Nanette Thomas has been sharing her culture and love of cooking with friends, family and community members for years, and now she’s preparing to open her own restaurant to turn her passion into a full-time job.

Kusinera Filipino Cuisine is located at 3047 Legion Road in Fayetteville. The business is a full service, dine-in restaurant serving authentic Filipino food cooked to order. Though this is Thomas’s first time as a restaurant owner, she has been sharing her love of cooking with people for a long time.

Thomas works in real estate with her husband, and while that has provided her with a rewarding career, she is excited to enter into this new chapter.

“I told my husband that I want to cook, because cooking is my passion. Real estate is good. It's a good business. And I was able to achieve my dream, which is to buy property in the Philippines and help my family...that was my biggest goal in life, and I have achieved that because of real estate. So now I want to do my dream, my own dream, for myself, which is to cook for everybody and to open a restaurant,” shared Thomas.

From cooking for housewarming parties to birthday parties, from feeding small groups to crowds of 200, Thomas enjoys sharing her dishes with everyone.

Some of the signature dishes that will be served in the restaurant include traditional Filipino lumpia, pancit and adobo.

After taking over the lease on July 1, Thomas has been working hard to renovate the space to be the restaurant she’s dreamed of. Thomas shared that her birthday is coming up on Sept. 3, and she hopes to be able to celebrate the opening of the restaurant on that day.

“This restaurant is my gift to myself,” shared Thomas. She added that she always spends her birthday cooking for her friends, so this would be an exciting new way to continue that tradition.

Despite not being open yet, Thomas shared she’s already been asked to have Kusinera Filipino Cuisine cater an event. 

There is a lot of buzz and excitement surrounding the upcoming opening of Kusinera Filipino Cuisine. Thomas is excited to share her food with an even wider audience. 

“I know that I will be working five to six days a week, 12 hours a day, or working 12 hours or more, but I'm ready. Because this has been what I've been wanting. Because when you want something—if you love what you're doing, [you] don't get tired. So I can be, like at my house, I can be in the kitchen all day, and I don't get tired of it. I just love it…So I hope everybody in Fayetteville or in surrounding areas will love it too,” added Thomas.

To keep up with Kusinera Filipino Cuisine follow their Facebook page.