2 longtime friends are elevating Filipino cuisine with fine dining restaurant Sampa

DOWNTOWN L.A. (KABC) -- It's Filipino American History Month, and what better way to celebrate, than with food. Chef Josh Espinosa has dreams of getting a Michelin Star for his restaurant in Downtown L-A.

"SAMPA is short for Sampaguita, which is the national flower of the Philippines," said Espinosa. "I went to culinary school after I stopped working at all these fine dining restaurants. I was just like, why can't Filipino cuisine, Filipino culture be like this Covid pandemic? When I was stuck in my apartment, I was like, okay, let's try all these different things out. I started selling out of my apartment and then realizing that people do want elevated Filipino cuisine."

The chef's good friend Jenny Valles is along to help. She says her family wanted her to go into the health care field.

"I just couldn't do it. It just wasn't in my blood. I always knew that one day I was going to own my own business. I didn't know what it was," said Valles.

Espinosa says he needed someone with Jenny's background, and drive, if he was going to make this work. "I knew from, like, from the start where, like, you know, where her heart was, was just more so to help me out. And then I knew where my heart was, like, I couldn't do this without her. So, we became business partners."

"What I believe SAMPA is trying to do is to showcase that there's so many more different flavor profiles, so many more beautiful ingredients, and to help people become more aware of what Filipino food has to offer for us," said Valles.

Espinosa added, "We just want to tell the story of us as LA kids, kind of growing up with different cultures and kind of just portraying it through our food."

"Our real happiness is serving our community, making sure people are fed and people know what Filipino culture and food is," said Valles.