ALPAS

OUR STORY

 
 
Chef Ken Cazeñas of Alpas, Antique

ken cazeÑas

I am a Filipino born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Los Angeles, California, USA. I have been professionally cooking since 2001 at the age of seventeen and have done everything from dishwasher, prep, pastry, to executive chef in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Francisco, and Hong Kong.

Cooking for and feeding another human being is a wonderful gesture that any and every person is capable of doing. The act of preparing a dish for another is the ability to have a dialogue without speaking, to visit memories without traveling, and to understand an individual without ever meeting.


Kimberly Eng, Alpas Antique

kimberly eng

I was born and raised in Colts Neck, New Jersey, USA. My favorite childhood game was Kim’s Diner where I “cooked” and “served” my favorite (imaginary) dishes from my play kitchen to my one and only customer, my dad.  

I started working professionally in restaurants in 2008. After moving to San Francisco in 2012, eating, learning about, and working closely with farm fresh produce changed my perspective not only on food and our broken food system, but also how to reverse my negative impacts on the environment by learning how to live sustainably.


Kimberly Eng & Ken Cazeñas of Alpas, Antique

OUR DREAM VACATION

We met while working at Namu Gaji restaurant in San Francisco in 2012. Ken was sous chef and Kim was office & events manager. We barely lived and mostly worked in Hong Kong for one year in 2016, realized our working conditions and non-existent personal life were not sustainable and looked for greener pastures. Ken’s father’s family is from Dao (now known as Tobias Fornier) and we decided to move here for a simpler way of life.