*SLIDING SCALE: $85-145
PREREGISTRATION REQUIRED
Join Chefs Charisse Ledres, Daps, and Alex Bodey of the chef collective Lamisa Events for a kamayan feast at The Bridge.
Kamayan style is a traditional Filipino communal meal. Fragrant banana leaves are carefully laid out on the table and food is beautifully placed directly on the leaves.
We will gather on floor cushions at low tables before the altar at The Bridge to enjoy this meal together with our hands.
The Chefs will share about the history and meaning of kamayan feasts as well as their own relationships to Filipino food, culture, and spirit. You will also get to learn about Lamisa’s various offerings, which you can explore for your own private events and experiences.
Lamisa creates meals with tradition in mind. They look back to moments of eating home-cooked dishes that inspire the seasonal menu for the evening. You are sure to have a dining experience that you will reminisce about for years to come.
Special Note: Attendees who select the highest tier of the sliding scale pricing will also be offered a free take-home gift at the end of the evening. This pricing scale ensures that all of the hosts are sufficiently compensated for their time and efforts.
*SLIDING SCALE DISCOUNT CODES:
20OFF ($125)
40OFF ($105)
60OFF ($85)
ABOUT LAMISA
Lamisa Events is a private chef coalition helmed by Chefs Charisse Ledres, John Paul Manansala (known as Daps), and Alex Bodey. Through food, Ledres and Daps have been able to share a piece of their Filipino culture by offering a variety of cooking and dining services, often rooted in communal experiences. Through Lamisa, the Chefs invite others to learn about Filipino culture and make connections through food that transplants them home, to the Philippines, wherever they may be.
ABOUT THE CHEFS
Charisse Ledres (she/her) is the founder of Lamisa Events. She attended the Culinary Institute of America and Johnson and Wales University. Throughout her time in the Hudson Valley, she has worked at the CIA, Marist College, Bread Alone, and the Rhinecliff Hotel and Catering Company, where she served Executive Chef. She is currently a multiple estate Private Chef in New York City. Inspired by self-expression, she founded Lamisa as an outlet to tell her cultural background and childhood memories through hospitality and food. Lamisa has now become a platform for other chefs to do the same thing. Her goal is to continue to represent her Cebuano roots within the culinary industry in the US and eventually go back home and establish a creative food space for aspiring Filipinx/Filipino/Filipina chefs.
After emigrating from Manila to South Jersey at the age of 14, John Paul Manansala—known as Chef Daps (they/them)—found their way back to the Philippines through food. “I was the kid always in the kitchen, asking questions, tasting everything, wanting to understand how it all came together,” they recall. With family roots in Pampanga, often called the culinary heart of the Philippines, cooking was less a skill than an inheritance waiting to be claimed.
For more than two decades, Daps built a career in hospitality across South Jersey, New York City, and Upstate New York, much of it spent in front-of-house leadership. But it was later in life that they began to truly embrace food as their calling—not just to feed others, but to heal, connect, and remember. “Cooking Filipino food is how I decolonize myself,” they say. “It’s a journey for me, and one I share with others.”
Drawing inspiration from heirloom recipes passed down by Lolas, Titos, and Titas, the energy of street food vendors, and the diverse culinary scenes of Philadelphia and New York, Chef Daps has become a spirited voice for Filipino cuisine in America. Through pop-ups, collaborations, and community-centered dining experiences, their mission is simple yet profound: to share the soul of Filipino food in ways that spark comfort, joy, and belonging.
Alex Bodey (he/him/they/them) is a chef and writer who explores the world through the lens of people. He draws inspiration from his childhood full of the stories that his mother would tell about growing up in Naples, Italy. These vivid recollections of food memories set the groundwork for a life of curiosity. He has been able to examine storytelling through food alongside the team at Lamisa, cooking Neapolitan classics with his personality on every plate. You should leave the table with not only a full stomach but a full heart, feeling closer to food and its origins than before.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds or class credits are available by request for cancellations within 72 hours of the event start time.