Discover bold, family-style plates meant for sharing and a slew of creative cocktails
Kultura
Once a hidden gem on Spring Street, Kultura has moved a few blocks to Rutledge and transformed into a notable space with rattan walls, colorful tiles, thatched-roof ceiling fixtures, and a welcoming bar. Its warm embrace is as layered and atmospheric as the food of chef-owner Nikko Cagalanan’s Filipino homeland.
Cagalanan cooks with the memory of his ancestors and a reverence for communal dining. Food arrives family-style, meant to be dipped into and passed around rather than coursed in isolation. The best offering is the arroz caldo, a rice porridge thick with trout roe and fish sauce umami, delivering comforting warmth as a soft-boiled egg topped with chili crisp melts into a buttery opulence.
Inviting dishes and creative cocktails play off each other well. Laing (taro) tops a bowl of glutinous rice with a redolent coconut milk braise of kale spiked with ginger and garlic. Sipping a Queen of Hearts—vodka, hibiscus, lychee, and grapefruit—cuts the richness while accentuating the floral notes that flow through much of the menu.
Cagalanan stacks crisp sweet potato batons above pan-roasted red snapper and a creamy mung bean braise bathed in red coconut curry. There’s a Southeast Asian-inflected paella, a classic Filipino duck adobo, and long fried fingers of lumpia filled with pork and cabbage. The order hardly matters—you’ll want to share everything—but be sure to end with the Turon, a sundae mounded with flavors of caramel, banana, brown sugar, and fried lumpia crisps.
On Sundays, Cagalanan serves a more traditional, family-style kamayan feast of meats, vegetables, noodles, and rice presented on banana leaves. While the aesthetic feels upscale and modern, even the weekday service retains the spirit of a household table, where the evening stretches on with satisfying plates and conversation. The restaurant fills its new space with defined purpose and adds a welcome depth and range to the city’s gastronomic spirit.
267 Rutledge Ave.,
Thursday-Monday, 5-10pm
(843) 974-1674
