1 year later, 27 Aluna’s owner stands by decision to change course, bring Filipino cuisine to Rockford
Rockford Restaurant Week Spotlight | 27 Aluna
Rockford Restaurant Week runs Jan. 23-Feb. 2, and we’re putting a spotlight on different locally owned establishments to celebrate the occasion. Today we feature 27 Aluna, 124 N. Main St., Rockford.
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our free e-newsletter
ROCKFORD — A year ago, chef Patrick Alberto took a risk to change a restaurant that had run for 27 years in downtown. He revamped it into something that better reflects himself and the food he wants his city to love.
Alberto turned Octane, 124 N. Main St., into 27 Aluna, shifting its focus to Filipino cuisine inspired by his former home in Manila in the Philippines.
While NBA star Fred VanVleet famously bet on himself, Alberto bet on his food — and it’s a gamble he said he was willing to take whether it succeeded or not.
“I stand by what I said last year,” Alberto said in an interview this week. “If we become successful it would be great, but if we fail as 27 Aluna I would still be happy to have been able to introduce Filipino food in a city that never had it and to represent the people and a culture that I grew up with.”
A year into the change he’s not backing away from the choice.
“It’s the best decision I ever made,” he said.
More Restaurant Week: How Ernie’s Midtown Pub in Rockford selected and perfected its Italian beef sandwich
Alberto started working at Octane in 2001, joining the staff as a dishwasher four years after it opened in 1997. He was quickly promoted to line cook. In 2012, after building his skills working as a chef at what is now Abreo, he became Octane’s executive chef. Alberto bought the business from Dan and Michelle Minick in 2019.
The name 27 Aluna comes from Alberto home address in the Philippines, where he lived for 18 years before coming to Rockford.
Now, he’s focused on creating his own takes on Filipino food. He said he’s designed each meal to be approachable, even if you’re completely unfamiliar with Filipino cuisine. Matt Maurizio, who dined at 27 Aluna this week, said Alberto’s approach works.
“For being a specific cuisine, anybody can find something they’re going to like on the menu,” Maurizio said. “There’s been not a miss.”
For Rockford Restaurant Week, 27 Aluna has a three-course brunch for $25 or a four-course dinner for $40. Both specials are designed to give you a sampling of Alberto’s take on a variety of Filipino foods.
“That’s the whole fun about Rockford Restaurant Week is we get to flex our muscles on things we don’t usually do and we reserve for wine tastings or theme tastings,” Alberto said. “You get to tour a different version of Filipino food.”
More Restaurant Week: Disco Chicken has new menu items and new ways to enjoy its rooftop in downtown Rockford
The brunch special starts with hash browns with chimichurri cream cheese and chives radish, followed by a bistek burger melt with Eickman’s beef, Manila cole slaw, chili sauce and white cheddar or Texas toast. The dessert is a coconut lemon cookie with toasted coconut, lemon curd and mango caramel.
For dinner, the weeklong special starts with a short rib egg roll with a crispy and flaky shell set in a zesty Italian herb sauce. The second course is a scallop served in sweet potato puree with sun moon spinach and a rice puff. The main course is beef tenderloin mechado with fingerling potato confit, roasted onions and mechado sauce. Dashes of fried garlic add a bit of crunch to the tender beef.
“I thought from top to bottom it was really good,” said Jessica Knudson, who said she’s been a fan of the restaurant since its days as Octane. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad experience here. … The way they put the flavors together, it’s always a hit.”
The dessert on the four-course special is 27 Aluna’s Bertday Cake, which is Alberto’s take on tres leches. It’s an angel food cake with flan and fried wontons served in a sugar milk syrup.
“The sugar milk syrup is something we do for brunch,” Alberto said. “The history of that is we were too poor to afford maple syrup or Aunt Jemima’s, so my mom would always make us condensed milk with evaporated milk, sugar and some imitation vanilla. She’d make this syrup and put it on top of our pancakes. So I decided to do that for the cake.”
More Restaurant Week: LimaMar Restaurant and Cocktail Bar delivers traditional Peruvian dishes with modern flare
Restaurant Week, so far, has been a hit for 27 Aluna.
It sold out three days in a row of both its brunch and dinner specials to start the 11-day citywide culinary celebration.
“By far this the best Restaurant Week we’ve ever had on the books,” Alberto said.
Fast facts | 27 Aluna
What’s the special? A three-course brunch menu comes with hash browns, bisket patty melt and coconut lemon cookie for $25. The four-course dinner special starts with short rib egg roll, followed by scallops, then beef tenderloin mechado and angel cake for dessert for $40.
Restaurant Week menu: See it HERE
Location: 124 N. Main St., Rockford
Hours: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 9:30 a.m to 10 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday brunch service; closed Monday
Opened: Jan. 10, 2024
On the web: 27aluna.com
On Facebook: @27aluna
On Instagram: @27alunarockford
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
