GR Fil-Am Grill brings Filipino flavors to Fayetteville’s food truck scene, but it’s not your food of choice.
“I don’t just want to present my culture from a tradition perspective, but we are now modern,” says 40-year-old chef Gerard Rangel, who owns and operates the truck together with his wife Noni Rangel (40).
Cuisines from around the world are prepared with Filipino flair in dishes like spicy pork sisig tacos, which feature seasoned pork belly served in a tortilla; ube cannoli, which feature Italian pastries filled with purple yam cream; and adobo fries, which are topped with tender soy-marinated chicken.
Since the truck began operating in September, its made-to-order dishes have become popular with locals, especially industry insiders.
“Dogslinger and Boba and Bites (owners) like our truck,” Noni said Wednesday as she and her husband prepared to serve dinner in Raeford’s Bedford neighborhood, where customers lined up in anticipation.
The food is made fresh and straight from the store – the sleek black truck has no freezer – but the chef said he is more proud of the connection with customers than the menu.
“I touch people’s lives,” he said. “It’s not about the food.”
From the Philippines to Fayetteville
Gerard was born and raised in the Philippines. As a teenager, he and his family moved from the country’s capital Manila to California. He eventually received a classical education in French cuisine at the former Le Cordon Bleu campus in San Francisco.
He and Noni met while they were in culinary school and working in the food service department of Denali National Park in Alaska during the summer. She is from Ruse, a city on the Danube in Bulgaria. They married in 2007 and the following year she moved to San Francisco to be with him.
Gerard said he spent the early years of his career as a chef in Michelin-starred restaurants in the US and Europe, but out of modesty he avoided mentioning the names of the establishments by name.
“I don’t want people to see me differently,” he said. “The way I see things, we food truck owners are all the same.”
However, Gerard admitted that he had looked after such high-profile figures as Prince William and Kate Middleton, former First Lady Laura Bush and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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He later worked in senior management at Sodexo, a multibillion-dollar food services and facilities management company based in Paris, but he says the job took a significant toll on his health.
After visiting his younger brother, a soldier at Fort Liberty, in March 2021, Gerard, his wife and their two children packed up their home in San Francisco and moved to Fayetteville in search of a slower pace of life.
“I fell in love with nature. I love the peace and quiet,” said Gerard.
Next up for GR Fil-Am Grill
GR Fil-Am Grill is often found at the Haymount Truck Stop in Fayetteville and Red’s Corner in Southern Pines, but Noni said they plan to expand their reach to the Triangle in the coming months.
A new dessert menu is in the works. The truck will soon serve halo-halo, a Filipino dessert made with fruit jelly, shaved ice, sweetened condensed milk and ube ice cream, as well as an assortment of Filipino pastries, she said.
Upscale dinners with matching cocktails are planned on the back patio of the Haymount Truck Stop, Gerard said, with dates to be announced soon.
He said that the planning and execution of the upcoming gastronomic events require careful planning.
“I don’t play games. If we cook, we cook. And I bring my brigade,” he said, referring to the French hierarchy of kitchen staff, in which a military-like chain of command functions with precision.
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Gerard said his goal is to open a restaurant and get a Michelin star, but he can’t do that in Fayetteville. The only U.S. areas listed in the Michelin Guide are New York City, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, the East Bay and wine country, Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas.
Until then, he said, he plans to continue improving the kitchen in Fayetteville.
“Now I want to go one step further,” he said. “I’m going to show off.”
The details
Schedule: Updates can be found on Facebook and Instagram.
Online: @gr_fil_am_grill on Instagram and search for “GR Fil-AM Grill” on Facebook
Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at [email protected]. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter.
