Nicole Ponseca is a pioneering voice in the culinary world, recognized for her role as a restaurateur and cookbook author. She revolutionized perceptions of Filipino food in the United States through her critically acclaimed restaurants, Maharlika and Jeepney. Her debut cookbook, *I Am a Filipino*, is a James Beard Award finalist and has been hailed as a definitive work on Filipino cuisine by publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Saveur.