired Summer Ensalada ($17), drizzled with Cunningham's homemade 7,641 Thousand Island dressing, named after the number of islands in the Philippines.
Some dishes are a play on popular items from Filipino fast food chain Jollibee, like the Aloha smashburger ($24), which comes slathered with pineapple marmalade in place of tomato, and the sweet spaghetti ($23) that Jollibee crowns with sliced hot dogs. 'Back home, we used tender, juicy hot dogs,' Cunngingham said. 'We're trying to get the best quality we can get, so (at Carabao) we're using Snake River Farm Wagyu hot dogs.'
Dessert includes puto kutsina ($8), steamed rice cakes served with fresh grated coconut and topped with dulce de leche, and halo-halo ($15), the classic shaved ice offered here with inventive toppings, like candied hibiscus and caramelized plantain.
Soon, Carabao will launch a more casual lunch menu featuring chicken adobo ($21) and lugaw ($10), a Filipino comfort favorite of gingery rice porridge with toppings, like boiled egg, tofu and tripe. 'It was the first dish I learned how to cook,' said Cunningham. 'When you're sick, you're craving lugaw.'
Cunningham also plans to eventually transition a small bar in front of the open kitchen into a counter that exclusively serves a tasting menu.
The restaurant, located outside of downtown Napa and near the city's Cinemark movie theater, feels like a tiny, tropical paradise. The walls are painted green and pink — Cunningham's favorite colors — and traditional Filipino farmer hats called salakot hang from the ceiling. There are several hand-painted murals, including ones depicting the Philippines' carabao and tiny Maya birds.
The space seats roughly 50 people, with one large table reserved for group celebrations.
'Most Filipinos go out and bring their whole family,' Cunningham said, noting that hers is especially large. Her mother has 10 siblings, and her father has 11. 'Food is always at the center of our traditions.'
Carabao. Opens June 20. 145 Gasser Dr., Suite C., Napa. carabaonapa.com