Hey hey! i'm christina topacio.
Culinary Studio Founder • Brand Strategist • Experience Designer

Fifteen years building worlds for people to step into. Brand strategy, production, hospitality, food — I've always been drawn to the space where all of it overlaps.

Salo Salo is what lives there.
This is where my worlds come together on a plate. Filipino-rooted, design-forward, always built around cultural fluency and the quiet power of a table that feels like something.

The philosophy isn't complicated:
Flavor first. Connection always. Memories at the core.

Salo Salo isn't catering. It's a studio practice — where every plate, every tablescape, every pour is designed to feed your appetite and the room you're in. Food, yes. But mostly, it's a feeling.


(IYKYK)

We may have met somewhere along the way — if not, think of me as the one connecting the dots between brand, culture, and community.

Or maybe just met having a taste of one of my grazing landscapes or salted honey vanilla bean butta.

It’s all the same throughline tho — shaping ideas into something you can taste, hold, or share.


I create dining experiences that feel like your memories, rooted in flavor, culture and a 'damn, one last bite'.


I work with founders as they navigate growth — team building, revenue shifts, and reworking the vision when it’s time to evolve.


I build the concept, mood, and flow behind brand events, visual worlds, and the stories we wrap around them.

I create dining experiences that feel like your memories, rooted in flavor, culture and  


I work with founders as they navigate growth — team building, revenue shifts, and reworking the vision when it’s time to evolve.


I build the concept, mood, and flow behind brand events, visual worlds, and the stories we wrap around them.

My WORK
MOVES THROUGH

FOUNDER evolution

'damn, one last bite'.

FOOD AS A MEDIUM

designing experiences

legacy clients

09. BIGGEST RED FLAG IN A MENU?

DRY, anything. no sauce? tragedy. 

a. I'm at Jubliee?! Hold the phone.
b. Obviously my filipino adobo lomo saltado tacos, ofc, with aji verde sauce + fish sauce shallots
c. Probably 3 types of dips; how to make + assemble bc dips really are the star

08. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR 'DEMO' at CHERRYBOMBE's jubilee? 

a. Salsa, queso, three bean  
b. French onion, ranch, 7 layer dip
c. Spinach + artichoke, baked brie, fondue 
d. labneh + feta, all hummus, white bean dip
e. is there a bad dip?

07. what are the best dips to ever exist in the wHOLEWIDEWORLD?

Filipino adobo-based lomo saltado, aji verde, calamansi citrus fennel Radicchio salad + a warmed castelvetrano olive + almond salad with chili crisp and herbed labneh base

06. what was the first dish you made for your first salo salo dinner? 

a. Cooking a new dish for my lovie to try (usually featuring a new pickled item)
b. Sleeping
c. Styling everything home + house including playing in the arts (even sold your own pieces)!
d. Experiential event + experiences production

05. CIRCLE any / all things you do when you're not installing for salo salo?

guests asking to take home leftovers (if they're lucky)

04. Fill in the blank: A good dinner party always ends with _______.

a. Tangy, pickly, crunchy, one bite yum
b. Simple, veggie forward
c. Salt bomb obvi
d. Is there such thing as ONE?

03. How do you define a perfect bite?

OVERHEARING ALL THE SENTIMENTS; the memories, the favorite bites, the 'one more bite'

02. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF SERVICE?

a. Refried beans + cheddar cheese nachos
b. Montreal seasoned-chicken breast, made on a george foreman grill
c. Canned chili baked potato with cheddar cheese 
d. Do they all count if they are all memorable?

01. what was the first DISH YOU EVER MADE?

time for a pop quiz!

BAY AREA

los angeles

A kitchen kid with a planner’s brain.

I grew up on food and gathering // it’s in my blood.

My lolo was a cook in the Philippines. Joining the Navy was his ticket to the U.S. — the reason my family is here today. Every holiday, birthday, or “the game’s on” centered on food (and yes, Auntie Charlie’s chocolate crème pie). By 13, I was touring CIA because I just knew I wanted to be a chef, until The Wedding Planner convinced me otherwise. But even then, after every cheer practice, I was back in the kitchen, throwing together 30-minute meals and using garbage bowls just to learn.

Food is in my DNA, just like entrepreneurship. And combine my Wedding Planner, type-A personality (event producer of 10+ years reporting for duty) + my incessant need to host parties, shout-out my 8th birthday slumber party, 'Paris Fashion Show' themed, and ya girl was set out for the sweetest journey yet.

Salo Salo is where what I was raised on collides with what I built.
It's my joy to serve people + create memories with my food + styling. I hope to serve you soon.

new york city