Chef Aaron Verzosa has always been fascinated with flying over the Philippines and soaking in the aerial view of the chain of islands. That experience inspired the name he and his wife, Amber Manuguid, chose for their new Hillman City restaurant, Archipelago. “We didn’t choose a Filipino name because we’re not Filipino—we’re Filipino American,” he said. “We chose a word that resonates with us and also speaks to the dynamics of a restaurant where you can see the different cooking stations (or islands) that operate independently but are all connected and working toward the same goal.”
Verzosa is no stranger to Seattle’s culinary scene, having worked in the research and development lab at Modernist Cuisine in Bellevue, and Basque eatery Harvest Vine before that. He’ll bring that experimental mind-set to Archipelago, where patrons get to spend an evening sampling a 10- to 12-course tasting menu they’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Verzosa is exploring ways to re-create Filipino dishes by switching out building-block ingredients that might need to be imported, and replacing them with Pacific Northwest provisions.