Beginning this month, Sinta – a modern culinary concept showcasing a modern take on Filipino fare – will host a regular series of monthly pop-ups at Bavette La Boucherie, 217 N. Broadway.

The pop-ups, spearheaded by Bavette Chef de Cuisine Zach Panoske and Saint Kate The Arts Hotel Sous Chef Katrina Panoske, will take place monthly with three events released online at a time. 

The first will take place on Monday, March 31 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online for $100 per person and will include six courses. 

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A love story

The Panoskes hosted their first two Filipino pop-ups in 2017 and 2018 under the name “Patis”, a common term for fish sauce in the Philippines. They were small affairs held at Bavette La Boucherie before Chef Karen Bell moved her butcher shop and eatery to its new location on Broadway.

The two chefs moved to Milwaukee from Madison after earning their culinary degrees at Madison Area Technical School. Katrina had come to the U.S. on J-1 internship after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management in her hometown of Manila in the Philippines. Around the same time, Zach, a native of Brodhead, Wisconsin, also decided to pursue his passion for cooking in earnest. 

The two bonded over their common interests in the arts, travel and food. After graduating from MATC in 2013, they were married and in 2016 they took their first trip together to the Philippines, where Katrina introduced Zach to her family and culture, including food. 

“Our travel there made me realize how focused the Filipino people are on hospitality,” he says. “Whether you’re visiting a home, a restaurant or a gas station, you’re going to be treated well there. It’s just a part of the culture.”

Katrina nods. “In the Philippines, taking care of people and being friendly is just natural. If you look around, you’ll find that many of us pursue careers as nurses or in fields that require us to truly care about people.”

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It was an element that stuck with them. As they pursued their careers in hospitality, they moved to Milwaukee where they took jobs in the industry. Katrina pursued work as a sous chef in the hotel sphere, working at the Intercontinental and remaining there through the hotel’s transition to Saint Kate The Arts Hotel. Zach worked at a variety of independent restaurants including Harbor House, Balzac and ultimately at Bavette.  

Every year they made time to travel back to the Phillipines, where Zach found himself enamoured with, not only the hospitality he found, but the cuisine and its varied flavors.

“I fell in love with the food culture,” says Zach. “Over the years we’ve eaten at so many different restaurants there, from casual to higher end, and the more I paid attention, the more I saw the directions where I could take the cuisine and weave it into my own style. I’ve always been the type of person who focuses on things, really gets into the research and works at perfecting recipes. And that’s what I did with Filippino food.”

Katrina, her family and even her friends supported his newfound obsession.

“My foodie friends always bring him cookbooks and take him to new restaurants when we’re there,” says Katrina, noting that as his understanding and appreciation for the cuisine and culture grew, they looked to find a way to share it with others.

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Sinta 

In 2023, they launched Sinta, a pop-up concept Zach named for Katrina using the Tagalong word for “love” or “darling”. The randomly scheduled dinners were somewhat of an underground affair, gleaning traction through word of mouth and through the @Sinta.MKE Instagram feed. But they caught the attention of chefs and foodies throughout the city, consistently selling out every time.

The dinners were a collaborative effort with Zach lending his creativity to the dishes and handling the bulk of the cooking, Katrina designing the artful menus, assisting with prep and playing the role of maître d', and a small team of hospitality colleagues assisting with execution. 

Five pop-ups were randomly scheduled over about a year and a half’s time in 2023 and 2024, featuring dishes like Kinilaw (Ahi tuna, cucumber, jicama, honeydew, calamansi vinaigrette and tomato granita); Sisig (crispy pork jowl, bird’s eye chili, calamansi, chicken liver, mayo, quail egg); Kare Kare (beef short rib annatto peanut sauce, bok choy, baby eggplant, pandan scented jasmine rice, fermented shrimp paste); and Bicol Express (seared chicken, coconut milk, ginger, lemongrass, shrimp paste, chilies, steamed pandan jasmine rice).

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There were also desserts like Taho Cheesecake (tofu, brown sugar syrup, strawberry, tapioca pearls); Turon (saba banana, jackfruit, brown sugar, ube ice cream); and Choux au Craquelin (mango, pastry cream).  

“The pop-ups represent a modern vision of traditional Filipino fare, an evolution of the cuisine and we use it to share our stories both through the food and the art on the menus,” says Katrina, noting that the two plan to debut a collection of handmade plates that they brought home from the Philippines for the next installment of pop-ups. 

“I’m so grateful for Karen [Bell] for opening up the doors to her restaurant for us,” Zach adds. “She’s been such an amazing mentor, and she’s offered me countless opportunities to grow and explore new things. And now she’s given us yet another way to explore our passions and take the Sinta pop-ups a step farther.” 

For more information about Sinta, visit sintamilwaukee.com or follow @Sinta.MKE on Instagram.