Unapologetic Foods — the team behind Adda, Dhamaka, and Semma — will switch culinary gears this September with Naks, a 45‑seat East Village restaurant led by Manila‑born chef Eric Valdez that celebrates regional Filipino cooking. The à‑la‑carte side of the menu runs to about 14 boldly flavored dishes — think grilled eel, crispy goat, pork‑brain sisig, and butter‑drenched fried chicken — while a centerpiece kamayan feast invites diners to eat a progression of soups, salads, and snacks with their hands off banana leaves, culminating in Davao‑style lechon stuffed with lemongrass, chiles, and star anise. Valdez and partners Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya road‑tripped through the Philippines to research seldom‑seen recipes, aiming, as with their Indian spots, to serve uncompromised flavors rather than Americanized riffs. Even the welcome drink nods to tradition: a balut‑inspired eggshell of bilimbi fruit, spiced coconut vinegar, and duck stock sets the unapologetically Filipino tone from the start.