A taste of home: Shediac woman grows Filipino foodtruck into Main Street business
Sarap takeout expands, opens only international grocery store in town
In downtown Shediac there is a brick building, built in 1910, which holds some of the town's past.
But it's the nod to the future inside that makes the former Léger Pharmacy building stand out now.
It's home to Sarap, a Filipino-Canadian takeout restaurant and a new international grocery store.
At the store's opening last week, owner Melody Landry greeted almost everyone who entered by their name and thanked them as they walked by brightly coloured bags of prawn chips.
The store's aisles are filled with products such as jackfruit candy, steamed rice cakes, called puto, and mochi rice balls. Behind the counter, members of Landry's family serve coffee and bubble tea.
Landry moved to New Brunswick from the Philippines more than a decade ago, and she still can't believe how far her business has come.
"It's not [sunk] in yet that I own this building," she said, adding that every night after work, she passes by the building a few times to see her bright red signs under the lights.
To a growing Filipino community in Shediac, Landry's company creates a permanent sense of belonging.
The takeout menu is filled with traditional dishes like the Philippines' national dish, chicken adobo — a tender cut of chicken in a sticky coating.
Landry serves other mains, such as pork skewers and fried chicken, with a side of fried rice. And she never forgets to add a few extra handmade spring rolls — on the house.
Her business is a window into how much this Acadian coastal town has evolved.
Feeding a community
The Filipino population in New Brunswick appears to have more than doubled from 2016 to 2021, according to a Statistics Canada census, with 2,590 people listing Tagalog, a language native to the Philippines, as their mother tongue during that time.
The vibrancy of that group is evident to anyone who spends a day on the Shediac area.
Christian Makiling moved from the Philippines 13 years ago. He lives on the same street as Sarap and is a regular there.
To him, Landry is reconnecting his community to authentic Filipino dishes they can't get in Canada, like pancit bihon, a traditional blend of fried rice noodles, veggies and protein.
"It's the real stuff," Makinling said. "Even some of the ingredients, you cannot find here in Canada but she makes it.
"I don't know how, but I think that's Melody's magic."
John Thomspon is from Cormier-Village, which is part of the municipality of Cap-Acadie. He entered the new grocery store on opening day and matched Landry's cheery welcome.
He knows Landry — his children attended the same daycare as Landry's eleven-year-old son, Zach-Philippe. And he's always enjoy her takeout.
"At lunchtime, it's a special treat just to come down and have a bite," Thompson said, as he waited for his order at the takeout. "It's supporting local and it's very delicious."
"Delicious," as it turns out, is a word plastered all over Landry's businesses — though many customers may not realize it at first glance.
That's because the word sarap means delicious in Tagalog.
To Landry, it's important to remember where she started. That's also why she has a photograph of a bright blue food truck in her restaurant.
A dream on wheels
In the Philippines, she had cooked for her friends and family at special events. Eventually, she realized being in the kitchen ignited a passion in her that her degree in computer science and job at a bank did not.
That's why, when Landry got the chance to work at a seafood processing plant in Cap-Acadie back in 2012, she jumped at it. Her plan was to save money, return to the Philippines and open her own restaurant there.
Instead, she met her husband, Jason Landry of Grand-Barachois, on the floor of the plant. They have been married for 12 years and she credits his family as her biggest supporters.
Her journey with Sarap started in 2018 when parked a food truck on the front lawn of her in-laws' home in Grand-Barachois, near Shediac.
At first, she was hesitant to share Filipino food with people who were born here, she said. She even included things like hamburgers and hot dogs on the menu as a failsafe.
"I'm the first Filipino to introduce the food around the area because back then, we [didn't] have much Filipinos around," she said. "Now, my best seller is the Filipino food."
Her customer base took off during the warmer months. And she served every order in a paper bag with a sticker that read, "Thank you for supporting my small business."
In 2023, she bought a takeout location in the heart of Shediac, on Main Street, which allowed her to run all year round.
"Everybody was surprised because I was just the lady in the food truck standing in the heat of the sun," Landry said.
"Until now, I couldn't believe that being a Filipino, coming here in Canada, having only $300 in [my] pocket … and now [I] own the building on Main Street."
As Landry looks to the future, she wants her son to be proud of her and their heritage.
"I can leave a legacy to my son, [so] that he's proud of his mom," she said.
"At least once in my life he's gonna say that, 'My mom made a name in this community.'"
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