It's hard not to sit across from Flora Grk (pronounced "Gerk") and be uplifted and inspired...not to mention, you might wonder if you've ever worked as hard as she has.

Flora opened Tita Flora's, last year in Independence, Ohio, a place that is definitely NOT a hotbed of mixed cultural cuisines. She's serving up filipino staples in this small, homey spot that will have some similarities to other Asian foods you might have had. Listen to this episode to find out about the ingredients and flavor profiles that are hallmarks of Filipino food, how Tita Flora's came to be (and almost didn't happen), and how Flora's tenacity drove her to fulfill a dream.

Thank you, listeners and supporters for three years and 100 episodes, and building a lovely community of people who cherish local food, and the people who grow, cook and share it., and thanks to Bill Conners, my sound engineer through it all.