Unson also recalls less pleasant food memories. More specifically, he remembers the quintessential Asian-American lunchbox experience of bringing lunch to school and getting weird looks. “It was kind of smelly. I got some weird looks. At that time, most of my friends were white, so I did feel othered.” Today, Unson has explored multiple facets of the food industry over a long career. He's attended culinary school, studied food science, and served as a cooking instructor. Now, he introduces Filipino food to new audiences as a way of normalizing the cuisine so that it is not “stinky food nobody wants to try.”