“There shouldn’t be boundaries as long as we’re making good food that respectfully reimagines,” chef Laila Bazahm declares. Siti, her new venture inside the Frances Modern Inn on 1123 E. 11th, pays homage to her Filipina and Singaporean roots and blends the cultures of Southeast Asia.
Having already opened El Raval, a Spanish-influenced tapas restaurant, the Philippines-raised chef tapped into her memories of the hawker stands of her youth. She points out this is nothing new to her – she even named her old restaurant in Barcelona Hawker 45 as a nod to the famous street food stands in Singapore and Malaysia.
Although hawkers usually only stick to one food item, Siti – which means “lady” in Malaysian – pays homage to Southeast Asia as a whole. Hiramasa crudo and Tom Kha ice cream point to Thai influences, while new addition kare-kare – which Bazahm recently unveiled during a winning appearance on the Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay – is a Filipino oxtail stew with peanut sauce.
“It’s a very personal dish for me because it’s really what I would usually ask my mom to cook,” says Bazahm. “Whenever my mom would ask me, ‘What would you like to eat?’ it was usually that kare-kare. I never thought I would serve it as a dish at a restaurant. It means a lot to me to do that.”
Some of her personal favorites on the menu are the laksa, a spicy and complex noodle soup featuring gulf prawns and scallops, and the wok-fired rice noodles inspired by the Char Kway Teow.
“It’s a wok-fried noodle with sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, prawns and bean sprouts,” Bazahm explains of the latter dish. “Here we serve it with a confit duck leg because I feel that it adds complexity to the dish and elevates it.”
When I went by to try some of the drinks and appetizers, I was struck by the strong and savory flavors of the wagyu fried spring rolls, chicken and beef satay skewers, and hiramasa crudo. The cocktails, developed by Siti’s general manager Eddie Zeitler, are made with adventurous ingredients like saffron rice-washed rye, Malaysian kopi (coffee), and lemongrass-infused vodka, among others.
After living throughout the globe, Bazahm raves about the openness of Austin’s food scene. “Everybody says it feels like a big city now. People have been really open to trying new stuff and I think that’s very, very important,” she says. “Since we’re a smaller town than Houston, I feel like concepts here are more welcome. If you’re doing something new, people get really excited. I think it’s just the culture, right? Here we just have a certain je ne sais quoi.”
To that end, the chef has teased a collaborative brunch with la Barbecue’s Ali Clem, which will lend a Southeast Asian flair to Clem’s smoked meats. She also plans to debut the coffee shop concept known as a kopitiam.
“We’re going to have smoked turkey congee, rice porridge, we’re going to have brisket fried rice with some rendang spices mixed into that – and then we’re going to have smoked pork belly or pork ribs with noodles and wontons,” she says. “We’re going to have Filipino longaniza sausage with some fried egg and fried rice. I can’t wait to make that kind of food and serve it here because it’s very different for Austin.”
With the Frances Inn giving Bazahm the downstairs to use as her canvas, she has joined a true culinary murderer’s row on East 11th that stretches from Franklin Barbecue, Old Thousand, and Victory East to Nickel City and Paperboy. Bazahm’s intuitive way with flavors and her international culinary flair has already made waves in East Austin’s dining scene in the few months they’ve been open.
“We’ve developed our regulars already. We’ve seen them come here like four or five times,” she says. “It’s really great to have those kinds of people who are really like, ‘Oh, we love this. We love the flavors and we’re glad you’re here.’ It just makes us happy and makes us want to keep on working on things.”
