Rogue may 2016

The Appetite Issue

PPETITE ISS

U

T

EA

E

H

R

ROGUE MAGAZINE / 250 PESOS

Bottoms Up! Rogue’s Ultimate Guide to Drinking in the City • Inside the Private Kitchens of Manila’s Top Chefs • Suicide, Depression, and the Curse of the Michelin Star • Andrew Tan’s 14 Billion Peso Fundador Takeover • Plus: The City’s Hippest Farm-to-Table Resto That Not Even Gaita Knows About!

PHOTOGRAPH BY NEAL OSHIMA

/

C O C K TA I L BY T H E C U R AT O R

GU

6

98 O

0 E MAY 2

1

RALPHLAUREN.COM/POLO FOLLOW @POLORALPHLAUREN ON INSTAGRAM SH A NGR I-LA PLA ZA M A LL 634 8019

RUSTA N’S M A K AT I 867 2201

ISSUE 98

CONTENTS Ma y 2 0 16

The Dog & Bollocks’s Compost Cookie

94

THE SIMPLE LIFE OF YOSHIHIRO NARISAWA When Yoshihiro Narisawa dropped in for Madrid Fusion Manila, he distinguished himself by way of his advocacies: health, sustainability, and the importance of being in touch with the natural world. And if his restaurant Les Création de Narisawa is any proof, his principles have not hindered him. We talk to Japan’s globally renowned baker about the personal pleasures behind his livelihood.

96

FEATURES 66

MANILA DRINKS From dive bars to convenience stores, gin pom to pickle juice, we present a convenient guide to drinking your way around and through the metro.

72

ROGUE FARE For our ninth annual Appetite issue, we reprise our tradition of collaborating with the inest food joints of the city to bring you these limited-edition, distinctly Rogue delectables.

76

EATING IN Chefs must always be in top form if they’re expected to survive the fast-paced, high-

2 M AY 2016

pressure world of running a restaurant. But outside of business hours, removed from the nightly dinner rush and in the comfort of their homes, they let their guard down, just a little. Take a look at how the top cooks of today’s food scene simmer down in their personal kitchens.

88

THE SPANISH ACQUISITION After Andrew Tan—the ifth richest Filipino—bought Bodega Fundador, the titan’s Emperador Inc. morphed into the biggest brandy company in the world. His son Kendrick, meanwhile, has welcomed the task of fortifying his father’s liquor empire. he famed tycoon and his potential successor suggest to Iris Gonzales that maybe matters of business and brandy simply run in the family.

THE BURNOUT CLUB he Michelin star has proven itself to be both a gift and a curse. While it grants deserving chefs incredible prestige, it also places a great weight on their shoulders, pressuring them to maintain their place in the global culinary hierarchy. In the wake of Michelin star awardee Benoit Violier’s suicide, Damian Whitworth investigates how fraught with anxiety the ine dining world can be.

102

THE REVOLUTIONARY MR. ROCA Joan Roca is a nomad. His restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, which he runs alongside his two brothers, is known to close for weeks at a time so that the chefs and their staf can travel to study the world’s multitude of cuisines.

Lucky for us, he ended up on Philippine soil for Madrid Fusion Manila. Michelle Ayuyao converses with the lauded chef about creativity and the sheer breadth of his inluences.

104

THE DOG AND BOLLOCKS After a brief stint at Fat Duck, Blumenthal protégé Chef John Paul Grenot returns to Manila with he Dog and Bollocks, a hardline farm-to-table gastropub neatly tucked in Poblacion’s bustling red light district. Food critic Art Vandelay observes the next stage in sustainability-focused cuisine and discovers the surprising pleasures of compost.

ISSUE 98

CONTENTS Ma y 2 0 16

Chele Gonzalez of Vask

SECTIONS 13

AGENDA Chef Jordy Navarra takes Filipino cuisine to new heights with Toyo Eatery; Luca Guadagnino masters the erotic thriller form with his upcoming ilm, A Bigger Splash; ginger is now a key ingredient for the season’s most refreshing beverages, thanks to local brewers; Don DeLillo’s next novel, Zero K, attempts to reconcile the inevitability of death with the will to live.

33

SPACE We envision how four celebrated cultural icons might play dinner party host; through his work, Eames Demetrios honors the vision that Charles and Ray Eames had for the design world; unconventional light ixtures can give character to your living space, especially in the hands of an adventurous decorator; four brands give the classic station wagon a much needed upgrade.

49

THE EYE Master photographer Helmut Newton explored the potential of the printed page throughout most of his career; Jon Syjuco of he Moment Group talks about how style and business overlap; Daniel Wellington sets a new standard for watch faces and woven straps; Masaya Kuroki explains why being countertrend has been beneicial for his streetwear brand Kitsune.

59

THE SLANT Ricky Carandang recalls the politically incorrect pleasures of dining on the game of a threatened species—speciically, whale meat; Ige Ramos proposes that forefather Emilio Aguinaldo may have been Philippine history’s irst bona ide foodie; Inky Dario expounds on the scarcity of good service in modern dining, and why it isn’t wrong to expect more than just good food.

4 M AY 2016

Editor in Chief PAOLO R. REYES Design Director MIGUEL MARI

Creative Director MIGUEL LUGTU

Executive Editor CARMELA A. LOPA

Features Editor JEROME GOMEZ Managing Editor JACS T. SAMPAYAN Design Editor DEVI DE VEYRA Editorial Assistant JAM PASCUAL Copy Editor ARIANNA LIM Online Editor MIO BORROMEO Editor at Large TEODORO LOCSIN, JR.

ART Art Director PATRICK DIOKNO Photographer at Large MARK NICDAO

Junior Designer CHESCA GAMBOA

Photographer STEVE TIRONA

Illustrator MENEER MARCELO

Contributing Editors BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE, TRICKIE LOPA, TATS MANAHAN, NEAL OSHIMA, JJ YULO, MICHELLE AYUYAO, JAMES GABRILLO, DON JAUCIAN, L.A. CONSING LOPEZ, NICOLA M. SEBASTIAN, MANO LOTHO, TEDDY MONTELIBANO, GUTSY TUASON, MARTIN VALDES, MARITES VITUG Contributing Writers APA AGBAYANI, BOB ARANETA, SANTIAGO ARNAIZ, RICKY CARANDANG, INKY DARIO,

On the Cover Photographed by Neal Oshima Styled by MJ Benitez Photographer Assisted by Johann Guasch Stylist Assisted by Inah Maravilla Cass of Elite Manila wears Louis Vuiton patent pumps, Float bikini botom, City Lady thigh high stockings, La Senza lace garter belt Crate & Barrel Dizzy Double Old-Fashioned glass Old-Fashioned by The Curator Cofee & Cocktails (located at 134 Legaspi cor. St. Palanca St., Makati.)

60ml Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whiskey 5ml Simple Syrup 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Orange Oils

IRIS GONZALES, TRICKIE LOPA, JACO MABANTA, MAGS OCAMPO, MIGUEL ORTEGA, IGE RAMOS, MARGAUX SALCEDO, ART VANDEL AY, DAMIAN WHITWORTH Contributing Photographers & Artists GABBY CANTERO, JER DEE, MONICA ESQUIVEL, MANO GONZALES, JL JAVIER, KENDRICK TAN, SONNY THAKUR Interns ELISE APILADO, FLO BALANE, BEA MARIANO, GIO MENDOZA, KATE PATRIMONIO

PUBLISHING Publisher VICKY F. MONTENEGRO / vicky.montenegro@roguemedia.ph Associate Publisher ANI A. HIL A / ani.hila@roguemedia.ph Senior Advertising Sales Director MINA GARA / mina.gara@roguemedia.ph Account Managers VELU ACABADO, MADS TEOTICO

Unit 102, Building 2, OPVI Centre, 2295 Jannov Plaza, Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati, 1231 Telephone: (+632) 729-7747 Telefax: (+632) 894-2676 Email: mail@roguemedia.ph Online Presence: Rogue.Ph Facebook.com/rogue.magazine Twitter: @rogueonline Instagram: @rogueonline

Advertising Traffic Officer & Production Coordinator MYRA CABALUNA Marketing Associate SAMANTHA ANGELES Associate Circulation Manager RAINIER S. BARIA

Tablet version available at: Zinio.com/Rogue Official Internet Service Provider:

Circulation Supervisor MARK ROLAND LEAL Circulation Assistant JERICO ALDANA Dispatch Supervisors ERIC GARCIA, JIMUEL TATAD Controller EDEN G. ARGONZA Credit & Collection Officer DODGIE OCAMPO Finance Analyst JEMMALYN LUCERO HR Supervisor SZERINAH ANN SAMULDE Administrative Supervisor DEANNA GUEVARRA

For subscriptions, back issues, bulk orders, and other circulation concerns please contact : Rainier S. Baria at (+632) 729-7747 and rainier.baria@roguemedia.ph ROGUE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY, ELEVEN TIMES PER YEAR. THE EDITORS AND PUBLISHERS OF THE MAGAZINE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES IN RELATION TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES ADVERTISED IN

This issue would not have been possible without the help of

THIS EDITION. OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF ROGUE MAGAZINE. THIS MAGAZINE

GAB BUSTOS, JERICSON CO, TINCHU GONZALEZ, RAM LOPEZ, JACO MABANTA, JORDY NAVARRA, DAVID ONG,

IS FULLY PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT, AND NO PART OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY BE USED OR REPRODUCED IN ANY MANNER

THEA DE RIVERA, KARINA SANTIAGO, BEA CAMILLE SANTOS, MIGUEL VECIN

WHATSOEVER WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE EDITORS AND PUBLISHERS.

ISSUE 98

THE EDITOR’S NOTE Ma y 2 0 16

When Mr. Bourdain Came to Dinner

8 M AY 2016

black jeans and brown leather lip-lops should have warned them that this was a man that didn’t need any fussing over.

Here are some excerpts from our hourlong conversation.

Do you think Filipino cuisine is misunderstood?

When you project a culinary identity, you’re looking for a one-sentence or three-word concept. Szechuan food: spicy. Japanese food: raw ish, nice colors.Very precise. I don’t think there is a focus concept about Filipino food.

God knows there are plenty of Filipinos. And I know this problem does not exist in Hawaii, where they have this whole sub-genre of Hawaiian-Filipino fusion food. he particular mix of Chinese, Malay, Spanish, and American has led to some confusion. Your food is not so much Spanish as it is New World, as it is Latin American or Central American Spanish—which is a good thing.

Let’s talk about what you’ve eaten in Manila.

Today we were at the Farmers Market in Cubao.

I had adobo shrimp and some really amazing crab cooked with coconut milk and chili peppers. I also had a vegetable dish, that bitter squash with long beans. In the Chinese section of town we had orange noodles with egg on top. Delicious.

And, of course, lumpia—fried and fresh!

What would get your vote as our national dish?

Sisigg is everything I love about food. Sizzling pork with all that good rubbery, fatty, crispy textures? It’s just wonderful. And it goes well with beer! What surprised me was the four-way goat business. I had a stew of goat guts with bile loating over the top. I’ve had bile straight before with whisky, and all of my experiences with bile have been pretty unpleasant—most of them occurring after a long night of drinking in bathroom loor. here was also this interesting bone marrow soup and broth. Bulalo? It really

reminded me of ba kuh teh. I love dishes like this because people ate them because they were desperately poor.

Is there anything you would never force down your stomach?

I wouldn’t eat what most Americans would call a pet. It pains me to see the process. I don’t tend to be judgmental about these things. It’s just funny how Americans call any traditional food—like bugs in hailand—as weird. But then what the hell is a Chicken McNugget or a cinnabun?

Tell us about your foulest meal.

Fermented shark in Iceland. hey rot it, putrefy it, and then place it in lactic acid. Compared to that, durian smells like ine perfume. And I like durian. Fermented shark is just horrible to smell, lethal to touch. But the single worst meal was the business end of warthog. Literally eating crap, fur, and sand in every bite is not a good experience.

I heard you detest airline food.

You can’t cook on a plane. hey shove everything into a hot box. Every minute you’re in the air, the food is dying. You’re looking for durability over anything else. You could never make food in First Class better than even a mediocre restaurant.

What would you have for your last meal?

Roasted bone marrow. Or maybe some really good high-test sushi: one piece of unii on warm, crumbly rice with some Hokkaido seaweed.

I’m talking about a $300 piece of sushi here. I wouldn’t mind dying with that hanging out of my mouth.

Paolo R. Reyess P Editor in Chief

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK NICDAO

S

isigg is everything I love about Filipino food,” Anthony Bourdain told me before digging into his dalandan sorbet, a palate cleanser that eclipsed the previous courses he politely refused to touch: a salmon caviar timbale with shrimp salsa, followed by a decorative plate of pan-roasted duck breast. “Sizzling pork with all that good fatty, rubbery, crispy textures? Sisigg is just wonderful. And it goes well with beer!”

We were at a private dinner in Pasay City, back in October 25, 2008, where Roguee was fortunate enough to land a place in the table. While most of my dinner companions—a mix of smarmy reporters, food nerds, and fan boys bordering on the obnoxious—were excessively engrossed in the conversation with the Kitchen Coni n dential scribe and Parts Unknown host, I kept to myself, quietly observing how this silver-maned knight of our round table consumed the mostly bland continental food in front of him as he dished out diatribes against the obsessive nature of bloggers (“When you collect food experiences like butterlies, you’re not enjoying it the way it should be”) and the Filipino appetite for man’s best friend (“I wouldn’t eat what most Americans would call a pet”).

Save for his teaspoon’s wet smooch with a scoop of sorbet, his utensils saw little action, deprived of a rapturous intercourse with Bourdain’s tongue. I found this rather amusing, considering how, only hours before, the restaurant’s well-meaning wait staf f fussed over his place settings and dusted his chair as if it was the throne of some visiting deity. His ripped

ISSUE 98

THE GUEST LIST Ma y 2 0 16

Michelle V. Ayuyao was an editor for a local glossy before taking up a course in Food Writing at the International Culinary Center in New York City. After a very brief stint as a food site’s web editor, she went rogue and now does something else entirely. Online she is @mvayuyao.

10 M AY 2016

Ricky Carandang has worked as a News Anchor of ABSCBN and as an ANC correspondent. He has also worked in public service as the PCDSPO Secretary under the Presidential Communications Group. In this issue, he writes about the politically incorrect pleasure that comes with dining on a threatened species.

Ige Ramos is a book designer, cook, and award-winning writer, nabbing irst place in the 2012 Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Awards.

He also works as the principal designer and editorial director of Ige Ramos Design Studio (IRDS).

Neal Oshima is an esteemed art and commercial photographer whose works have been viewed and auctioned in galleries around the world. He has won numerous international awards for his advertising and ine art work.

Damian Whitworth is a feature writer for he Times and has also written for he Australian. Here he writes about the suicide of Michelin star-studded chef Benoît Violier and the high-stress world of ine dining.

Iris Gonzales is a Manila-based journalist. She covers the economy for he Philippine Star and blogs about human rights and development issues for the London-based New Internationalist.

She is also a cofee and scotch drinker, a barefoot traveler, and a collector of memories.

Ma y 2 0 16

E DI T E D BY

JAM PASCUAL

AGENDA

ISSUE NO.

98

F O O D + E N T E R TA I N M E N T + C U L T U R E + T R AV E L

“Nobody ever opens a bottle of Champagne for any other reason than pleasure,” wrote the storied vintner behind the House of Krug, one of the world's most sought-after bubblies for nearly two centuries

CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA WORDS BY JAM PASCUAL

AGENDA DRINKS

IMAGES COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

IN 1843, JOSEPH KRUG founded the House of Krug in Reims, one of the main cities in the Champagne region of France.

Educated in composition and taste under Champagne Jacquesson, Krug founded his House with the vision of constantly producing the inest of champagnes, whether through dealing with climate variations or experimenting with the creation of vintages. It would take some time, however, until the name of the famed champagne house would be backed by both vision and prestige, when Joseph’s son Paul established the brand as a grand marque, which meant universal praise and recognition both in Reims and overseas.

Six generations of the Krug family have helped to run and strengthen the champagne house. Over 170 years later and the house is still setting an example for champagne enthusiasts everywhere. his should be no surprise—one can simply look to Assouline’s book, Krug by Krug Lovers, which collects quotes and anecdotes from the patrons the brand has befriended over the years—the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Francis

14 M AY 2016

Hemingway and Duhamel would down two bottlesworth of Krug Vintage for breakfast. “I feel euphoric all the rest of the morning.”

THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

Top: The house of Champagne Krug in rue Coquebert, Reims, Champagne Ardenne, France. For over century and half, six generations of the Krug family have helped to run and strengthen the champagne house.

Ford Coppola counted among them.

One story conveys the look of artist Francis Bacon’s home studio, strewn with the kinds of items one would expect—magazines, handwritten notes, discarded canvases, splatters of paint, the works. Of course, included in Bacon’s ine mess were empty bottles of the champagne,

the presence of which somehow seems to complete the picture of the artist’s creative space.

However, one anecdote is particularly memorable: French actor Marcel Duhamel was once the secretary of American literary legend Ernest Hemingway. Together, every 9 A.M., they would down two bottles-worth of Krug Vintage for breakfast. “It is not my style at all,” admits Duhamel, “but I must admit that this vintage is of such quality that I feel euphoric all the rest of the morning.”

Such anecdotes should not be taken as endorsing the narrative of the alcohol-fueled creative. Take it this way instead: the renown of Krug's patrons must certainly be a relection of the quality of its champagne. It is stories like these that elevate a brand from mere commodity to the realm of symbol. he book comes with a foreword by Olivier Krug, the founding family’s sixth generation House director, and an introduction by Serena Sutclifee, M.W., the worldwide head of wine at Sotheby’s. hroughout history, names of great weight have willingly attached themselves to the story of the House of Krug. his has not changed.

AGENDA ART

Colors of a Wallflower With her signature monochrome style, Johanna Helmuth introduces us to a world of perpetual frustration in her upcoming show, Disfigure WORDS BY TRICKIE LOPA PHOTOS BY JL JAVIER

16 M AY 2016

JOHANNA HELMUTH LETS out a laugh at the slightly incredulous look I gave her. I couldn’t help it. he Impressionists, she had said, so inspired her that she decided to pursue a career in the visual arts. Nothing seemed further from the sun-dappled landscapes that Monet and company painted en plein air than the images on the canvases piled along the walls of the 23-yearold artist’s studio in Biñan. As far as I can tell, gray—and all its 50 shades—seemed more the palette of choice here.

“Oo, totoo,” Helmuth insists. “I started reading on Impressionism in school, and I loved it!

Plus at the Technological University of the Philippines, advertising students had to create with their own hands. So parang after that . . .

that’s when I knew na gusto ko maging artist.”

Sure enough, a heavy book on the 19th century movement lies atop a nearby stool, at the bottom of a stack that includes tomes on Anselm Kiefer and Paula Rego. Admittedly, Kiefer, with his monumental ruminations on identity, and Rego’s bold, unlinching illustrations, exert more of an inluence these days. Just that morning, Helmuth posted a photo of herself with one of Rego’s huge works at Art Basel Hong Kong; she had spent the weekend at the fair.

Helmuth irst caught the art crowd’s notice in 2010 at Art in the Park. She belonged to a group of art students mentored by auction mainstay Lynyrd Paras, a bunch he dubbed Studio 1616, after the address of his studio in Pandacan.

AGENDA ART

Helmuth confronts viewers with frank depictions of domestic issues: a mother’s lament on her son’s coming out, a cheating partner, a claustrophobic relationship, the fallout from drunken revelry, a gossipy clique.

Soon enough, commercial galleries sought them out for group exhibits, and collectors started to pay attention.

Large round spectacles dominate Helmuth’s face, obscuring delicate features and giving her slight frame a geeky, somewhat tentative air.

In contrast, the imagery that springs from her brushes is strong, stark, and clearly drawn. She speaks very deinitively of her work—this suite of paintings will come together for her irst solo exhibit, Disigure, set for Ayala Museum’s ArtistSpace.

Roughly hewn subjects populate Helmuth’s canvases, the coarse inish resulting from her use of a palette knife to apply paint. hey exist in a monochrome universe, set against backdrops devoid of details. his austerity directs viewers to focus on the igures, the discord and drama evinced in their awkward poses. here is an undercurrent of deviancy running across her paintings, especially on the tableaux presented in the six larger works.

She paints to speak of personal experiences; she makes no pretenses to any grand statements. Helmuth’s purview is limited to her circle of family, friends, and acquaintances, the goings-on in her world. Her identical twin and bosom companion, Jeanine, appears often. She describes the process of slathering pigment onto canvas as cathartic. It serves to purge frustrations and betrayals, to illustrate loneliness, to depict sexual tensions and attractions. Helmuth confronts viewers with frank depictions of domestic issues: a mother’s lament on her son’s coming out, a cheating partner, a claustrophobic relationship, the fallout from drunken revelry, a gossipy clique.

“In college, I was kind of the walllower, 18 M AY 2016

WHAT THE LIGHT CANNOT TOUCH

Clockwise, from top: Johanna Helmuth's work has been shown at West Gallery and Art Stage Singapore 2016; Ignore Her, oil on canvas, 36” x 36”; A Mother's Cry, oil on canvas, 36” x 36”. Previous page: Dining Hall, oil and canvas, 60” x 60”.

observing almost everything happening, I was the silent one,” Helmuth shares. “I had no one to run to kasi I didn’t want to lay anything on my family. My paintings were my release, especially when those who hurt me were friends. But I’m not bitter, kasi I’ve learned from all of that. Before I start painting, I pray. hen, after, I forgive and forget. Papakawalan ko na lahat.”

DISFIGURE WILL BE EXHIBITED FROM MAY 3 TO 16 AT ARTISTSPACE IN AYALA MUSEUM.

AGENDA FILM

Trouble in Paradise Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) sharpens his penchant for erotic drama with his new thriller A Bigger Splash WORDS BY APA AGBAYANI

THE POLITICS OF desire have a way of making for unforgettable cinema. It’s in love triangles and sexual mind games that all too human tensions surface.

Italian ilmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s new erotic thriller A Bigger Splash explores jealousy and hedonism, throwing viewers into the deep end of desire. Set on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria, the ilm has a David Bowie-type rockstar, Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton), hiding away from the public with her boyfriend, documentary ilmmaker Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts). On vocal rest after throat surgery, she inds herself caught in a perfect storm once ex-lover Harry Hawkes (Ralph Fiennes) arrives uninvited with his daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson) to crash their idyllic retreat.

Harry is a force of nature.

Immediately, his casual indiference and his penchant for debauchery start to strain the relationship between Marianne and Paul.

Meanwhile, Penelope begins her own subdued seduction, gently nudging Paul to the edge.

It’s a loose adaptation of the 1969 Jacques Deray

20 M AY 2016

ilm La Piscine with Alain Delon and Romy Schneider.

Here, however, Guadagnino rewrites the characters, leshing out their dynamics in new ways. Given her largely silent role, Swinton’s screen presence remains compelling as ever.

She conveys pages and pages of information in a sideward glance. Fiennes digs his teeth into the brusque, hedonistic Harry, playing a perfect counterpoint to Swinton—her Marianne, settled into the comforts of a stable relationship; his Harry constantly egging her on, pulling her closer to the ire. She is literally unable to speak; he, unable to stop. he tensions reach a fever pitch, leading up to the ilm’s haunting conclusion. Guadagnino makes the most of his actors throughout, traversing the tensions between characters with a singular deftness. he game plays out in perfect time and the sun-kissed island makes for a sumptuous backdrop for the ilm’s descent into chaos.

Guadagnino and Swinton explored similar territory with the sensual I Am Love in 2009. In A Bigger Splash, though, the two create something gripping and fullblooded. It’s a story of desire as a fundamentally destructive force, of the ways that wanting unravels us.

tŝƚŚ ŽƵƌ ĐĞƌĂŵŝĐƐ͕ ĮƌĞ ďĞĐŽŵĞƐ ŇĂǀŽƌ͘

ŝƐ ĐƌĂŌĞĚ ŝŶ ƵƌŐƵŶĚLJ ƚŽ ďƌŝŶŐ ŽƵƚ ƚŚĞ ďĞƐƚ ŇĂǀŽƌƐ ŝŶ LJŽƵƌ ĐŽŽŬŝŶŐ͘ ĞƐŝŐŶĞĚ ďLJ ŽƵƌ ĂƌƟƐĂŶ ĞŶŐŝŶĞĞƌƐ͕ ŽƵƌ WŝnjnjĂ ^ƚŽŶĞ ĐƌĞĂƚĞƐ Ă ĐƌŝƐƉLJ ĐƌƵƐƚ ƵƐŝŶŐ ŽƵƌ ƌŝĚŐĞĚ ƐƵƌĨĂĐĞ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ƌŝŵ ŬĞĞƉƐ ƚŚĞ ƉŝnjnjĂ ĐĞŶƚĞƌĞĚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ƐƚŽŶĞ͘ ϭϬͲLJĞĂƌ ŐƵĂƌĂŶƚĞĞ͘

"!

^ŚĂŶŐƌŝͲ>Ă WůĂnjĂ ĂƐƚ tŝŶŐ͕ DĂŶĚĂůƵLJŽŶŐ ŝƚLJ ͻ нϲϯϮ ϲϱϰ ϭϯϬϮ ůƵĞďĂLJ tĂůŬ͕ WĂƐĂLJ ŝƚLJ ͻ нϲϯϮ ϴϮϴ ϲϵϲϲ

ĂƌƚŚ͕ &ŝƌĞ Θ &ůĂǀŽƌ

AGENDA FOOD

Ready, Set, Begin Again Coming off the success of Black Sheep, chef Jordy Navarra returns with Toyo Eatery and gets experimental with Filipino cuisine WORDS BY MICHELLE V. AYUYAO / PHOTOS BY SONNY THAKUR

I’VE NEVER BEEN able to bring myself to say this out loud, but Chef Jordy Navarra had it all wrong at the start. Or, rather, not all the right people properly had Jordy Navarra at his start. During our irst encounter years ago, he had spoken so sincerely of sea and farmlands, childhood packed lunches, cheap afternoon snacks, and the potential of local food. Curious then that a man who spoke so highly of Philippine culinary explorations had found a platform for his work in Black Sheep. Its shell was a space walled mostly by loor-to-ceiling windows, outitted by plush interiors and carpeted loorings, and a club-style backlit bar—all within the penthouse space of a building that towered over the city. But at its spine, and at the ebb and low of its pulse, was Navarra and his kitchen team: devotees to

22 M AY 2016

rethinking and reformulating Filipino fare.

Just a couple of months ago, the Sheep went to graze in other pastures, and Navarra opted to search for greener ones. First, a pregnant pause in the months that followed his departure from the place he had become associated with. Followed by a buzz of news that litted across the web with much speed and curiosity: Toyo Eatery.

Stationed at the center spot of an artist’s alleyway, Toyo’s inner frame has a handsome ruggedness to it. here are bursts of wood, shell, and woven ixtures—even giant wooden cutlery on the wall—but the eyes that dine here will involuntarily travel to the restaurant’s provocatively open kitchen. A sterling stage with denim apron-clad characters weaving through it, each dish here is a choreographed dance by

Navarra and his cast. he continued pursuit of propelling Filipino food away from just your mom’s home cooking yielded instead a iner take on otherwise casual dining. hink standard pork barbecue ired up on the grill at the nearest street corner, only this time that barbecue has shavings of pork leg, belly, and shoulder sewn together through a stick.

Toyo (he Alley at Karrivin Plaza, 2316 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati) manages to wax poetic with the simplest of inspirations, like a nursery rhyme on provincial local produce through the aptly named dish, Garden Vegetables: the components of this are every veggie listed in the song "Bahay Kubo," plated like a potted plant. It is multi-textural and surprising, as some lavors rise up faster than others—sometimes

Just a couple of months ago, the Sheep went to graze in other pastures, and Jordy Navarra opted to search for greener ones.

LOVE LOCAL

Clockwise, from left: Toyo Eatery Silog; grilled belly and loin of bangus; the interior of Toyo, made unmistakably Filipino thanks to the creations of local artisans, from light fixtures

by Milo Naval to rattan chairs by E. Murio. Previous page: Aside from having cooked for Black Sheep, Jordy Navarra has also honed his culinary training at The Fat Duck and Bo Innovation; oysters with cucumber and basi salad.

the sweetness of puréed kalabasa comes up for air, only to be pushed away by the smokiness of roasted eggplant and peanuts. he milkish–garlic rice combo that Navarra’s childhood references always turn to, on the other hand, have produced a dish of grilled bangus loin and belly, slow cooked and grilled, to make a remarkably meaty bite. Add to that a bowl of the house silog: a mess of sticky rice, lecks of cracklings, dried roe, and garlic, and a single raw egg trembling at the center. here is no dress code in Toyo. heir menu explicitly says so. Why dress up when the point is to feel some semblance of Philippine hospitality which, more than anything else, can be experienced at the dinner table?

Jordy Navarra may have removed himself from the penthouse heavens, but he and the motley crew that followed (and even got matching tattoos with) him are sowing the seeds on ground level—right where everything begins, and right where they’re getting that proper start.

M AY 2016 23

AGENDA DRINKS

NOTHING LESS THAN LIQUID GOLD We introduce the beverage scene's unlikely hero for beating the summer heat: ginger ale WORDS BY SANTIAGO J. ARNAIZ / PHOTO BY PATRICK DIOKNO

1 Old-fashioned Ginger Ale

STANFORD & SHAW BREWING CO. Everything from the unassuming packaging to the nearly opaque pour betrays the home-brewed origins of this local gem.

Mild citrus notes and earthy sweetness balance out an aggressively ginger-forward ale that’s easy on the nose and all out on the palate. stanfordshawbrewing@gmail.com

2 TBGB Melon Anise Ginger Beer

EDSA BEVERAGE DESIGN GROUP TBGB is an exercise in contrasts, marrying the signature brightness of ginger ale with mellow tropical fruit and heavy notes of licorice.

As with most things from EDSA BDG, this beer is as imaginative as they come.

CLMC Building 209, EDSA Mandaluyong, Barangay Wack Wack.

3 King’s Fool Ginger Ale

JOE’S BREW With nothing more than ginger water, lemon juice, and sugar, Joe’s Brew delivers an understated yet deeply refreshing beverage. The King’s Fool is fragrant, with a lingering bite and a silky finish. Best served ice cold, neat.

3

1

info@joesbrew.com

2

24 M AY 2016

AGENDA BOOKS

THE BIG SLEEP Critically acclaimed novelist Don DeLillo wrestles with the inevitability of death in his forthcoming novel, Zero K WORDS BY MIO BORROMEO

DEATH COMES FOR ALL writers, including Don DeLillo. On the cusp of turning 80, the seasoned titan of postmodernist writing comes to terms with the mystery of death in his 16th novel, Zero K. It isn’t new territory for the author, having previously considered the subject in some of his best-known works, particularly in the 1985 National Book Award-winning novel White Noise, which tracks death on an intimate scale as its central characters obsess over who among them will die irst.

Moving in the opposite direction, Zero K is a full-blown meditation that asks: We are born without choosing to be—should we have to die in the same manner? he novel closes in on Jef Lockhart, who comes to learn that his estranged father Ross and Ross’s younger, terminally-ill wife Artis have taken refuge in a remote, exclusive compound, erected over the untouched steppes of former Soviet territory. Joining them, Jef discovers that the compound houses a scientiic project called the Convergence, which seeks to cryogenically preserve dying human bodies until such time that medicine and technology can extend their lives indeinitely. he invitation is initially

intended to give Jef a chance to say goodbye to Artis. Eventually, however, Ross reveals that he too will be undergoing the process, a special case given that Ross himself does not sufer from any fatal ailments, enabling him access to the special unit of the Convergence called Zero K. What ensues is an instinctive string of retaliations that issue from Jef, unable to reconcile the seductiveness of the treatment with the Convergence’s frightful insistence that life is a much worse alternative.

At random intervals, images of the human body’s destruction are shown to Jef, meant to scare him into a desire for permanence.

Eventually, Jef realizes the Convergence itself is more horrifying than all these things combined, and that his father is too far gone to be convinced otherwise.

Jumping of from death, DeLillo brings all our contemporary ideas on mortality into perspective. It isn’t meant at all to be sappy, inspiring, or even optimistic; DeLillo is hardly ever associated with these tones. Rather, Zero K is an invitation to come face to face with life’s bitter and wondrous dimensions before it’s all over.

IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME Unlike Don DeLillo, who views the future with an unflinching gaze, these critically acclaimed authors determinedly grapple with history WORDS BY FLO BALANE

26 M AY 2016

THE FOX WAS EVER THE HUNTER

THE NOISE OF TIME

by HERTA MÜLLER

by JULIAN BARNES

Born and raised in Communist Romania, Müller creates works which mirror her irsthand experience with oppressive regimes. In The Fox Was Ever the Hunter, the Nobel Peace Prize winner depicts the last few months of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s reign through a group of friends enduring personal turmoil amidst political unrest.

English writer Julian Barnes follows up his 2011 Man Booker Prize-winning book The Sense of an Ending with a ictional biography entitled The Noise of Time, an imagined account of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s life under Joseph Stalin’s rule. Much of the novel explores the fragile conditions of art within an oppressed society.

AGENDA ART

singular focus on form. It is this paradoxical convergence of rigidity and mutability that rightfully garnered her the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award for 2015. he win is a milestone, a reference point for the many ways Taniguchi’s art has evolved over the course of her career.

Beauty in the Breakdown Following her victory in the 2015 Hugo Boss Asia Art Awards, Maria Taniguchi continues to push her own creative evolution WORDS BY ELISE APILADO

THE ORDERLINESS THAT characterizes Maria Taniguchi’s art is the likely driving force behind its associations with impenetrability. Consider Untitled, her monumental series of tonal brick paintings, which point to a painstaking rigidity that speaks of transcendentalism in a seemingly

You once said art is a daily process. What do you mean by this and how rigid are you with your creative routine? hese days I happen to be making work that requires a lot of time and a studio, but artists are always working—ideas are everywhere. I don’t think there’s any rigid distinction between work or play or downtime.

What kind of works or themes inspire you? Do you have favorite ideas that you consistently stick to?

I’m a fan of the essays of Marian Pastor Roces, Patrick Flores, and Joselina Cruz. I don’t necessarily always agree with what they have to say, but you cannot be interested in Philippine contemporary art without having read them.

Certain books and ilms also keep coming back to me, like the super inluential Statues Also Die, an anti-colonial short directed by Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, and Ghislain Cloquet. his was a favorite when I was a student, and I am still really struck by its avant-garde delivery of cultural polemic, as well as its intense structural compulsion in terms of soundtrack and narrative low.

What is your earliest memory of making art?

My favorite accessory as a child was a glue gun.

I discovered one around the house and started to glue together little hills of small things like shells and coins. he other thing that I used to do when I was about ive or six that I was really into was take apart electronic objects such as our Betamax player and the rewinder. I’d take out all the screws and then “ix” it with bubble gum.

Having garnered the 2015 Art Asia prize, do you think it will change you, your philosophy, and your art? Has this afected your creative process in any way? here’s a lot more pressure to generate more work, faster. he art scene can sometimes feel like a bottomless pit where productivity wins over everything else. I work at home with one assistant, and I’d like to keep things that way for now, although the dozen projects to work on can be motivation to experiment with production.

With the international recognition you are getting, how do you think this will change the art world’s views on Filipino artists?

I don’t want this to be a conversation about breakthroughs, because it’s not—there’s a good number of Filipino artists showing work everywhere. I think the contemporary art world can be quite insular and most comfortable referring to what’s inside its own circumscribed and self-regulated system, but it’s also always looking for more production, more content, more territories, more networks to co-opt. he meeting between this massively established art bubble and our own scene is super interesting because there is energy produced in the overlaps—sort of like heat in liminal spaces.

BLACK MASS

Maria Taniguchi is perhaps most known for her series of Untitled works—brick paintings that, when viewed up close, reveal consistent grid patterns.

30 M AY 2016

Ma y 2 0 16

E DI T E D BY

DEVI DE VEYRA

SPACE

DESIGN + INTERIORS + ARCHITECTURE + TECHNOLOGY

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER? Cecil Beaton, C.Z. Guest, Andy Warhol, and Gloria Vanderbilt request your presence at a make-believe dinner party that might turn nasty and catty, but certainly not boring

ISSUE NO.

98

SPACE HOME ACCESSORIES

COURTESY OF ‘A WONDERFUL TIME’ BY SLIM AARONS

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: LIBRARY MARTINI GLASS, POTTERY BARN; CLARUS GLASS BOX, CRATE & BARREL; SADDLE LEATHER COCKTAIL MIXER, POTTERY BARN; IKAT PLATE, HERMES; JARS TOURRON PLATE, CRATE & BARREL; STABLEMATES HORSE & JACK RUSSEL CUSHION, AT HOME IN THE COUNTRY; SADDLE LEATHER WINE BUCKET & TONGS, POTTERY BARN

C.Z. GUEST A skilled equestrian and a successful author of gardening books, Guest was also known as a gracious host and the stylish doyenne of both the Palm Beach and New York pedigreed sets. With her Dodie hayer lettuce dinnerware having crossed the auction block late last year, we recreate the mood of her tablescape as a nod to her natural and impossibly elegant style.

34 M AY 2016

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: VOYAGE EN IKAT SOUP TUREEN, HERMES; SELETTI HYBRID PLATE, GARDEN BARN; SELETTI BURLESQUE CANDELABRA, GARDEN BARN; MAISON CHRISTIAN LACROIX CUSHION, VISTA ALEGRE; IBRIDE TRAY, ROCKETT ST. GEORGE; MILLIE GOBLET, IDECORATESHOP.COM; PEWTER & GLASS DECANTER, AT HOME IN THE COUNTRY

CECIL BEATON He was a bitchy Brit to the victims of his acrid asides. Widely acclaimed for his photographs, Beaton also dabbled in art as well as stage and costume design. His tablescapes echoed his theatrical settings, a lamboyant tableaux against which the photographer mercilessly dissed friends and foe alike, in elegant prose.

(SEE SHOPLIST ON PAGE 122 FOR MORE DETAILS)

M AY 2016 35

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: VOYAGE EN IKAT BOWL WITH LID, HERMES; ELINDA VASES, CRATE & BARREL; HUE BLUSH PLATES, CRATE & BARREL; MUSE DROPLIGHT, ROCKETT ST. GEORGE; LEOPARD PRINT BOWL, WEST ELM; MAISON CHRISTIAN LACROIX CUSHION, VISTA ALEGRE; PARTY LIKE IT’S 1799 CARD, TARTAN AND ZEBRA

GLORIA VANDERBILT he heiress’s life played out like a tragic Tolstoy saga. Unlike the Russian novelist’s damaged muses, Vanderbilt was determined not to be a victim, carving out a colorful career as a model, designer, and successful artist. At 92, she seems at peace with the world, ensconced in a home surrounded with precious memorabilia and acquisitions, and the sparkle of her own indefatigable spirit.

36 M AY 2016

SPACE HOME ACCESSORIES

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: SELETTI QUOTIDIAN BOTTLE, GARDEN BARN; CHALKBOARD PLACEMAT, CRATE & BARREL; PIG TABLE BY MOOOI, ARBITARE INTERNAZIONALE; BONE CHINA CUP, MUJI; SELETTI VEGAZ - R, GARDEN BARN; PLACEMATS, CRATE & BARREL; BONE CHINA TEAPOT, MUJI

ANDY WARHOL he artist lipped traditionalists on their backs with his provocative—and that’s stating it mildly—pop art. Notoriously shy in public and frail of build, Warhol detonated his anti-establishment expressions through his prints and mixed-media works. Perhaps he won’t mind a cheeky take on what his spread might look like if the world ran out of colors.

(SEE SHOPLIST ON PAGE 122 FOR MORE DETAILS)

M AY 2016 37

SPACE MOTORING

ESTATE PLANNING The venerable station wagon makes a case for itself as the unheralded king of the road WORDS BY BOB ARANETA

f THE AUDI RS6 AVANT 552 BHP; 700 Newton-meters; 0 to 100 KPH in 3.95 seconds: near-supercar stats in a vehicle that can cosset four adults and all their gear for a long weekend; there’s nothing quite like it. The 4-litre, V8 RS6 Avant is the spiritual descendant of the legendary Audi Quattro, the car that started the high-performance four-wheel drive craze. For demanding drivers with real-world needs, the RS6 may just be all the car they’ll ever need, a practical people- and luggage-hauler that goes and handles like stink. 11th Avenue corner 28th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig; 553-7911; sales@audi.ph T

SUVS AND CUVS are the lavors of the year: buyers can’t get enough of them and automakers can’t crank them out fast enough.

Lost in the plethora of jacked-up hatchbacks is the traditional station wagon—or estate, as they’re called in Europe. MercedesBenz, arguably the pioneer of premium class estates, doesn’t even of f r its E-Class estate model here anymore. A shame, because the h venerable bl big bi wagon stillll h has a certain class and grace that’s all its own. A 20 or even 30-year-old 124 or 123 TE that’s been reasonably cared for has a road presence that still compares well with most any modern model.

It’s great, then, that you still have four enlightened brands that give you ive tasty wagons to pick from—ive rides that give you all the practicality and load-carrying ability of an SUV, but because of their lower center of gravity and lighter weight, deliver an arguably better drive.

n THE MAZDA 6 WAGON

n THE SUBARU OUTBACK

n THE VOLVO V60 T5

It’s probably the best example of Mazda’s Kodo or Soul of Motion design language, and it’s a real stunner. Some might even be so taken by its looks to even care what’s beneath its shapely skin.

Thankfully, Mazda worked as hard on the inside— the spacious cabin’s with its creature comforts is a great place to spend hours on the road. Skyactiv Technology isn’t mere sales talk—Mazda did tweak every mechanical and electronic bit to wring out superior driving pleasure, safety, and performance without resorting to the easy temptation of bruteforce engineering. Even on sheer beauty alone, the Mazda 6 wagon is a keeper. 2301 Don Chino Roces Avenue Extension, Makati; 729-7910

The Subaru Outback is a whole package. Useful performance, from both the 3.6 or 2.5 liter model; superb handling with its fully-developed Symmetrical All Wheel Drive and new X-MODE selectable control; and a new premium interior with all the mod cons. For over 20 years, the Outback has been the solid choice for spirited driving and wagon practicality.

Now there’s the Levorg, based on Subaru’s famous WRX platform. A bit shorter than the Outback, the Levorg was built to deliver sporty, efficient performance with its 170ps 1600cc direct injection turbo motor mated to a Lineartronic CVT. Two flavors of Subaru wagon, both outstanding choices.

32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig; 822-4389

Since the 70s, the big Volvo wagon has always been a popular choice due to its superb versatility and dependability. Add a sporty character, a 245 horsepower direct injection motor, eight-speed Geartronic transmission, and a full suite of safety features and you have the total package in the V60 T5. Volvo’s long experience in wagon design shows in its exemplary functionality, now wrapped in a tasty, unboxy body; all the modern comfort and convenience features expected at this level are standard. It’ll certainly set you apart from the hordes. 2nd floor, UDC Building, 2272 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati; 893-6621

38 M AY 2016

M AY 2 0 1 6 / I S S U E 9 8

THE ROGUE ARENA Promotions and relevant items, direct from our partners

VOYAGE INVITATION Toyota introduces the second generation Fortuner—larger, stronger, and built for all conditions he SUV is the perfect vehicle for riding through the city or going of-road. Its popularity is championed by its versatility.

However, going through rugged terrain doesn’t necessarily translate to donning a rugged look.

Early this year, Toyota (Ayala corner Metropolitan Avenues, Makati; 897-3333; toyota.com.ph) launched a fully revamped Fortuner—not just on the outside, but also on the inside. he executive chief engineer of the Fortuner, Hiroki Nakajima, announced they had intended to combine style and conidence as well as “redeine toughness.”

On the outside, the new Fortuner is longer and wider; its fascia larger and thicker but still

slender, sporting an overall streamlined body.

It comes in seven colors: Super White, Silver Metallic, Attitude Black Mica, Gray Metallic, White Pearl, Phantom Brown Metallic, and Avant-Garde Bronze Metallic.

Its interiors also sport notable upgrades. he Drive Mode Select feature allows two options: Eco Mode for a fuel-eicient ride, and the Power Mode for your need for speed, even though the six-speed transmission feature in the engine constantly makes sure that the Fortuner always balances power and eiciency.

Safety and stability were not dismissed.

Vibrations and noises are stiled when driving on rough terrain. he V four-wheel drive grade comes with front, driver knee, side,

and curtain shield airbags as well. he interior is pure elegance. he V grade and G grade vary slightly: the irst has dark brown, black, and wood trim details; the latter, black and dark wood trims.

Both versions come with a capacitive touchscreen audio with navigation and a Multi-Information Display. his V grade model also has Push Start System and Smart Keyless Entry for the rider’s convenience—push a button and you’re in.

Toyotaӊs new Toyota Fortuner is deinitely more than meets the eye. Durable, safe and reliable, it’s the perfect choice for the practical and astute urban driver.

SPACE LIGHTING

Tickets to the Light Show These pieces prove that even light can come in different shapes

2 1

3

5

4

1 Buonanote lamp, Luigi Gorgoni re-edition, Roche Bobois 2 Recycled Fan lamp, Sep Verboom for Livable Products 3 Mirror Ball droplights, by Tom Dixon, MOs Design 4 Valiglia lamp, Etore Sotsass reedition, Roche Bobois 5 Plummage black feather table lamp, The French Bedroom Company

40 M AY 2016

6

7 8

10

9

6 Guggenheim pendant light, LUXXU 7 Vertigo lamp by Constance Guisset, Amazing Crocodile Design Store 8 A60-V LED bulb, Orbik 9 Coltraine loor lamp, LUXXU 10 Tensegrity lamp, Raimond Puts for Moooi, Arbitare Internazionale

M AY 2016 41

SPACE FURNITURE

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW The heirs of Charles and Ray Eames introduce the designer couple’s vision to a new generation WORDS BY DEVI DE VEYRA

TO THE DESIGN world, Charles and Ray Eames were towering igures who helped deine the language of mid-century design. For Eames Demetrios, Chairman of the Eames Foundation, they were simply “great and interesting people.“ He was recently in Manila where he held a talk about his grandparents’ works, the Eames Foundation’s activities and the enduring partnerships with furnishings brands Vitra and Herman Miller. hrough the Eames Oice and the Eames Foundation, Charles and Ray’s works are preserved and extended, and shared with a broader audience. he couple’s storied midcentury residence (part of the Case Study House program wherein leading architects responded to the challenge of building an ideal home for modern living) in the Paciic Palisades

FAMILY LEGACY

Demetrios Eames (left) and his family kept the Eames House (top) as it was when Charles and Ray lived there.

42 M AY 2016

has also been opened to the public so visitors can gain a deeper understanding of Charles and Ray’s vision. he house’s outstanding values were certainly not lost to rapper Ice Cube—a student of architecture and drafting before he embarked on his musical career—who paid tribute to it with a short ilm. In the video, the rapper pointed out the Eames House’s remarkable features such as the pre-fabricated walls and of-the-shelf windows, saying “it was doing mash-ups even before mash-ups existed.” Charles and another design world demi-god, the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, drafted the house’s original plan that was modiied later on so as not to disturb the surrounding nature. “his is going green in 1949 style, bitches,” Ice Cube declared. here are other videos that illuminate the Eames couple’s works, including some that were helmed by Demetrios himself. In the era of the Internet, it is part of his family’s way of continuing with Charles and Ray’s generous tradition of sharing what they’ve learned and discovered. It is perhaps through this manner of communicating the Eames’ vision that Charles and Ray have gained a new following.

His grandparents’ furniture, such as the tables and chairs pictured above, are available at Herman Miller (Units C224, C226, Level 2, Serendra, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig). “he thing about them—and it’s an important thing to remember about Charles and Ray—is that in some ways they are more famous today than when they were alive. When I was growing up, there was no real idea of a rockstar designer.

Today, it’s a widely accepted concept. And I think if there were rockstar designers then, I think they would have been,” Demetrios shared.

PARTNER PROMOTION

TOP OF THE LINE These four induction cookers by La Germania are the perfect additions to the modern kitchen

P64 IEON Equipped with 4 induction burners, each pair a diferent size, the P64 IEON is perfect for the culinary multitasker.

PF301IS

If You Can’t Stand the Heat La Germania’s latest line of products exemplify class and caliber LA GERMANIA IS A highly trusted brand when it comes to the kitchen.

La Germania’s experience is obvious, and the brand continues to strengthen its hold in the kitchen business. With 60 countries to serve, it keeps a keen eye on quality, assuring its client with products designed to withstand tough conditions in the kitchen and fit comfortably, design-wise, into the modern home. The esteemed brand of Bertazzoni continues to live out its legacy, and its pursuit of innovation has not ceased.

In 1882, Italian machine maker Francesco Bertazonni created a wood burning gas stove with his son, Antonio, after seeing one arrive at their small town province of Gustalla. Embracing Italy’s culture of fine engineering and exquisite cuisine, the Bertazzoni family later introduced the brand La Germania after World War 1. Their first gas hob units were sold in 1953 and were later perfected with the addition of an oven in 1958, creating exportation

opportunities for the company in 1959.

Today, over a century later, La Germania continues to introduce the public to more top-of-the-line products.

La Germania adds to the 500 series with FS5004 40XR and FS5002 40XR, freestanding stove ranges that will enable you to multitask with ease. FS5004 40XR’s black porcelain enamelled body has 2 electric hotplates, a stainless drip tray, an electric thermostat oven, an electric grill with rotisserie, and a selector type which measures up to 50x50cm. The FS5002 40XR sports a stainless steel body, but otherwise comes with mostly the same features as the FS5004. The look and aesthetic of these elegant cooking ranges complement the modern home.

Not only does La Germania produce high-quality freestanding ranges—they also produce high quality electric cooktops. The HE-702VS, PF-604VS and PF-302IS, along with La Germania’s other products, embody the brand’s stance: elegance with lasting durability.

Those who prefer to focus on a single dish can count on the PF301IS, armed with one large induction burner and sensor touch control.

PF302IS The PF302IS, like La Germania’s other induction cookers, comes with a safety lock and controls that are easy to use.

PF702IS Measure at 67 x 40 cm, this large induction cooker is designed for huge dishes and grand events.

M AY 2016 43

SPACE HOME ACCESSORIES

THE FIFTIES SHOW Look to these objects j to achieve a modernized 50s look in your living space

1 HOUSE BIRD

by Charles and Ray Eames for

Vitra (MOs Design; 3/F B2 Bonifacio High Street, Taguig; 403-6620; mosdesign.com.ph)

2 4-SLICE TOASTER

by SMEG

(2/F Serendra, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig; 856-7634; smeg.com.ph)

3 MOKA POT

by Cof e Lab

(1E10-1E11, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig; 856-4452)

4 CLO CK by y George Nelson for

Vitra (MOs Design; V 3/F F B2 Bonifacio High Street, Taguig; 403-6620; m mosdesign.com.ph)

5 FAN

by Urbanjet U t (westelm.com m)

44 M AY 2016

PARTNER PROMOTION

A Nod to Tradition STEPS TO HAPPINESS Sapporo brings back tradition with top-quality noodles

SAPPORO HAS MADE a lasting contribution to Filipino families: their top-quality vermicelli. Sapporo’s mark as a brand has surpassed 26 years of family tradition, receiving much-deserved acclaim by countless award-giving bodies.

Sapporo maintains its prestige through striving for greater product quality and expansion of knowledge on modern technology, in order to provide the best possible service that can be given.

Sapporo Long Kow Vermicelli, Pancit Bihon, Misua, Spaghetti and Pancit Canton; Sapporo’s product line of quality noodles. These products not only serve as a symbol of tradition to Filipino families but also a reflection of Asian cuisine.

Sapporo assures excellent quality and taste at an afordable price, making its product line a must have in every Filipino kitchen.

With the dedication of making delicious and healthy food, Sapporo launches its campaign of “Sumptuous and Tasteful Stories” with Chef Sheilla Lopez.

These recipes not only boast of nutritional value fitti fittingg for off the f the th children hild h family, f

but also appeals to the taste bud of every member of the household.

Covering the first five months of 2016, the campaign has produced five recipes for healthy meals, transforming Sapporo’s line of noodles into feasts that will bring family bonding to a whole new level. With each recipe assigned to each month of the year, kids will surely be on the lookout for anything Sapporo cooks in the kitchen.

If there’s anyone to be thankful for regarding Sapporo’s newest line of recipes, that would be Chef Sheilla Lopez. The beautiful chef’s masterful fusion of ingredients is to be envied. Her extensive experience as chef to 5-star hotels in London and the US reflect on the recipes she has made for Sapporo. In a display of skill and innovation, she manages to make every recipe stand out.

Sapporo is truly a master of Filipino dining. Catering to any occasion, whether it be a grand celebration or a simple meal, Sapporo will always give a nostalgic feel. It will always serve as a string between home y y, and the lost times of our youth.

Truly, Sapporo will always be a part of the family.

Let Sapporo teach you how to go from amateur cook to master of the kitchen

VERMICELLI AND RED CABBAGE SALAD WITH GRILLED CHICKEN

Ingredients 200 grams Sapporo Long Kow (Vermicelli) ¼ small (250 grams) Red Cabbage, thickly shredded 1 small Red Bell Pepper, thinly sliced 100 grams snow peas, trimmed and thinly sliced 2 pieces Chicken Breast, fi fillet and skin-on 30 ml olive oil Juice ½ lemon Salt and Pepper, to taste Lime-Soy Dressi 2 tbsps. lime juice 2 tbsps. Light-Soy Sau uce 1 tbsp. Rice Vinegarr 2 tsps, Garlic, finely chop pped 2 tbsps. Water 1 tbsp. Brown Sugarr Salt, to taste

ocedure Place the sotanghon in a big bo owl and pour hot water. When the sotanghon omes al dente, drain and set aside.

Then, when it has cooled down n, add some canola oil to prevent from m sticking. Marinate the chicken in lem mon juice and olive oil for 20 minutes. Mix all the ingredients for lime-soy dressin ng. In a big salad bowl, combine cookked sotanghon, red cabbage, bell pepper, and snow peas. Pour the lime-soy d dressing and toss well to coat. Season it with salt if needed. Season the chicken w with salt pepper. Grill or pan-fry the chicken over medium heat for about 5 m minutes on each side or until done. Cool it down for a few minutes and slice diaggonally into thick slices. Place the chickken on top of the salad. Ready to servee.

M AY 2016 45

SPACE SHOW REPORT

1 2

^

BEST OF THE LOT Maison & Objet Paris’ revamped edition premiered last September. Here’s a roundup of solutions and fine objects from the exhibition

4

2

3 6

5

46 M AY 2016

7

1 Modern billiard table, Billiards Toulet 2 Tile carpet, Y2 Design 3 Concrete sideboard, CO33 4 Out System outdoor wallpaper, Wall & Deco 5 Oxymore cabinet by Constance Guisset for de Castelli 6 Tortoise shell light switch, Solomh 7 Polaboy backlit photo frames, Lightboy

SEE SHOPLIST (PAGE XX) FOR STORE INFORMATION

1

1 Rockstar wallpaper, Kerrie Brown 2 FornasettiBTiana tile, Piero Fornasetti for Ceramica Bardelli 3 Stonewashed cup, Vintage series, Aoyoshi Co. Ltd. 4 Ballpoint pen, YStudio 5 Lungolinea Ping Pong table, Impatia Design for Calma E Gesso

2

3

^

IMPRESSIVE INSTANCE In Singapore, Maison & Object Asia presented a notable roster of architectural and interior design companies together with top furnishing and decor brands.

Here, a visual brief on the recently concluded show

4

5

M AY 2016 47

Ma y 2 0 16

E DI T E D BY

JACS T. SAMPAYAN

THE EYE

PHOTO COURTESY OF TASCHEN

FA S H I O N + S T Y L E + G R O O M I N G

Little Darlings WITH AN EYE FOR RAW SENSUALITY, HELMUT NEWTON PUSHED THE BOUNDARIES OF FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY OVER FOUR DECADES OF WORKING WITH THE BEST TITLES IN THE WORLD— A PORTFOLIO CELEBRATED IN BERLIN'S MUSEU DE FOTOGRAFIE THIS MONTH WORDS BY JACS T. SAMPAYAN / PHOTOGRAPHS BY HELMUT NEWTON

ISSUE NO.

98

SUMMER GIRLS

From top: A 1982 Milan spread for Amica; Cynthia Korman and Emmanuelle are featured in this 1982 US Vogue story on sundressing. Previous page: Newton photographed Lisa Taylor for “The Story of Ohhh,” a US Vogue feature published in 1975.

IN 1957, HAVING lived in Australia for 17 years, Helmut Newton secured a one-year tenure for British Vogue that relocated him to London. he photographer bailed out of his contract after a mere 11 months, and then moved to Paris where he worked with French and German fashion titles. his was the beginning of Newton’s long and fulilling love afair with the printed page, a career that spanned more than 40 years and included every major style publication imaginable. he photographer’s strengths are grounded in his understanding of female form and sexuality, a

50 M AY 2016

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TASCHEN

“I like doing things I was told not to do. I work outside, because in the studio God can’t do anything for me.” says Newton.

perspective considered groundbreaking in the late 50s. “Every decade women’s bodies seem to be diferent. I remember when I irst came to Paris in ‘56, or ‘57, all the models in the haute couture houses were little. hey were ive-foot six . . . and they were all French,” he said in an interview with Leeta Harding for Index magazine in 2001. “hen there was a time, in the early 60s, when women had no waist. Remember the sack and the A-line dress?” he continued. “Before that, when I was in Australia in the 50s, if a girl could wear a dog collar as a belt, that was the ultimate. hen you got the Twiggies and then the big Swedish, German, and American girls came on the scene in the 80s. hey were built like truck drivers, which is a look that I like. It was the heyday of the super models like Cindy Crawford—Cindy had a great quality. hen it went back to this kind of zonked-out, anorexic girl in the early 90s.”

His evolving thesis of fashion and the female form is laid out in the book Helmut Newton: Pages from the Glossies, which was irst published in the late 90s. Taschen (taschen.com) has printed the astounding compilation anew in time for an exhibit of the same name at Museum für Fotograie in Berlin, which runs this month. he tome has over 500 layouts shot by Newton from 1956 to 1998 for titles all over Europe and the United States including Elle, Amica and, of course, Vogue.

Harding says that Newton was responsible for bringing fashion photography out of the studio and into the streets, and that he broke barriers in terms of what was the norm for the industry.

“I like doing all the things I was told not to do,” Newton said in a conversation with Frank Horvat in 1986. “I work outside, because I know that in the studio God can’t do anything for me, all he could do would be send a thunderstorm that cuts of the electricity. Outside he can help me, he could also fuck me up by sending a lot of rain, that would make it diicult, but he very rarely sends me light that’s no good to me.

Practically any light, somehow or other, I can deal with.”

Anecdotes and personal notes from Newton weave through the editorials, as well as discussions on the inspirations behind some of his most memorable and enduring images. From setting up a shot inside a nuclear submarine to conversing extensively with the likes of Anna Wintour, the story that is expressed in each photo has left a lasting impression, even beyond his death in 2004. “I think that the older a fashion photograph is,” the artist said, “the more interesting it gets.”

M AY 2 0 1 6 / I S S U E 9 8

THE ROGUE ARENA Promotions and relevant items, direct from our partners

NEW RECRUITS With the countless opportunities it has to offer, Porsche AG is giving back to Manila’s youth in the best way possible

A VEHICLE FOR CHANGE

From left: Michael Drolshagen, European Chamber’s Cesar Cruz, Robert Coyiuto Jr., Anne Curtis, Porsche Philippines managing director Roberto Coyiuto III, German Ambassador Thomas Ossowski, Benoit Tiers, Christian Osterhaus, Stefan Lutz, and Bodo Goerlich with the PTRCA 2.0 scholars.

In 2008, the Porsche Training and Recruitment Center Asia (PTRCA) in Manila opened its doors to underprivileged Filipino youth, introducing opportunities in the car industry.

Fast forward to 2016, Porsche AG is teaming up with brands Volkswagen and Audi to ofer recruitment through PTRCA 2.0.

Local dealer and importer PGA Cars Inc. has helped Porsche AG (201 EDSA, Mandaluyong; 727-0381 to 85; sales@porsche.com.ph) in realizing its social responsibility through this program, providing European training to selected students from Don Bosco Technical Institute.

For the past six years, 250 young adults have graduated from the PTRCA, specializing as motor vehicle service mechatronics technicians.

With the PTRCA 2.0, 120 slots will be provided this 2016, an improvement from the 32 slots the PTRCA originally ofered. And by 2017, the slots can go as far up to 145, thanks

to the partnership Porsche has forged with Volkswagen and Audi. he recruits are to be distributed to 11 diferent countries, especially in the Middle East and Asia Paciic, where the demands for qualiied specialists are high. With excellent English language skills and good work ethic, these young hopefuls will not only have access to the international labor market, but also have a chance at improving their socioeconomic status with the high salary rate the companies are ofering. In addition, the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry will accredit the trainees after the inal examination, attesting that the PTRCA 2.0 will be much more globally competitive than its predecessor.

With this endeavor, Porsche succeeds in not only improving its brand and product quality, but also in improving the status of society one trainee at a time.

THE EYE STYLE

THE

ROGUE REGISTER

JON SYJUCO The restaurateur behind The Moment Group shares his love for Nasugbu, 80s rock, and happy hour INTERVIEW BY JACS T. SAMPAYAN

52 M AY 2016

point or anywhere in between, it’s really designed or positioned to be more contemporary,” Syjuco told Rogue.

This, along with their particular attention to detail, make them a force to be reckoned with. “It’s the small elements, the ones you don’t see, that comprise a seamless meal.”

What was your earliest ambition?

To work in a restaurant.

What is your most treasured possession?

Our out-of-town home.

Who are your favorite writers?

Really, it’s sportswriters Rick Reilly and Gary Smith, but my a swer should be my brother Miguel.

What do yo consider your greatest achievement?

My three boys. There’s never a dull moment.

What would you like to own that you don’t currently possess?

Realistically, a new iPhone.

Dreaming, a chopper.

What drives you on?

More family time.

My life is built around my ambition for this.

What time of the day are you most inspired?

Meal times, including happy hour.

Favorite hotel?

The Moment Group’s future boutique hotel.

Necessary extravagance?

Car and driver.

Favorite city in the world?

Nasugbu.

Ideal playlist?

Coldplay (skewed toward old), new wave classics, and 80s rock.

Favorite gadget?

FIFA on the Xbox, if that counts.

Neighborhood restaurant?

8-Cuts.

Favorite cocktail?

G&T. Favorite book?

Archie comics.

Favorite dish?

Fried chicken.

Any pets?

Yes, a dog. Osito is his name.

Jeans?

If I must, Banana Republic.

Footwear?

Havaianas.

Favorite designers?

My favorite tailor is Victor York.

Wallet o money clip?

Wallet.

Shampoo?

Whatever my wife uses. She changes hers all the time.

PORTRAIT BY JOSEPH PASCUAL

JUST BEFORE HE turned 20, Jon Syjuco started on what would be a lifelong goal of making a lot of stomachs happy. Raised in a family familiar with F&B management, he founded Burger Joint in Cebu, a popular makeyour-own burger restaurant that grew to three brances in the south. Years later, he would team up with Eliza Antonino and Abba Napa to form The Moment Group, which is now responsible for a slew of culinary successes, including 8-Cuts Burger Blends, Manam, Phat Pho, Mecha Uma, Bank Bar, and Din Tai Fung.

Away from the food business, Syjuco also co-owns the fashion distrubution company Terry S.A. (Havaianas) and was a strategy consultant for KPMG. As The Moment Groupӊs founding partner for Business Development, Syjuco is in charge of making sure that the group’s portfolio continues to be on the rise, with establishments that enter segments that are underserved or badly served.

The group aims to bring the local scene to a more modern, global scene. “Everything we do, whether it’s a low or high price

THE EYE STYLE

European Union Fred Perry digs into their archives for a line that allows you to wear your country loud and proud WORDS BY JACS T. SAMPAYAN

FOR SUMMER 2016, Fred Perry throws back to its early years, celebrating retro sportswear with the use of bold styles and color palettes from some of its original lines. One such reimagination is the Country Shirts collection, a line made for the football enthusiast, which marries nationalistic pride with the Perry aesthetic. Making use of eight diferent color ways to represent eight diferent countries, the shirt also features the B50 Laurel Wreath on the chest, emblazoned above the nation’s name. A line of wreaths tickers the length of the shoulders of every shirt as the brand plays around with diferent hues: cobalt

THE COUNTRY SHIRTS COLLECTION IS EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE AT THE FRED PERRY LAUREL WREATH SHOP, G/F GREENBELT 5, AYALA CENTER, MAKATI.

dominates Italy, while French Navy and Bright Yellow seem to be the obvious choices for France and Sweden, respectively. Belgium, Spain and Portugal are all in various shades of red, while Germany and England are more pared down with stark white.

Speaking of the Land of Hope and Glory, there will also be a special edition of the England Country Shirt launched this month. Rooted in the decade when the brand was launched, the shirt features a V-neck insert and contrast-color cufs and collar as well as Fred Perry’s Sports Authentic tape along the shoulders.

M AY 2016 53

THE EYE WATCHES

MIX AND MATCH

Swedish timepiece brand Daniel Wellington is winning a lot of fans with its minimalist watchface coupled with interchangeable woven straps WORDS BY JACS T. SAMPAYAN / PHOTO BY PATRICK DIOKNO

SWEDISH ENTREPRENEUR FILIP TYSANDER

was backpacking through Australia back in 2006 when he met Englishman Daniel Wellington.

Tysander noticed the timepiece that his new friend wore on his wrist: a Rolex Submariner that he partnered with a NATO strap, a woven nylon band based on a British military design.

While the Swede didn’t have any background in design, he had been running his own necktie and watch business at that point, and the chance meeting sparked an idea. “I hadn’t seen [the strap] before and I really liked it, but I thought that the casing was a little too thick. So I decided to design a thinner casing that would it better together with a thin NATO strap,” Tysander said in an interview. “hen, since preppy fashion is so big in clothing, I decided also to add some color to the NATO strap to match it up with 54 M AY 2016

the preppy fashion, like Ralph Lauren clothes.”

Five years later, Tysander launched a new brand, which he named after his English friend. he aesthetic of Daniel Wellington (My Diamond, 1/L, EDSA Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong; 638-9376; danielwellington.com) is centered on a cleaner, simpler casing that is paired with the more colorful NATO band.

And if you’re not too fond of the nylon strap, you can interchange them with other styles and skins, such as leather. “I tried to keep it simple and didn’t use too many details in the dial, etceteras,” the 31-year-old shared. “And I thought there was also something missing in watch design, when it comes to a watch that is slim, thin, and minimalistic, that you can wear together with a suit.”

Today, the brand is distributing about

700,000 pieces to almost 6,000 partners in over 30 countries, from Andorra to Kazahkstan. Suddenly, in the words of blogger Blake Scott, “Everyone outside of the United States was wearing one, and it seemed so cool.” Moving forward, Tysander wants to expand to underserved watch markets, particularly in Africa.

“I certainly keep an eye on things that inspire me and see how those things might be applicable into our design,” he said in a conversation with Michal Harajbic for Menstyle. “I still want to be true to my design and try not to allow other brands inluence me too much. Success in this area for me is when you come up with something unique, work hard, and pay attention to details in the quest for perfection.”

THE EYE FOOTWEAR

CASUAL FRIDAYS

The Street Barber's Nasir Sobhani, who is part of Kenneth Cole's Courageous Class campaign, finishes of his ensemble with a Kenneth Cole slip-on plimsoll.

Let’s TTwist Again Since its introduction as beachwear in the 1800s, the slip-on has evolved into a casual clothing staple found in almost every man’s shoe rack. This season, brands give the sneaker and the espadrille an update by marrying canvas and rubber with weave detailing WORDS BY JACS T. SAMPAYAN

Giuseppe Zanoti Navy Velvet Espadrilles

Todӊs Raia aia-Trimmed Trimmed F Full-Grain ll Grain Leather Slip-On Sneakers

SEE SHOPLIST (PAGE XX) FOR STORE INFORMATION

Dune London L d unfair Red Striped Canvas Espadrille Shoe

Guccii G Embroidered Striped Canvas Espadrilles

Kenneth Cole Solid Brand Slip-On p Sneaker

Saint Laurent LeatherL h Trimmed d Printed d Canvas Espadrilles

M AY Y 2016 55

THE EYE ACCESSORIES

Kings Of The Street Maison Kitsuné’s Masaya Kuroki talks to Rogue about the creative process he shares with cofounder Gildas Loaëc, and how their aesthetic is unwittingly counter-trend INTERVIEW BY MAGS OCAMPO

NO ONE KNOWS the sounds and styles of street culture quite as well as the men of Maison Kitsuné. After over a decade of working side by side with Gildas Loaëc on a record label, a fashion house, and a cofee f shop, Masaya Kuroki discusses how the pair has come to perfect the art of contemporary taste-making.

Would you say that music and fashion are innately interconnected?

Since the beginning, we never really thought to connect each other. We never really tried to connect each other or get inspired from each other. Sometimes, things overlap. You know, like my customers who come to the cofee f shop like to listen to our music and wear Kitsuné clothes— it happens, yes. It’s probably not a coincidence, but we never try to force the two directions to go together. We just do what we do because we want to. Music is our passion, fashion is something we f I’m addicted to it. both enjoy, and cofee—well, How would you describe the Kitsuné man or woman?

To me, I think Maison Kitsuné is a brand for everybody. Our main customers are between 25 to 40. But it’s really diverse. My dad wears Kitsuné and so do the parents of my friends.

If we could touch everybody, connect with everybody, that would be cool. here is no particular lifestyle that its Maison Kitsiuné moore than others. We’re very open-minded.

You guys don’t seem to follow trends both in terms of music and fashion. Is that a conscious choice or is it just the result of following your natural instincts and inspirations?

Oh, actually, we always try so hard to follow trends but we keep ending up not doing them.

But it works for us, I think! We know what the trend is and how it goes, how it works, and we very carefully watch everything—but in the end we always just really show and share our tastes, our senses, and our experiences. So far that’s pleased customers, so we just keep on doing it.

We’re not against any trend and I wouldn’t call us underground.

56 M AY 2016

SLEEPING FOXES

From top: Maison Kitsuné founders Masaya Kuroki (left) and Gildas Loaëc; Maison Kitsuné cotton canvass sneakers, printed cotton T-shirt, and embroidered cottonblend twill baseball cap.

Whaat’s the creative process like between you and Gildas Loaëc?

For the Spring/Summer collection, which is inspired by a Japanese cartoon movie, it was Gildas who started that idea. He watched some cartooon movie with his kids and he sent me car screeenshots. “Look at how the colors are so amazzing!”“Oh, yeah. Let’s do something like thaat!” It easily became the theme of the collection.

It’s as simple as that. Since I’ve been here yesterday, I’ve been seeing locals wearing crazy colorrs and that’s been getting me so inspired.

So,, foor Fall/Winter, expect to see patterns that are soome sort of a crazy mix of Manila. So many coool people here and they don’t even know it! But yeaah, it’s a simple process. We never really stay in an oice to look through all the magazines and tren nd ds and whatever.

Aree there any particular cultures—other than Japan nese and French or Parisian, of course— that you really enjoy zooming into?

Streeet culture, deinitely—wherever I am. New York, UK, Hong Kong, wherever! here is always street culture and it is always interesting. I think it’s th he best thing to base collections of f of becau use it’s what’s real. It’s also always evolving, alwayys dynamic.

M AISON KITSUNE IS AVAILABLE AT HOODWIN HOO K, 152 UPPER GROUND FLOOR, SM AURA, FORT BONIFACIO; 0917-817-7061

THE EYE SCENTS

CALABRIAN SUMMER Found flourishing in the southern coast of Italy, bergamot remains a staple note in fragrances, from recent releases to bestsellers

LI B O C E D R O C A Q A U D IC O LI N IA C A Q A U D IB E R A G M O T T O T

H

B

O

LD

E

A U

D

E

To m m yH ilfi ge r

M

O

N SI

E

U

R

E

A U

D

E

T

O

IL

E

T

T

E

An ni ck

E

A U

G ou ta l

D

E

C

O

LO

G

N

E

G

a gn Ze

en

da

rm

e

o ild eg en m Er

ALL AVAILABLE AT RUSTAN'S MAKATI, 304 AYALA CENTER, MAKATI; 813-3739; INQUIRY@RUSTANS.COM.PH

M AY 2016 57

Ma y 2 0 16

E DI T E D BY

JEROME GOMEZ

THE SLANT

ISSUE NO.

98

GETTY IMAGES

OPINIONS + IDEAS + PERSPECTIVES

Sorry Not Sorry

Ka Miong’s Feast

R You Are Not Being Served

Ricky Carandang

Ige Ramos

Inky Dario

Whales have long ceased to be a familiar element in the Japanese diet—but for the curious palate, indulging in the forbidden meat can be its own delicious thrill.

Born wealthy but brought up to value frugality and hard work, Emilio Aguinaldo was raised on a diet that echoed a simple existence and prepared him for a revolutionary’s life.

A chef and ex-restaurateur dispenses hotel school wisdom on the iner points of restaurant service, revealing the nuances that we often miss when all we care about is an IG-worthy meal.

Ricky Carandang ON ENJOYING A POLITICALLY-INCORRECT DISH

Sorry Not Sorry The most sensuous expression of a country’s identity is its food. Here, a keen culinary explorer rekindles a forbidden affair with whale meat

I

t was about 10 years ago when I irst went to Japan. I was a journalist working for ABS-CBN and was invited, along with four other journos from Southeast Asia, by the Japanese foreign ministry to an orientation tour of the country. For a week, we went around meeting government oficials, artists, academics, and ordinary folk. We learned about their history, culture, and their sense of place in the world. hat initial visit sparked in me an enduring fascination with Japan. he most visceral impressions that I had, however, were of the food. Our foreign ministryappointed “minder” was a Japanese-speaking American expat who had lived over a decade in the country. He made it a point to take us to the most interesting informal places that he knew of in every city we went. Places that no

60 M AY 2016

casual tourist would know of or even be allowed to enter. We ate blowish sashimi in Kyoto, okonamiyaki in a warehouse in Hiroshima, and whale steaks in Tokyo. I’ve since lost contact with our minder, but I will always be thankful to him for bringing me around my irst culinary adventure in Japan.

Many people will understandably cringe at the idea of eating whale. From Moby Dick to Free Willy, whales and dolphins have captured our imagination like few other animals have.

Over the centuries, some whale species have been hunted to the brink of extinction for their meat, their oil, their blubber. But as technology found substitutes for whale products, demand for the real thing has dwindled. Meanwhile, many countries have banned whaling in a successful

efort to preserve many species. hrough all this, the Japanese have quietly but stubbornly continued whaling and eating whale meat. hey don’t talk about it much with foreigners and they certainly don’t brag about it, but ask around without looking too eager—or too judgmental—and they’ll tell you that it’s part of their history, part of their cuisine, part of their heritage. While it is said that whaling in Japan dates back to the 17th century, it had a huge revival after World War II when its economy was in shambles and food was scarce, forcing its veritable ruler Douglas MacArthur to encourage the Japanese to source meat from the sea—and so whales began to be part of the country’s diet. hese days, if you ask right, locals will even show you shops where you can buy raw whale meat, or restaurants that serve some whale dishes.

In Manila, until a few years ago, it wasn’t too diicult to order whale dishes in some of those quiet, unassuming Japanese-owned restaurants where the clientele consisted mostly of Japanese expats. It usually wasn’t on the menu, but if you went with a Japanese friend and asked him or her to order whale sashimi, the restaurant

IF THERE’S A WHALE, THERE’S A WAY

BUYENLARGE (PRINT) AND JUNKO KIMURA / GETTY IMAGES

A print of Japanese whalers armed with harpoons, circa 1859.

Opposite: Despite protests, whaling survives in Japan, but only five ports have been given license to continue, a way of keeping a tradition that dates back to the 17th century. Photo shows a sashimi dish prepared in a restaurant near Wada port in Minamiboso, Chiba, Japan.

would serve it without any comment or fanfare.

Unfortunately, the quality of the meat they served here was not the best. hey would ofer what’s called whale bacon, a thin strip of rubbery raw meat that was pretty tasteless—not worth the guilt that you would inevitably feel for eating the politically incorrect dish. So it wasn’t a loss when an online campaign by some concerned citizens shamed them into ending that practice. Today, if you go to one of those places and ask for whale, the waiter will just snicker at you and tell you that they don’t serve it. So unless you’re some kind of fanatic about whale meat, it’s best to just let it go.

I’ve been back to Japan many times since that irst visit a decade ago, but the memory of that culinary adventure has infused in me a fascination with local cuisines and a desire to taste my way through every country I’ve visited. I’m not an expert, I’m not trained in any culinary discipline, but I think a country’s most sensuous expression of what it is can be found in the food they have. So, apologies to Andrew Zimmern, but whether it’s crickets with mole’ in the Yucatan, a savory mystery meat in Burma, a hole-in-thewall Ethiopian eatery in the San Francisco Bay Area, or the unique expression of kinilaw in Dumaguete, I’m there.

Imagine my surprise last February when I was on holiday in Tokyo, wandering aimlessly through Shibuya. It was just past 11:00 A.M. and as I walked down a busy street with my travelling companion, I saw a sign in front of a restaurant that stirred a distant memory. It was a little white circle with a drawing of a whale in the lower half and water squirting out of its blowhole. I couldn’t read the Japanese characters beside the sign, but I knew what it meant. he restaurant served whale.

My curiosity piqued, we cautiously entered the lobby, which led to a corridor that in turn led to rows of booths closed of like you’d ind in any typical Japanese restaurant. On the walls were old prints in the style of Hokusai, depicting Japanese whalers on small boats, chasing after whales, spears in hand. A woman led us to a booth where we were given Japanese menus with English translations. And there it was. Tempura. Hot pot.

Sashimi. Steak. Tonkatsu. All using whale.

We started with the special sashimi to get a purer expression of the meat. It looked like beef, but when you taste it you’d know it’s not. It’s softer. Slightly gamier. Its certainly not pork. Nor is it anything like lamb. It lacked the intensity of

And there it was. Tempura. Hot pot. Sashimi.

Steak. Tonkatsu. All using whale. We started with the special sashimi to get a purer expression of the meat. The closest comparison to me would be deer. horse. he closest comparison to me would be deer meat.

Next we had the steak, served with liver sauce. Despite the milder taste of the meat, the sauce didn’t drown out the lavor; it enhanced the “meatiness” of the whale. We followed the steak with tempura. he meat was deep fried with a light batter and served on barbecue sticks with Japanese mayonnaise for dipping. he meat remained tender and not oily. here was also the raw whale heart cut into thin strips and served with peppercorns and some kind of oil. It was tough, almost ishy. Like a bland beef jerky. It was awful.

Our favorite was the raw meat dipped in sesame oil and quickly seared on a round Korean-style grill at the center of the table. he sesame oil and the very light sear brought out the whale’s unique, indescribable lavor. Wonderful.

As we ate, the restaurant became busy. A group of well-to-do elderly women took a booth beside two aging salary workers in dark suits, each with a pack of cigarettes on their table. To them, it could have been any other restaurant serving any ordinary fare. To us, it was a culinary surprise, mixing the thrill of discovery with a sprinkling of hedonism, a dash of guilt, and a cup of acceptance. All dipped in sesame oil.

M AY 2016 61

Ige Ramos ON A REVOLUTIONARY’S DIET

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

Ka Miong’s Feast While born from privelege, Emilio Aguinaldo, one of the early Filipino foodies, espoused the virtues of the humble meal

W

hen the ilm Heneral Luna opened in cinemas last year, it polarized audiences so much that virtual battle scenes took place on social media. Of course, Antonio Luna, the foul-mouthed general who in the Jerrold Tarog opus died a beautifully choreographed, slow, and painful death, garnered all the sympathy from the audience. On the other hand, Emilio Aguinaldo was portrayed as a soft-spoken weakling, a traitorous, scheming assassin, and the man most people point to as the one who terminated Luna’s illustrious career as a frontline battle strategist.

But I am not here to write about who was braver or who had the more essential contributions to the revolution. Personally, between Luna and Aguinaldo, I tend to take a 62 M AY 2016

particular interest in the latter, if only because he is known to love food and, in stories written or orally told from generation to generation, he sounds to me a guy particular about its consumption. Aguinaldo, the irst Philippine president, is—dare I say it—probably one of the early Filipino foodies.

Amid the blood and the bombings, the bullying and betrayals that played out on the big screen, there are two scenes in Heneral Luna that I remember more than the rest—and this is because they are scenes that employed meals.

One involved an American oicer eating what seemed to be steamed rice, boiled vegetables, dried ish, and bagoong in his barracks. he oicer was hot and uncomfortable, didn’t enjoy the food, and in frustration threw the plates

at the wall. he other scene was in a slightly reined setting, and it involved ine bone china and ensaymada in what seemed to be a set up for afternoon tea in a sequestered train station managed by an Englishman. hese are the kind of small details that I care about in historical ilms. When I do my research on food, culinary books are the last resources I turn to. Instead, I consult published ephemera and primary sources like actual menus and diaries.

On the subject of Aguinaldo, like any other child, family and environment inluenced his early exposure to food. He was born into privilege. His father, Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo, who owned lands and ishponds, was the appointed municipal governor of the Cavite El Viejo, the present-day Kawit. His mother,

There is evidence that Aguinaldo preferred the canned Mantequilla Victoria, a brand of butter imported from New Zealand. He would slather it on almost anything: fried camote, half-ripe boiled bananas, on puto and bibingka.

Trinidad Famy, was a feisty, Tagalog-Chinese mestiza, known in the neighborhood as kapitana.

Emilio was the seventh of eight children.

Looking at archival illustrations and old records of Kawit during the 1870s, Aguinaldo’s diet, as a child, most likely included chinchao—the collective name for black grass jelly, tapioca pearls (gulaman at sago), and white rice noodle with ice and arnibal (simple syrup) bought from a peddler called a chinchonero—and a cold treat called fresas made from shaved ice lavored with rosewater and strawberry syrup that came in a paper cone. hese refreshments became popular when the irst ice plant in Cavite El Puerto was inaugurated.

On occasion, the family would take the caruaje, or the train, from Binakayan to visit barrio San Roque. Perhaps they would do some trading in the local market and eat in the area’s esteemed panciterias, sample the local delicacies like tamales and quesillos, pipian and pepitoria, as barrio San Roque was a culinary outpost and the center of commercial activities situated outside the gates of the Porta Vaga in the Cavite El Puetro.

At a young age, Aguinaldo was already an astute businessman, which is one of the main reasons he didn’t inish his studies in Colegio de San Juan de Letran. he Aguinaldos had a small steamship that went around the islands of Mindoro and Panay, procuring and exchanging produce and light merchandise. he boy’s parents taught him the value of hard work and money early on.

Emilio’s great-grandson, Angelo Jarin Aguinaldo, says his Lolo Miong’s diet wasn’t as elaborate as we would like to think, or as his social class would suggest. He preferred to eat very simple dishes like pinangat na isda sa sampalok at kamatis (steamed ish with tamarind and tomatoes) paired with very little rice. An impatient child, he liked his food unadorned and quick to prepare. He enjoyed eating steamed camote tops simply dabbed with a little bagoong. his penchant for the spare and the simple no doubt made him ready for the frugal life of a revolutionary. One telling event in our history was Aguinaldo’s time spent as a fugitive in the rancherías, or villages, in the Mountain Province.

KITCHEN PRESIDENTIAL

Genuine proof that the first Philippine president held food and its preparations in high regard is this wood-fired eightburner cooking stove cum boiler with his name on the door.

It was assembled during the retrofitting of the family home between 1919 and 1920. Opposite: The spacious main hall of the Aguinaldo mansion in Cavite, and an elegantly suited Aguinaldo photographed during the American period.

In the published diary of his fellow fugitive, Col. Simon Villa, entitled Aguinaldo’s Odyssey, he wrote about the scarcity of food during the said period. One revealing entry dated December 19, 1899 reads as follows: Banaue Breakfast “he so-called Banaue breakfast is enjoyed every morning by the President and his family during their stay in this ranchería. It is tasty, light and digestible, cheap and easy to prepare. It has been preferred by all who have tasted it and by the President himself whenever he comes to any of these mountains. It consists of: • Milk with cofee • Fried camotes (sweet potatoes) [cut into] ive to seven millimeters thick • Butter It was named thus by the President.”

Although the diary explains the actual food in some detail, it doesn’t say where the camote was sourced, or what variety he preferred. Neither does it mention how they stored butter to prevent it from melting or how they were able to boil water for their cofee.

In the Aguinaldo shrine’s museum, an ingenious picnic kit is displayed containing a

foldable table, cutlery, plates, saucers, and beakers. his same picnic basket was used during their time spent as fugitives from the Americans.

Conirming his frugal nature, when a semblance of peace was established in the country, he continued to bring the same set with him each time he visited his estate in upland Cavite.

As for the butter, there is evidence that he preferred the canned Mantequilla Victoria, a brand imported from New Zealand. He would slather butter on almost anything: fried camote, half-ripe boiled bananas (the saba variety), even on puto and bibingka.

Since his household staf originated from Iloilo and Negros, he became fascinated with Ilonggo cooking later on. Among his favorite dishes was steamed white chicken stufed with tanglad and asparagus. He also brought home to Kawit plant ingredients such as lemongrass, langkawas (galanggal), alugbati (Malabat spinach), and batuan, a souring agent popular in Negros and Iloilo and known only in the Visayas. hese he managed to successfully propagate in Cavite.

When he remarried, his second wife, Maria Agoncillo, aside from bringing her entourage from Taal, Batangas, also brought with her a special adobo: the adobo sa dilaw, or adobo cooked in turmeric, which the Caviteños eventually embraced as their own. A Cavite innovation in adobo sa dilaw is the use of patis alamang to add the linamnam factor to the meat and neutralize the acidity of the vinegar. he crowning glory of Aguinaldo’s kitchen— and one might say solid proof of how important meals and their preparations were in his life— was the wood-ired, eight-burner cooking stove/ boiler with his name emblazoned on the door.

It was assembled during the retroitting of the house that occurred between 1919 and 1920— peacetime and the height of the American period. Together with the cooking stove is an icebox that used imported dry ice from Boston. hese modern amenities were itting for the former President Aguinaldo, who not only helped organize the banquet for the Proclamation of Independence in Malolos but also ordained that the menu be written in French, the language of food and diplomacy.

M AY 2016 63

Inky Dario ON THE IDEAL DINER

ILLUSTRATION BY JER DEE

You Are Not Being Served With our obsession for picture-perfect lunches, have we become enablers to restaurants getting away with sloppy service? A chef and ex-restaurateur lectures us on why we need to up our standards

W

hen I was asked if I wanted to contribute an essay on the service standards of the local dining scene, with leading questions like “Are we getting good service?”and “Are we, as customers, demanding too little from service?” I said yes faster than my sisig’s sizzle shushed.

Service is an issue so few tackle yet it afects so many. he silence on the matter is taken as 64 M AY 2016

approval. he noise comes from self-proclaimed foodie slash x-deal bloggers and lifestyle journos whose food and beverage vocabulary may be limited but whose supply of vowels are clearly ininite. We, their audience, are led to believe that all that has come to matter is that the food is “Greeeeeat!” or “Sooooo yuuuuum.” here’s really nothing wrong with food being the paramount consideration of our dining out

experience. Nothing terribly wrong equating the money we burn with how sleepy we get after our meal. For many, abusing vowels and loosening our belts two notches has become the measuring tape for a good night on the latest buzzy restaurant.

Several times a week we hop on that bus that brings us from Point A to Point B of this thing called restaurant service. We are greeted at the

We don’t expect to be greeted with a smiling, welcoming face. We don’t expect to be walked to our tables, our chairs pulled for us. We don’t care if nobody helps us order and guides us through the menu. We don’t mind responding to “Truffle pasta?” and serving our friends ourselves. door often without eye contact and full attention, addressed in a gender-confused title of ma’am/ sir. We’re shown our tables, handed the menu and left to decide. We raise a hand, a signal that we’re ready to order, to several servers huddled in the farthest corner. After some elbow-nudging and inger-pointing, one of them makes his way to our table. We wait in anticipation of whether the food will look exactly like we saw it on social media. If it does, we give the place ive stars; if it doesn’t, our good Filipino nature kicks in and just like John Lloyd and Bea, we give it one more chance. If it tasted good and illed us up, the verdict becomes 6 stars, quickly forgetting how the appearance betrayed us eight spoonfuls ago. We ask for the check, settle our account. We leave hoping that before merienda, we burp and taste the soy-garlic lavored lunch we had, our cue to unleash our stock of vowels online and share our “ive-star” dining experience.

Practice makes perfect. Going through that sequence repeatedly, we’ve become better at it.

We learned not to mind the ma’am/sir, and we proceed to our table once it’s pointed out to us.

We pull our own chairs and seat ourselves. We instinctively prepare to have a second choice from the menu just in case our top choice is unavailable. We wait. Our food comes, and automatically we set aside whatever promotional junk is on our small table to make way for our large plates. Our order is announced in form of a question. “Trule pasta?” Intuitively, we point to who among us ordered it. Or we pass along that plate to our buddy at the far end, way out of our server’s reach. Do we expect him to go around our table given the fact that there is hardly any loor space that allows for ease of service? We prepare to eat—but wait, shouldn’t there be a soup spoon? A salad dressing? We ask for drink reills and get them. Often, we walk away without having seen the dessert menu; we never asked for it. Often, we get up to leave with our soiled and empty dishes still in front of us.

Hey, it’s simply easier for them to bus our tables without us there.

Practice has turned us into good customers.

Restaurants love having us. We assist them in their work process and leave them a tip—on top of the service charge. Never mind that they lack the iner points that ill the in-betweens in the Point A to Point B sequence. Going through the motions has come to mean the service itself, and we have come to accept it as that. Our fault for not knowing any better, right? he irony is that restaurants know better. hey hire managers who have worked in hotels here and abroad, cruise ships and high caliber establishments. Owners and investors have lived and been schooled abroad, modeling their concepts from their stints or vacations in marquee destinations. Yet, they choose to author their service standards much lower than what they know they must give, and price everything higher than they should. hat’s because we are good customers. And because we are good customers they don’t have to be good restaurants. hat’s the universal law of equilibrium. Balance is reached because we became intuitive even if they did not. We don’t know any better and we’re alright with that.

We don’t expect to be greeted with a smiling, welcoming face. We don’t expect to be walked to our tables, our chairs pulled for us. We don’t care if nobody helps us order and guides us through the menu. We don’t mind responding to “Trule pasta?” and serving our friends ourselves. We’re happy to get our drink reills when we ask, happy to get the dessert menu when we ask. We hardly mind conversing in front of a table full of soiled, empty plates, and crumpled and torn pieces of ass-wipe. We’ve never questioned the service charge law. Mind you, the law doesn’t have provisions for the service they must give (or the service we should receive).

It isn’t uncommon for pricey but casual concept restaurants to defend their lack of inesse in service with the easy conceit that “we are not ine dining,” as if ine dining is a crime. hat’s shameful. It isn’t uncommon for customers to defend their lack of expectations with the idea that “we just want to eat.” hat’s even more shameful.

We get what we deserve. After all, all we want to do is eat. All we believe in is food. All we dream about is the next trule-lavored carbohydrate conquest. We are not mature enough as food consumers to understand what it is to be a customer. To be served. Be pampered.

Be treated well. Be given what we expect and not just what we request. Be given more than we expect, despite the fact that we already expect too little.

Response to a request is not service. Not having to ask is service. Service is an anticipation of the customers’ expectations, needs, and wants.

Hotel school taught me that. Hotel school also taught me that I have to be intuitive so I can anticipate. We practiced service, day in and day out. We exerted the most efort so our customers didn’t have to. hat was our equilibrium. We were taught to design hotels and restaurants with high regard for space needed to conduct service with ease. Responding to your request is part of the process and not service. Giving you water each time you ask for a reill is a response to a request. Keeping your glass full is anticipation.

Clearing your empty plate within four minutes of your last spoonful is attentiveness. Giving you a dessert menu without asking after the mains is anticipation and good salesmanship. Waving around your empty beer bottle and getting more beer might be service to you. Clearing your irst empty bottle and ofering you a second is service and salesmanship.

If this is relatable to you and you still believe that you are getting service, good on you. I’m not going to say you’re wrong and please don’t tell me I’m just inicky. Instead, I will tell you I envy you.

I envy that you ind bliss in all of the efort you made and all the intuition you have because the restaurant lacked all of those. I envy you that you are not cursed like me. I’m cursed to be always yearning for my girlfriend’s chair to be pulled for her. Yearning to have my menu-related questions answered properly. I’m cursed to pay the same price for the beer I raised my arm for and the beer I just had to nod to.

M AY 2016 65

Whether neat or on the rocks, straight or chased, we’re bound to have something for everybody. Introducing: the Rogue guide to drinking in the city

Produced by Michelle V. Ayuyao and Jam Pascual

It ’s A lw ay s

HAPPIN YMANHILAOUR

E CI T Y I NK I NG I N T H DI SC OU N T DR TO DE I GU E T H E RO GU GA

BY MI GU EL OR TE

LONG BAR

SEÑOR POLLO

BANK BAR

G/F, Serendra, Bonifacio

1 Ral a es Drive Corner,

5767 Ebro St, Poblacion, Makati.

G/F, RCBC Savings Bank Corporate

Global City, Taguig.

Makati Ave, Makati.

Happy Hours: From Monday to Saturday, 6 to 8 P.M. and 4 to 8 P.M. on Sundays.

Happy Hours: Daily, from 5 to 8 P.M.

Happy Hours: 11:30 A.M. to 9 P.M.

Happy Hours: Daily, from 5 to 8 P.M.

Intoxicated Offer: P695 for unlimited local and imported beers, cocktails, and house red and white wine, topped of f with a complimentary snack platter.

Intoxicated Offer: Beers at P45 a bottle and select unlimited cocktails at P400

Intoxicated Offer: Progressive 5% of f discounts for each drink, beginning at 25%, with a cap of 40% of

Reason to Drink: Señor Pollo is better known as one of the more prominent laid-back drinking places in Poblacion, and for good reason. Landing a seat at the bar during happy hour will grant you a discounted rate on their beers the entire day. For those who don’t get the bar seats, the entire place has beers at P45 between 4 and 7 P.M. Then of course comes the ridiculous 10-hour ofer on unlimited cocktails for P400. If you’re up for a challenge, you can drown away half the day in glasses of Cuba Libre, Latin Punch, El Chapo, and Limonada Corrupta.

Reason to Drink: Bank Bar is a speakeasy hidden behind a 7-Eleven stock room. So it’s no surprise that their happy hour would take on an interactive and playful approach. Called The Bull Market, this cocktail hour begins with a 25% discount on the first drink, increasing by 5% of f for each drink ordered after, capping of f at 40%. Bar patrons simply have to “invest” in four drinks to make all their drinks almost half price. There is, however, a fine print involved.

Bottle and carafe orders, Japanese and Taiwanese whiskeys, the artillery punch, non-alcoholic drinks, and food are exempt from the discount.

Intoxicated Offer: 20% of on selected cocktails, food, premium highballs, and spirits.

Reason to Drink: Highballs, while sacrilegious to some, are quite famous in Japan. The combination of whiskey and soda water’s appeal is that it can easily and quickly be imbibed. Together with Lit’s hand-carved ice, they’re a great—not to mention cheaper— way to get into Japanese whiskeys.

The bar also released new dishes to complement their happy hour this month. Expect to see their cold cuts and uni aburi in the coming weeks.

Tipsy Tip: Don’t be afraid to chat up Francis Hasegawa, their whiskey concierge.

He’ll help you find that right drink for your mood and maybe help you plan out how to approach the more expensive bottles.

68 M AY 2016

Reason to Drink: Styled after the original Long Bar in Singapore, the Manila contingent emanates an old world watering hole vibe. Their cocktails are led by none other than their famous Singapore Sling, along with a slew of fruity mixes.

You’re also free to get hammered on both local and imported beers, while vino choices play between the house Cabernet and Moscato.

All of these are paired with a chef’s platter, which changes frequently.

Tipsy Tip: Singapore Sling was invented in the original Long Bar, so if you haven’t tried it, Rales Makati is a good place to start. There’s a “casual chic” dress code for those who plan to visit during the weekend.

Center, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Tipsy Tip: Grab a couple of swigs during lunch break and return after work to see if your earlier dime can mop up the remaining hours. Don’t forget to bring an extra liver.

Tipsy Tip: Approach the Bull Market with speed. Get to four drinks by ordering highballs or light cocktails first, then head on to your favorite libation after.

ILLUSTRATION BY MANO GONZALES

LIT MANILA

Recipe

Fod f Thught

ARE WE OVER

ARTISANAL COFFEE?

BY JJ YULO

ABV’S REINVENTION OF THE

ILLUSTRATION BY MONICA ESQUIVEL

I

t’s all a blur to me, but I remember a time when, if you asked for cofee in a restaurant, you got instant, a pack of sugar, and some powdered creamer that sim mulated milk when mixed. At h he ffancy h hotels l had their cuppas on afterburner: inside metal contraptions, often tasting of burned something something, helped along by said sugar and other dairy fakery. his stuf got stuck in the spacetime continuum—because quite often this is still stuf you’ll ind at hotels.

If it worked for you, you could hold on for home-style cofee, ladled from a pot that had seen better days— partnered with Aling Petra’s corner store pandesal, illed with a lashing of Star Margarine—and do the breast stroke in your cup as you read the dailies.

Starbucks came and tried to change the game, but instead of sipping the stuf the way it was meant to be enjoyed, our citizenry wrapped around blended

cofe f e drinks illed with h chocolate and caramel a sugar. and It took the cool kids—tatted ou ut, spouting cofee nerdism and proper lavor proile notes—to bring the local cofee game up a notch. hen all of a sudden a new breed of cofee lover emerged—ones who enjoyed cupping sessions (not on each other, you naughty boy), and sipped Gibraltars, piccolo lattes and cold brews (sometimes *gasp* sans sweetener!) and things were never the same again. Today’s culture of cool makes sure these joints thrive like algae, often combined with cocktails, snacks, and what I call bearded man music wafting from the speakers.

Are we over this? Judging from the whole slew of small, quirky new joints opening and the big chains adjusting by suddenly adding swagger to their selection (pour overs!), the answer is hell no. hank God for that. Now pass the sugar. My piccolo needs some love.

GIN POM “Gin Pom is a popular drink for students—it was made famous by people on budget drinking. I remember my college years when my friends and I used to drink after class. It was one of the popular college mixes that we could aford and enjoy getting wasted on.

I was reminiscing when I thought about making this drink. I thought up this sophisticated version that calls for a London dry gin, muddled pomelo, lime, sugar, thyme, and fennel bitters.”

- Kenneth Bandivas, mixologist

HOW TO MAKE THE ALUMNI HOME C OM ING

Put ice Add 1 ½ ounces of Tanqueray Gin Add ¾ ounces worth of lime juice Add ½ ounces worth of simple syrup Add 2 dashes of fennel bitters Stir Place 4 slices of pomelo on the ice floating on the surface Garnish with 2 stalks of thyme Serve

“You should at least get roaring drunk once, and from it, get a dreadful hangover.” --F. Sionil Jose T e

RAISE A GLASS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOW FILIPINOS DRINK AND GET DRUNK

ABV is located at 22 Jupiter St., Makati.

1521

Mid 1600s

Italian scholar Antonio Pigafetta recorded one of the first precolonial inumans, set in Limasawa with a certain Raja Colambu.

He wrote, “The king had a plate of pork brought in and a large jar filled with wine.

At every mouthful, we drank a cup of wine.

My companion became intoxicated from so much drinking and eating.”

Historian Fray Colin observed the drinking habits of the Filipino people. He wrote, “They waste much time in both eating and drinking, but rarely do they become furious or even foolish.”

Whether we observe the same kind of conduct today is debatable.

Recipe

Fod f Thught

PICKLEBACK

BY MICHELLE V. AYUYAO

I

’ve never really been a fan of vinegar. For years, it was patis that my palate would side with. But vinegar in this country is hard to escape, what with variants of the stuf that range from the basic white to the punchy sinamak. It has beefed up many a dinin birthed jars of local pickled vegetables that dress practically p every meal. My recurring ive-seecond horror story takes place as I bite in nto a perfect piece of grilled to discover chickeen, only thread ds of unripe papaya dripping with tartness, and murdeering ppetite my ap altogether.

Atchaara: enemyy number one. ut here’s Bu where it gets interessting.

For soomeone that caannot fully ccommit to eatiing anythiing pickled, I have developed this devotiion for a drink called the Pickleback. A shot in two parts, the Pickleback comes as a

tandem of jiggers: whiskey in one, pickle juice in the other. It isn’t meant to be mixed together into a larger glass the way Jägerbombs are dropped into a drunken mess. he shot of whiskey is slugged back irst. It’s the cheap kind that works its g best—the ones that feel like forest ires at their peak made edible. A pausee after downing that liquid ire, knock baack that shot of pickle juice. he cool, crisp p taste of the juice counteracts the harshness of the alcohol, producing a curiously meaty taste. It’s as if burgers were stew wed, a consommé was made out of it, then cooled into a clear gazpacho, only to be prom night-spiked with a surprising litttle hit. For a country exploding with ha vinegar expanse that rivals a list of inely aged wines, the Picklebackk is the inebriated substance tthat needs a prroper introducttion, and a permanent residence on every bar list in this cityy.

It’s the drink leftover atcchara just must go g to, to die. O Or, in this case, become reborrn.

“She's on her way to being drunk.

Never mind the shitty food, the weird atmosphere, the fact that her lips and tongue are burning. Happy drunk makes up for all of it,”

REINVENTING THE RUM COKE

________

BY YOMA RIVERA

The Curator's

PAPA LIBRE 45ml Don Papa Rum 60ml Coke Reduction 22.5ml Lime Juice 10ml Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur 7.5ml Fernet Branca Mint Leaves “A Papa Libre has a diferent presentation, texture, and taste proile compared to the usual rum and Coke. Don Papa is there because it has intense notes of vanilla. We ran the gamut of Coca-Cola products—from vanilla Coke to cherry flavored Coke. The Coke was reduced to a concentrated syrup that could be blended with other ingredients, and we reduced it with cherries to add complexity. To add more oomph to the cocktail and balance it out, we added mint leaves, lemon, and Fernet Branca. We did Papa Libre because we didn’t want to serve the usual rum and Coke. We love giving diferent experiences to the guests with the cocktails we serve.”

The Curator is located at 134 Legaspi St. cor. Don Carlos Palanca St., Makati

–Jessica Hagedorn, Toxicology

Late 1800s

1890

1898

1917

A young Jose Rizal is seated with three other significant figures of Philippine history: Felix Resurrection Hidalgo, Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, and Juan Luna. Everybody gets drunk. Presumably due to low tolerance, de Tavera is strung out on the floor. Jose Rizal is about to throw an apple at him.

The first bottle of San Miguel Pale Pilsen comes into existence. It is produced by the San Miguel Corporation, which, at the time, still went by the name of San Miguel Brewery.

The independence of Kawit was ratified by the Malls Congress. A grand celebratory dinner was held, one with six wines and liqueurs in its menu, such as Bordeaux, Sauterne sherry, champagne, chartreuse, and cognac, to name a few.

Nick Joaquin is born. The Philippine literary treasure came to be known as a hard drinker, always buzzed, with a beer in his hand. An interview with his nephew Tony Joaquin, however, says otherwise. “He may have acted it, but he knew exactly what was going on around him all the time.”

ILLUSTRATION BY MONICA ESQUIVEL

MAKING A CASE FOR THE

Ne wsw orthy HOW TO BREW YOUR OWN BEE R

Road Tсt WITH

BROOKLYN BREW

2

START SPARGING Place a fine mesh strainer over a pot or bowl. Pour the mash through the strainer.

Have 1 gallon of water heated to 77°C ready in a separate container. Pour the heated water over the grain to make what’s called “wort.”

3 4

HEAT IT UP Let wort boil for an hour. Add bittering hops in the beginning of the hour and aroma hops about 45 minutes in. Once the hour is done, lower the heat for a gentle boil and let it simmer. Have a clean jug ready for the next step.

COOL IT DOWN Make an ice pack bath in your sink. Add a few ice cubes to the bath for safety. Place the pot of wort into the ice bath and let the temperature lower to 21°C. Pour the wort into your clean jug and fill it up to just over the 1 gallon mark. If in case it doesn’t reach the mark, feel free to add a little tap water.

5

ADD THE YEAST Add half a pack of dry yeast to jug.

Activate the liquid yeast pack by squeezing it before pouring it into the jug. Sanitize hands with rubbing alcohol and shake the jug.

After sanitizing the stopper and tubing, attach the blowof tube to the jug. Make sure the end of the tubing is in the container of sanitizer.

6

STORE FOR SAFEKEEPING Keep your jug somewhere dark. After 3 days, replace the blowof tube with the airlock. Be patient and let it sit for 2 weeks.

Bottle it up.

Available at Lietz Industrial Complex, Edison Avenue (P. Leviste), KM 14 SLEX, Paranaque; 821-7181; juanbrew.com

P laylist

SONGS FOR THE DRUNKEN WEEKEND B Y S T. V I N C E N T A N D T H E G R E N A D I N E S A .K . A . R O B E R T O S E Ñ A

THE NIGHT OUT

THE MORNING AFTER

1. Purple Stain - Red Hot Chili Peppers 2. Running - Jessie Ware (Disclosure Remix) 3. Solitude Is Bliss - Tame Impala 4. Celebration - Kanye West 5. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen 6. Grace Kelley – Mika 7. No Surprises – Radiohead 8. Boogie Shoes - KC and the Sunshine Band 9. Afraid Of Heights – Wavves 10. Stoned and Starving - Parquet Courts 11. Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift 12. Yakap Sa Dilim - Orange And Lemons (Apo Hiking Society cover)

1. 40oz. On Repeat - FIDLAR 2. Do It The Hard Way - Chet aker 3. Ghost Of You - My Chemical Romance 4. Mayfly and The Light – B eakbot 5. Fake Plastic Trees – Ra iohead 6. Great Expectations - BP Valenzuela 7. Keep In The Dark Temples 8. Mi Negrtita - evendra Banhart 9. Don’t Watch Me Dancing - Litle Joy 10. Leave Before The Lights Come On Arctic Monkeys 11. Ask Me Anything - The Strokes 12. Ode To Viceroy - Mac DeMarco

SOUNDCLOUD.COM/SVATGMUSIC

BY JJ YULO

“All the early foreign observers of our customs agree that we drank heavily and continuously but never to the damage of our dignity.”–Nick Joaquin

1

MAKE THE MASH Pour 1 quart of water per pound of grain.

Heat it up to 71°C. Pour grain into the pot and the mixture should start cooling.

Stir every 15 minutes for about an hour while keeping the heat between 63° and 68°C. Near the end of the hour, raise the temperature to 77°C while stirring.

CONVENIENCE STORE COFFEE

I

’m not a cofee snob, ok? At least, I try not to be. I don’t need mine to be made from some exotic bean varietal fermented in some animal’s guano. he only thing I ask is for my cup to taste good. With this in mind, I made the rounds of our convenience stores to see what kind of stuf they’re selling to keep our hardworking local workforce alive, awake, and enthusiastic. hese were all based on one item: the smallest available cup of brewed cofee.

7-Eleven This looked promising. The machine had a sign that pointed to fresh beans waiting to be ground. What poured out looked like some over-steeped tea from a Chinese restaurant. It tasted like . . . well, it didn’t taste of much, clearly needing to be helped along with sugar and creamer. I had to make sure my bitch face wasn’t on as I sipped it a few more times before ditching it.

Circle K This is like the new kid in town, still getting to know people, shy but wearing new clothes. Their cofee is also somewhere in the middle of the bunch: to my taste buds, a bit mild but not as mild as, say 7-11. Not bad—but only if you can find it.

Family Mart This was clearly the Ferrari among the three—the deepest flavored, and also the most expensive at P55. It actually tasted like . . . cofee. Definitely drinkable, and when you’re trying to keep awake, I can imagine this as the perfect remedy.

1948

1965

1991

2013

The short story “We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers” by Alejandro R. Roces was published in the Evening News Saturday Magazine. A summary: A Filipino farmer calmly downs his lambanog while an American soldier, not used to the coconut wine’s notorious potency, hallucinates and passes out.

Tanduay as a brand may have been founded in 1854, but it wasn’t until 1965 when the Tanduay-aswe-know-it-today seeped into national consciousness. Enter: The first batch of Tanduay Five Years, 80 proof.

Imelda Marcos returned to the Philippines to reestablish political power. As the Boeing 747 that carried her neared Manila, she, as Park City Daily News worded it, “sipped champagne and dabbed some behind her ear and those of her supporters for good luck.”

Craftpoint Brewing Co. was founded

by Aldous Bernardo, Chip Vega, and Marvin Moreno. Craftpoint was one of the first commercial craft breweries produced by Manila. Ever since, various other breweries and collectives pledged their allegiance to the artisanal beer movement.

C t D h

Rogue fare For the ith year in a row, we collaborated with some of the hippest food and drink establishments in the city to create three treats we’re mighty psyched to attach our name to

l Chupaca a

The Rogue Taco WORDS BY MICHELLE V. AYUYAO / PHOTO BY GABBY CANTERO

A solid mix between bright and smokey is right where the taste of the Rogue Taco inds itself. Chunks of chicken are braised in a pot of blended spices and chipotle peppers. Shredded ever so slightly and left just enough to brerathe in the heat, the meat is slopped on to a few corn tortilla layers then topped with a drizzle of chopped raw onions and cilantro leaves. When eaten, the stew is a pleasantly meaty mess, made even more iery with El Chupacabra’s atomic hot sauce.

AVAILABLE AT EL CHUPACABRA, 5782 FELIPE ST. COR. POLARIS ST., POBLACION, MAKATI

12/10

THE rogue COCKTAIL WORDS BY MICHELLE V. AYUYAO / PHOTO BY GABBY CANTERO

he Rogue Cocktail by 12/10 is a liquid salvo to Rogue stories past. he base is a Hibiki 12-year-old whisky (which has ceased production) mixed with an Italian Punt e Mas vermouth, a grappa based Amaro Nonino Quintessentia, and drops of black bitters. Marked by parts that one would never think to fuse together, this one is stif on the nose at irst whif.

On the tongue, however, it is honeyed yet sharp, with layers of smoke through each sip, inishing gleamingly with a sudden spice. his cocktail is as edgy and fearless as it is a clear-cut rogue.

AVAILABLE AT 12/10, 7635 GUIJO ST., SAN ANTONIO VILLAGE, MAKATI.

B P tx

THE rogue PINTXO WORDS BY JAM PASCUAL / PHOTO BY PATRICK DIOKNO

he pintxo is typically consumed the way we eat pulutan窶馬o pretensions, with beer or young wine, and in good, noisy company. Bar Pintxos, however, lifts the Basque country delicacy to an unseen level of sophistication, both in appearance and taste. he bread and bright red piquillo serve as the foundations for the juicy gambas, which is topped with goat cheese, sour cream, and yogurt, and crowned with a mound of caviar.

AVAILABLE AT BAR PINTXOS, DON GESU BUILDING, DON JESUS BLVD., ALABANG, MUNTINLUPA.

g n i t a E In o i l o f t r o ogue P

AR

7

' s f e h C t a k s e e c a p A Pe S g n i k o o C e t a v i r P

ing LO, G N A featur P TOS, J S U B , GAB ALEZ, N Z E N N O E ELE G LE SO H L C I R , Y S C AZA KETT D C Y I D R N E BRUC ND SA A , A MBO J. GA NO P

RIC B Y P AT S O T O H

K DIOK

ne dining, fi f o ld r o w e Th itchen, k e h t in h it w especially hroat, t t u c s a d e y a is portr ciless—the r e m d n a , ic t hec e just b o t d e t c e p x chef e ast during le t a — h g u o t as ere, we H . s r u o h s s e busin hese local t w o h t a k o take a lo hange it c s r e r a e b g a culinary fl kitchens l a n o s r e p ir e up in th iscover d , s s e c o r p e and, in th ick when t m e h t s e k a what m the heat is off

THE MARKET DWELLER

Cyrille Soenen CHEF CYRILLE SOENEN IS CONSIDERED as one of the best chefs in the world, holding the title of Maitre Cuisiniers de France (Master Chef of France), one of the highest honors a chef can get. Today he impresses gourmets at Resorts World’s ine dining outlet Impressions, where they bring in oysters from Brittany, Caviar Ossietra Malosol, and pigeon also lown in from France. While guests at the restaurant enjoy imported delicacies, guests at Soenen’s home enjoy whatever he inds at the market that morning. “At home I just cook what I want to cook, whatever I ind in the market. I’m not looking for anything expensive or imported.” He prepares recipes he learned from his parents like traditional roasted chicken, or something as simple as omelet, but everything cooked in a typical French manner. “I like to cook without being pressured by time, with a glass of wine and everyone talking to me in the kitchen.” –Margaux Salcedo

THE YOUNG BULL

Gab Bustos “I GUESS OVERALL, THE ENTIRE SPACE is a work in progress,” says Gab Bustos, the culinary brain behind he Girl + the Bull and 12/10, which he runs with his partner hea de Rivera. Aside from having just moved into his new lat three months prior and still inding a place for everything, Bustos has to contend with the restraints of living in a condominium. An induction cooker instead of open ire—and Bustos does a lot of grilling—makes experimentation diicult, but maybe that isn’t the point of this kitchen. “It’s great cooking here at home . . . because we’re just cooking for us,” he says. he main goal in this kitchen, if anything, is to decompress. Pan the camera to a collection of bottles and a whole bunch of glassware. “I don’t know if you notice, but,” de Rivera starts. “We drink a lot,” Bustos inishes. –Jam Pascual

THE COMFORT FOODIE

JP Anglo CHEF JP ANGLO, OR CHEF JAYPS,

as he is more popularly called, keeps busy running the kitchens of several restaurants scattered all over the metro, such as the ive branches of Sarsa Kitchen+Bar and Kafe Batwan in Rockwell, to name a few. He is one of the most recognizable chefs in the country; following his stint in the Master Chef series Hungry with Chef JP, a travel and food show that combines Anglo’s passion for cooking and suring, recently debuted on CNN Philippines. At home, the bachelor hardly cooks. “My staple diet is chicken inasal from Sarsa,” he says, “and sometimes I prepare couscous using the rice cooker.” He did try to impress an ex-girlfriend with something fancier (steak) but it didn’t turn out quite right.

“Cooking in the restaurant is easy, but cooking for someone you love is diicult,” he confessed. He counts the microwave as the single indispensable appliance in his personal kitchen and has mastered cooking the perfect scrambled eggs. “he secret is to keep moving it,” he proudly said. For days when he’s short of his favorite comfort food take-out from his own restaurants, there’s always canned love: “Puro SPAM ang laman ng cabinet ko.” –Devi de Veyra

T H E K I T C H E N WA R R I O R

Bruce Ricketts CHEF BRUCE RICKETTS’ FATHER was a mixed martial arts pioneer who was contracted to teach the sport by the US government. “hat’s why we moved to San Diego when I was 15,” Ricketts explains, “that’s my family’s line of work.” While in San Diego, a young Ricketts worked odd jobs in the area’s restaurants. He caught a glimpse of—and was drawn to—the exciting kitchen culture where he likened the crews to “dysfunctional families” that would argue and sometimes come to blows, but would eventually come together when push came to shove. He later returned to Manila and opened Sensei in BF Homes, followed by Mecha Uma at the Fort. hese days, he can be found slaving in his highly-successful kitchens. “Until today, I still cook the same way—it has to be me behind the cutting board,” he confesses. In the apartment Ricketts now shares with longtime girlfriend Jae Pickrell, a magazine editor, his kitchen is simple and spartan. here is order in it, and a sense of settled domesticity despite the fact that the master of the house mostly prefers to steer clear of the stove when he’s home. Perhaps he is reserving his energy for his growing patrons. “I want them to know that it’s far from me getting tired and turning around and retiring. It’s just starting.” –Devi de Veyra

T H E C O N Q U I S TA D O R

Chele Gonzalez CHELE GONZALEZ IS FIERCE in the kitchen.

After all, he has a reputation to uphold.

Gallery Vask was recently ranked No. 39 in the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, the only Philippines-based restaurant to make it this year. He hit the ground running in Manila when he arrived almost a decade ago, impressing the snootiest gourmets with his prowess for molecular gastronomy as a disciple of no less than Chef Andoni Aduriz of Mugaritz and the genius Ferran Adria, among others. But it wasn’t until his Kulinarya menu at Gallery Vask that not only Manileños but the world took notice. Once Gonzalez started exploring Philippine terrain, he was on a roll, discovering lavors from north to south that he shared on the Madrid Fusion stage earlier this year. At home, though, he likes to keep it simple. He likes to cook his mother’s signature dishes or recipes from the very irst cookbook that he owned, 1080 Recetas de Simone Ortega, which he recommends for every aspiring chef. “I just need an oven—that’s the most important thing,” he shares. “And a good chopping board. hat’s it.” –Margaux Salcedo

T H E FA M I LY M A N

J. Gamboa THOUGH HE’S BUSY as top guy for the kitchens of his family’s restaurants El Cirkulo, Azuthai, Milky Way Café, and Tsukiji, J. Gamboa also likes to cook at home and has been hosting the Gamboas’ Christmas dinners for the past eight years. he chef designed his private kitchen with help from architect Gary Coscolluela. he space had to accommodate Gamboa’s required equipment and features, such as the industrial grade ref, an island stove, a dish-washing machine, and a separate pantry. At the same time, he had to ind the space for a sentimental piece: “My 1950s vintage Gibson stove from my best friend Quito Jose of Brothers Burger,” was his quick reply when asked about his favorite object. “Incidentally, this is the stove with which the irst Brothers Burger was made.” here is one last thing on his wish list: “A La Cornue rotisserie to roast birds and meats, like what my pal Dan Kawpeng has in his beautiful home in Laguna. But I have no space for that. I’m quite happy dreaming about it.” –Devi de Veyra

THE TRADITIONALIST

Sandy Daza YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE SANDY DAZA from his food and travel show Food Prints. Or from his restaurant Wooden Spoon at the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell. A younger generation, though, might remember him from his cameos on his mom’s television show, Cooking it Up with Nora, or from his own show later on, Cooking with Sandy. At his restaurant, Daza has continued the tradition of presenting Filipino food to a global audience. “My philosophy in cooking is to ofer familiar lavors but unusual dishes,” he shares. So at Wooden Spoon, he ofers such items as stufed pechay, crab pancit, and century egg salad. At home, he lives by tradition as well, maintaining both a regular and a dirty kitchen, typical of a Filipino family used to feeding bigger broods and preparing for iestas.

While his kitchen equipment are modern, his menu is classic: pork chop, kaldereta, and sinigang. “I can’t live without comfort food,” he confesses. And as for kitchen essentials? “I can’t live without my wooden spoon!” –Margaux Salcedo

THE SPANISH ACQUISITION

Megaworld mogul Andrew Tan shook the beverage industry in 2015 when he struck a 13.8 billion-peso deal with Beam Suntory to purchase Bodegas Fundador. With the world’s biggest brandy company under his ownership, he has appointed his son Kendrick to strengthen the business’s hold on the international liquor market.

Iris Gonzales tracks the history of a magnate’s dream-come-true, from the grity streets of 70s downtown Manila to the distilleries and thousand-hectare vineyards of Jerez

ONE FINE DAY

90 M AY 2016

a young graduate. But as in other success stories, Tan’s triumph in the liquor business did not happen overnight. In 1980, he set up Consolidated Distillers Inc., which brought to the market the famed Andy Player Whisky. However, through the years and despite popular movie actor Eddie Garcia’s endorsement, it was unable to compete with the leading brand at the time, Destileria Limtuaco’s White Castle Whisky (whose TVCs famously featured a bikini clad nymphet astride a galloping white horse). hat the price of the raw material for whisky was too high didn’t make the challenge easy for Tan. Soon, he bid his attempt at liquor moguldom goodbye—but only temporarily. In March 1983, Tan went to Spain to visit Jerez, the so-called brandy capital of the world, to learn about brandy-making with an aim to put up his own company. He familiarized himself with the bodega, an underground room made of bricks and illed with age-old barrels. A Spanish friend who accompanied him asked what he would name his

JEREZ STREET PHOTO BY SERGIO GIL LEBRERO

in 1974, Andrew Tan’s father, a factory worker, opened a bottle of brandy— tall, gleaming, imported from Spain. he boy Andrew could not believe it.

His parents, poor immigrants from Fujian, China, struggled to make ends meet. Home was a cramped 20-square-meter apartment in the maze-like district of Binondo in chaotic downtown Manila. Having a bottle of brandy on the table was more than luxury for the family. But for his father, the occasion called for it. he younger Tan, after all, had just graduated from the University of the East, inishing his Business Administration degree with honors. And so he savored every sip of the celebratory drink, the rich, biting smell. Going through college did not come easy. He worked odd jobs just to get through the semesters and walked six kilometers a day to the University Belt along C.M. Recto to save money. Someday, he promised himself then, he would make it big, have his own brandy company, and be able to drink a glass of the gold liquid anytime he wanted.

As fate would have it, Tan, now the country’s ifth richest Filipino with a net worth of $3.5 billion—according to Forbes’ 2016 list of billionaires around the world—would not only put up his own liquor company but build an empire that continues to grow. It may sound like a PR spin, this tale, especially because the brandy in the story happens to be Fundador, but it is a tale Andrew Tan tells about the moment that changed his life forever, the one that led him to adding the latest feather to his cap: late last year, he surprised everyone by purchasing the brandy giant Fundador in Jerez, Spain in a landmark P13.8 billion deal. With Fundador under its wing, Tan’s Emperador Inc. is now the world’s biggest brandy company. Of course, there’s still the rest of the conglomerate. His Philippine Stock Exchangelisted Alliance Global Group Inc. continues to build condominiums and BPO oices through Megaworld Corp, operate hotels and casinos through Travellers International, run the McDonald’s fast food chain in the Philippines through Golden Arches Development Corp. Just last year, the conglomerate’s consolidated revenues reached P139 billion.

Of Tan’s string of companies though, Emperador has a distinguished place in the tycoon’s heart. Blame that promise he made to himself as

WE’RE IN BUSINESS

A building in Jerez, Spain, emblazoned with the Fundador logo.

Jerez is known to be the brandy capital of the world. Left: At the turnover ceremony inside Bodegas Fundador, Andrew Tan (right) with Winston Co (left), president of Emperador Inc., and eldest son Kevin (center). Inset: The star product of Tan’s Emperador Inc., of which the company produces one million bottles a day.

Previous spread: Fundador’s El Majuelo vineyard in Spain.

Tan, the country’s fifth richest man, surprised the world with the Fundador purchase. “Brandy is my passion, my whole life has been dedicated to brandy making, it’s certainly a big moment in my life,” he said.

“We now have 1,500 hectares of vineyard land in Spain.”

future brandy. Unable to come up with a moniker, he asked his friend to recommend something akin to Fundador, the memory of that celebratory moment with his father still in his head.

“Why not call it Conquestador?” the friend suggested.

“I thought for a while and I said the name is good but too aggressive,” Tan recalls. he next day, his friend came up with another suggestion. “Why don’t you call it Emperador?” he sound of it pleased Tan. It was perfect for a liquor brand that “was conceived in Jerez but it was born in the Philippines,” Tan recalled in his speech last March in Jerez.

And so in 1990, Tan set up Emperador Inc., best known for its eponymous brandy, focusing on another segment of the spirits market instead of the already competitive whisky industry. Today, 26 years later and with Fundador in its roster of oferings, Emperador operates an integrated business of manufacturing, bottling, and distribution of distilled spirits and other alcoholic beverages.

Tan surprised the world with the Fundador purchase. “Brandy business is my passion. My whole life has been dedicated to brandy making, and certainly today is a big moment in my life,” Tan stressed in his Jerez speech.

Emperador acquired Bodegas Fundador from Beam Suntory, a 286-year-

M AY 2016 91

THE SMELL OF SUCCESS

Kendrick Tan, 35, photographed by the bar in the Emperador Inc. oice in Eastwood City. “Taste plays a big role in the enjoyment of my drink of choice,” he says.

92 M AY 2016

PORTRAIT BY JOSEPH PASCUAL

old Spanish liquor company that sells global brand Fundador Pedro Domecq. “We now have almost 1,500 hectares of vineyard land in Spain, around 1,000,000 square-meters of cellar and bottling facilities, and four distilleries [also in Spain],” said Grupo Emperador Spain S.A. managing director Jorge Domeq during the turnover ceremony last March.

In 2013, Kendrick Tan, the second to the eldest son among the tycoon’s four children, was elected board director of the company. he 35-year-old is also head of Research and Development, a critical department for a company to thrive in a competitive industry, and master blender. In the world of distilled spirits, a master blender decides on the composition of the drink. In the Scotch whisky industry, for instance, the master blender picks which single malts and grain whiskies are combined to make the perfect blended whisky.

Because of the nature of the family business, Kendrick had to develop an appreciation for liquor, but quickly erases any impression of being just another alcoholic rich kid. Outside of the oice, he is a football enthusiast, and is into Muay hai (he met his wife through the combat sport). “When people ind out what I do for a living, they ask me if I have a high alcohol tolerance or they assume that I don’t get drunk easily. Actually, that’s not true. For me, taste plays a big role in the enjoyment of my drink of choice, not to mention that every time I drink, it is like training my senses, which is good for me.” Kendrick says drinking too much dulls one’s ability to taste, “making drinking less enjoyable because I cannot taste it anymore.” Taste fatigue, he calls it. “And once you have it, you will need to rest your taste buds for a while,” says the executive director, who does the trick by smelling lat water from a snifter. He reveals that his father is better at drinking than he is, in that the Tan patriarch can go on drinking and it would take more than a few glasses for him to get to the point of taste fatigue.

Kendrick had previously served the company as corporate secretary and executive director of Emperador Distillers, Inc. He graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. He vowed that he would make Emperador a global brand, and in 2014, the company acquired whisky giant Whyte & Mackay Group Limited and its subsidiaries. Dubbed as the world’s ifth largest maker of Scotch whisky, Whyte & Mackay boasts of more than 160 years of history.

A bottle of its he Dalmore Brilliance, a one-of-a-kind 1926 single malt whisky, which comes with a 1.83 carat diamond stopper, set a world record in 2013 when it sold for nearly 250,000 euros or P15 million during a liquor sale at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Today, as the world’s largest brandy company, Emperador has more than 20 percent global share by volume. “We produce and sell about one million bottles a day. We own one of the world’s best resources in brandy making from prized vineyards in Jerez and Toledo, Spain. We currently have 1,500 hectares of vineyards in Spain and the largest and best brandy making, ageing and manufacturing facility in Jerez,” Kendrick says.

Indeed, Andrew Tan has come a long way since his father opened that bottle of Fundador. Whoever becomes the next captain of the Tan conglomerate is still anybody’s guess. For Kendrick, simply being the son of a tycoon brings enough pressure.

When father and son get together, Kendrick says it is still business they talk about. “We would taste samples together and he would also talk to me about product development.”

It is not easy being the son of one of the most successful businessmen in the world. “Growing up with a father who is a tycoon was both great and not great for me. Great because the future was pretty much set. However there is and will always be someone in my life who has achieved so much.

My father’s achievements are something that I am pressured to match if not surpass,” Kendrick says. “here is constant pressure but I welcome it.”

It is not easy being the son of one of the most successful businessmen in the world. “Growing up with a father who is a tycoon was both great and not great for me.”

2016

THE SIMPLE LIFE OF

YOSHIHIRO NARISAWA The esteemed chef, baker, and mastermind behind the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Les Création de Narisawa stands for many things: the beneits of using organic and natural ingredients, a deep respect for nature, and fusing Japanese cuisine with European influence. In atendance for Madrid Fusion, Yoshihiro Narisawa talks to Rogue about his culinary roots and the changing times

Is there any one taste your thoughts often return to?

It’s very simple, really. White rice. Rice in Japan is very valued. It isn’t just water and grains in a pot and cooked. You need to get the proper water, master the right temperature.

Your restaurant is ranked the eighth in the world. here must be big expectations on your shoulders.

Even today as a top chef I can’t please a hundred percent of my customers. Each person has their likes and dislikes. Even to this day, there have been customers that aren’t satisied. I always think, what else can I do? I cook to please. When customers don’t ind pleasure in the food, it’s back to the kitchen you go.

Your cooking is inspired by the seasons. Can you tell me about even one ingredient you’ve come to work with during one period of the year?

Japanese szechuan pepper lower. It only appears for around 10 days in a year, including today.

Great lavor, a little bit spicy.

I’ve read that you host an extensive sake list in your restaurant. Which would you match to the season right now?

I can’t name just one, but let me tell you how I like it, with what the weather is like now. Usually sake is made in the middle of winter. Right about now, it’s in the process of being strained, and has not been boiled yet. I like when sake is at this stage. Not yet at its end. Taken cold, it’s very fresh, very clean.

Let’s talk about fermentation. here are a lot of people exploring new technologies. Your curiosity has led you to explore the traditional technique of fermentation. Why is that?

Using the technique of fermentation is very good for the body, and it’s needed by the body.

It’s a very health-conscious way of thinking.

his has been used all over the world, through things like wine, vinegar, cheese. In Asia, there’s fermented ish. It’s been around but I feel like it’s good for your health, like the prevention of cancer. Nowadays being immune to cancer is diminishing. Our bodies aren’t getting enough nutrients to stay healthy. Before, it was normal to eat fermented things. I’ve been inspired to return to fermentation in order to return to some form of health, but I also ind ways to see how fermentation can be manipulated.

Whose cooking fascinates you right now?

Joan Roca, Andoni Aduriz, Massimo Bottura— far too many!

What’s your guilty pleasure meal?

A simple pasta with just enough olive oil. Also maybe some good yakitori. he one ingredient you cannot live without?

Salt.

The pressure of maintaining the highest possible standard year after year in the higher stratospheres of the restaurant world

can

prove

unbearable—and

after the suspected suicide of top chef Benoit Violier early this year, perhaps even lethal. Weaving a string of deaths and departures in the high stakes universe of culinary demigods, Damian Whitworth dares pose the question: is the Michelin star killing the very artist it rewards?

T

The Dark Side of Being a Superstar Chef

DOMOTIQUE AND DESIGN.CH; ERIC BERNAUDEAU / AFP

I

n the world of gastronomy, where the search for lawless food and service can turn into a punishing and zealous quest, Benoît Violier seemed to have achieved every professional success.

In the autumn, his restaurant l’Hôtel de Ville, in Crissier, Switzerland, was once again awarded three Michelin stars, and in December it was named the “world’s best restaurant” in the French La Liste ranking.

However, as friends and colleagues mourn his death from gunshot wounds that were apparently self-inlicted, all-too-familiar questions are being asked about the stress that chefs are under once they reach the summit of their profession and begin the struggle to stay there.

“You can’t help but wonder if he was under even more pressure than normal,” says a leading igure in the restaurant industry. “At this level, it’s all about perfection and you’re only as good as your last meal.”

When his restaurant was named as the best in the world, 44-year-old Violier said that it was a “great tribute” to his team but added: “I feel a heavy responsibility to be named number one.” Reports from Switzerland suggest that he had been very afected by the deaths last year of his father and of his mentor, Philippe Rochat, the previous owner of his restaurant. He was married to Brigitte, who was in charge of the reception and welcoming guests, and with whom he had a 12-year-old son, Romain.

It may be some time before the truth about his state of mind is revealed, but chefs recognize that the pressure on the igureheads of major restaurants can increase as they are awarded important honors and strive to stay at the pinnacle of their profession. he mental grind of maintaining the highest possible standard year

98 M AY 2016

Violier’s death has echoes of the 2003 suicide of French chef Bernard Loiseau. “He gave everything to his work, but in the end it became an illness. He lost his equilibrium,” said Loiseau’s widow.

REQUIEM FOR A CHEF

A security oicer closing the door of Violier’s restaurant l’Hotel de Ville in Crissier near Lausanne the day after the revered chef was found dead in his home, injured by gunshot wounds and with a rifle by his side. He is believed to have inflicted the gun shots on himself just hours before the unveiling of the Michelin 2016 edition. Opposite: Violier in his restaurant l’Hotel de Ville, in Crissier, Switzerland. “It’s my life. I go to sleep with cooking. I wake up to cooking,” he said in an interview in 2014.

RECIPE FOR DESTRUCTION

after year can become unbearable. In 2012, Skye Gyngell left Petersham Nurseries, her restaurant in southwest London, a year after being awarded a Michelin star. She described the star as a “curse” that meant that her small restaurant was fully booked and she had to deal with increased complaints as diners’ expectations rocketed. “It was a big honor but one that was often painful. My integrity was strained,” she explained at the time.

Violier’s death has echoes of the suicide in 2003 of the French chef Bernard Loiseau, following rumors—later to prove unfounded—that his restaurant in Burgundy, La Côte d’Or, was about to lose one of its three Michelin stars (in a strange coincidence, the restaurant, now called Relais Bernard Loiseau, lost one of its stars recently).

Loiseau’s widow, Dominique, who runs the restaurant, published a book about her husband after his death and spoke in interviews of his relentless focus on work to the exclusion of almost everything else. “He was an enormously dynamic man who gave everything to his work, but in the end it became an illness. He was tired and vulnerable and he lost his equilibrium.”

She said that he worried about the bank loans he had taken to develop his business and was anxious that many staf depended on the success of his venture for their livelihoods. “When one has to lead a team and project a positive, cheerful image to one’s clients, to one’s audiences, to the media, one never reveals one’s real emotional state.”

100 M AY 2016

To the outside world, Antonio Carluccio was the jolly, avuncular mushroom man who had founded a self-named restaurant chain that brought him wealth and happiness. However, he had a history of depression that became public in 2008 when he attempted suicide by stabbing himself with a pair of scissors, and he checked himself into the Priory clinic in Roehampton. A couple of years ago he showed me a picture he’d painted, hanging in the hall of his house, depicting a small object between two mounds. “It is about my depression. I am between two masses squeezing,” he told me.

He explained that depression had been lurking since his 13-year-old brother, Enrico, drowned in a swimming accident when Antonio was 23. “hat was in the background. hen everything came together like a big cloud.” His marriage was failing and his Neal Street restaurant closed so the site could be redeveloped. He had sold his share in the Carluccio’s chain and once it was in others’ hands, he said, “I lost my identity. I was feeling a little bit superluous. I had to gain my respect of myself.” A mixture of therapy and medical treatment pulled him through.

BERTRAND RINDOFF PETROFF (B. LOISEAU); THE WASHINGTON POST (D. LOISEAU) ; DAVE M. BENNETT (CARLUCCIO)

Bernard Loiseau also died of suicide in 2003. The French chef, photographed here at a Paris restaurant a year before his death, was rumored to have been devastated after hearing that his La Cote d’Or was about to be stripped of one of its three Michelin stars (this was later found to be untrue). Inset: Loiseau’s widow, Dominique, published a book on her husband following his demise, and spoke to media of the chef’s excessive passion in his chosen vocation.

DAMIAN WHITWORTH / THE TIMES / THE INTERVIEW PEOPLE

To the outside world, Carluccio was the jolly, avuncular mushroom man who had founded a restaurant chain that brought him wealth and happiness.

He had a history of depression that became public in 2008 when he attempted suicide by stabbing himself with a pair of scissors.

I have interviewed many top chefs and recurring themes have been their Stakhanovite work ethic and an obsession with producing exquisite food and unblemished service. I spent a few days following Heston Blumenthal and it was exhausting just watching him operate. He talked of getting to bed at 2 A.M. after an event then waking at 5:30 A.M. for ilming.

“I never thought about going down the easy route,” he said. “It’s quite tiring being me sometimes.” he key to his early success, he insisted, was spending epic days over a hot stove. Now he no longer cooks. hat is partly because of all his TV and business commitments, but also because he no longer comfortably can. His years of slaving have left him with titanium rods in his back, hip problems, and the need for regular physiotherapy. He may have a reputation as a brilliant Willy Wonka but he insists that much of his success is down to back-breaking graft. “I would love to think I am a natural born genius, but I believe it is a mixture of hard work and luck.” he 20-hour days that enabled Blumenthal to make his name meant that he missed out on seeing a lot of the growing up done by his three children, and he regrets this. “It’s a very selish thing we do,” he said of the unforgiving kitchen life.

Some chefs are reassessing the relentless regime. Jason Atherton, Gordon Ramsay’s former protégé, who has 18 restaurants worldwide, including seven in London, told me last year that he had built his career by working “six days a week, 18 hours a day,” but that this was “too intense” and he was encouraging those coming up through his empire to have more leisure time. “I have a lot of great friends I don’t see any more. My family, I barely see them. It’s a diicult one. Who has the perfect work/life balance?”

Dominique Loiseau said after her husband’s suicide that “it’s never easy to live with a genius—they don’t behave like normal people. In 15 years we went to the cinema twice, he hated taking holidays, our life as a family sufered. He lived only for his work.” he top chef-proprietors preside over establishments where the obsession with everything being exactly right is bewildering to an outsider.

I once spent a day in Michel Roux Jr.’s Le Gavroche. At one point Silvano Giraldin, the doyen of London restaurant managers and a director of the company, walked in and spotted something that horriied him.

He gestured at a senior member of the front-of-house staf and

COMING OUT OF THE DARK

Antonio Carluccio in London on the night of his launch party for A Recipe For Life, his memoir published in 2012. Known largely for his jolly disposition, he surprised the gastronomic community when he attempted suicide in 2008, thus bringing his struggles with depression out in the open. After selling his shares in his eponymous chain of restaurants, everything fell apart for Carluccio. He has since authored two more books and is known as one of the hosts of the show Two Greedy Italians.

muttered darkly: “Even he is going to get a bollocking now. It is the cardinal sin.” he staf member looked chastened and apologetic after his ticking of. When I asked what the transgression was, Giraldin explained that the hapless staf member had failed to ensure that the corners of the table cloth hung down over the legs of the table.

As well as maintaining very high standards, chefs feel the need to constantly seek to innovate to stand out in a competitive international market where they are judged against restaurants everywhere from Peru to Japan. Blumenthal has a development kitchen where at any one time dozens of new recipes are worked on for restaurants, retail lines, and television programs.

I was shown around by Jonny Lake, the head chef at the Fat Duck. “his kind of pressure to come up with new things has closed restaurants,” he said. Ashley Palmer-Watts, the executive chef of the Fat Duck Group, said that after many years in “Heston’s world” he was clear about one thing: “You have to be 100 percent; 99 percent is not enough.”

Jason Atherton keeps the stress at bay by working out in the gym almost every day. Michel Roux Jr. goes for long runs in the afternoons between services and has completed 20 marathons. Blumenthal no longer does the intense kickboxing sessions he used to enjoy but is a devotee of Buddhist meditation and works with a life coach who also helps his senior staf.

He has also learnt to keep the business of cooking in perspective. “Some chefs like to think we are the fourth emergency service,” he says. “But we are just cooking.”

M AY 2016

101

2016

THE REVOLUTIONARY MR. ROCA The man behind the world’s top restaurant doesn’t mind shuting his El Cellar de Can Roca for weeks in order to indulge his wanderlust—despite the legions dying to eat there, with tables booked 11 months in advance. In Manila for the Madrid Fusion extravaganza, Joan Roca talks to Michelle V. Ayuyao to consider his influences beyond the kitchen

his is not the irst time I’ve come face to face with Joan Roca. A couple of months ago in Bangkok, I inadvertently crashed a private after party. Held late at night, post-ceremony, post-legitimate after party, Asia’s number one chef Gaggan Anand opened up his place to a select few—myself not warranted. Right by the front door, inspecting the white walls of the receiving area, was the man behind the top restaurant of the world: Joan Roca in the lesh. Upon my insistence, Chele Gonzalez of Gallery Vask introduced us, launching into whole verses of Spanish as Roca extended a hand to me. As I looked at this European, possible Baldwin brother right in the eyes, he and I conversed momentarily in that internationally accepted form of chitchat: graceless nodding and sheepish giggles.

Good enough.

Weeks later, he was the main event for Madrid Fusion Manila, propelling into a full congress-wide discussion on discovering techniques and inding meaning for unfounded lavors. here is a reason Mr. Roca and his vested El Celler de Can Roca have been labeled top notch. Over cheap brewed cofee—and with a very patient translator—he and I sifted through the circumstances that brought him there:

T

First, let’s talk about creativity, then a little later you and I are going to talk about purpose.

Each dish has a complex, creative process, but before even getting to that point, it grows from something simple. What is your earliest memory of taste?

I decided to become a cook somewhere between the ages of eight to 10. I would arrive home from school and there was always this aroma that would come out of the kitchen, an aroma still present in my memory. It was of the caldos, the soups.

Was this the first thing you learned how to cook, then?

Yes. Cooking arroz caldoso in the cazuela. he dishes that you create aren’t about taste, but are of a multi-sensory experience. When did you decide that this was the direction you

wanted to go in? I know much research for your restaurant still comes out of your own home, and you’d expect that a restaurant built in a home would produce simple, home-cooked meals. But it exploded into something very technical and scientific.

Our kitchen wasn’t created overnight. It took 30 years to develop, poco poco, what we’re doing.

Slowly, we’ve acquired much innovation and technique. Luckily, my two brothers and I all became passionate about all these things.

Like a rockstar.

Yes, something like that! here was that interest in Chile because I had not properly seen that yet. We had seen Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, but Santiago de Chile was lacking.

Latin American cuisine is emerging rapidly.

You’ve explored parts of it. How much of that knowledge have you brought back with you? hey’re interpreting, for instance, ceviche. hey’re doing it their way with their products. In Mexico we saw huitlacoche. Do you know what that is?

You three, a mix of alchemists and scientists, working out of your mother’s house. Are you all very diferent from one another?

Jordi is the most creative, the innovator with the crazy ideas. And I do mean some of them are impossible. Totally impossible. Josep is the poet, the philosopher. I do all things possible to gel everything together. I try to be the calming agent.

Nope, what is that?

It’s like a sick fungus that grows out of the mais.

It’s something very appreciated in Mexico. In the ields in our planes, my region especially, we have this huitlacoche but have never used it until in Mexico, when we saw it could be used.

Sometimes it’s just simply seeing. We would never have used it had we not seen it in Mexico

What inspires you to cook? here are many points of inspiration. Travel is maybe the biggest. When you travel, you observe, and you have an open mind for new places; a landscape, a book, perhaps movies, the aroma of a glass of wine, perhaps the scent of a perfume.

How important is it to stay true to the taste of your roots?

What’s important is the authenticity of the product and the concept of the dish. Everything has to gel together. Very important are taste and the understanding of the diner.

In the last couple of years you’ve shut down the restaurant for weeks and you’ve traveled with everyone on your team. How do you decide where to go?

I love to travel. It allows me to learn, to see, and to ind inspirations. First, we all propose places we’re interested in seeing. here’s dialogue there with our sponsor, a big bank in Spain. Both we and the bank have to have common interest with that place. It has to beneit both parties.

At what point did you realize that the restaurant was bigger than itself, that the things that you do afect the world of cooking the way it does?

It’s been progressive. We continue to live in the same place we were born in. So it is a bit insane in the head. We still feel grounded when it may not seem that way for others.

And this year you decided on London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Chile. Four places, spread all around the world!

I wanted to go to Hong Kong to see a part of China, and the other places you mentioned to complete this world trip—what do you call it?

World tour.

Yes, world tour.

Tell me, what makes a good diner? hey go to the restaurant to enjoy with an open mind and an open heart. To have the belief that you’re going to go through a whole gastronomical experience. People that make reservations in the restaurant have waited 11 months to get in. To go to the restaurant, it costs money. It’s not expensive, but it costs a little bit.

Perhaps patience makes a good diner. We, on the other hand, have the responsibility of being on top of their possible expectations.

Photog raphed by JL Jav ier Dishe s pr epar ed by Chef Jor dy Navar ra

Rogue Fiction

Manila’s revered food critic Art Vandelay dissects his recent thought-provoking repast in Poblacion’s latest best kept secret, the Dog and Bollocks, where he met the Blumenthal prodigy John Paul Grenot, the melancholic chef who asked the writer to sample his unorthodox ramen, his profoundly unconventional fried chicken, and an avant-garde dessert that challenges the role of a cookie in the ight for environmental reform

Over the years, I’ve grown wary of dining establishments outside of the UK with animals for names.

Along with the near criminal use of “gastro pub”—which in Manila are generally about as authentic as hai food at a provincial girly bar—a fundamental part of English life has been hijacked and replaced with lukewarm draft beer, sterile yet lashy decor, and an unfocused selection of trendy American comfort foods. Despite its mildly suspect name, I decided to give he Dog and Bollocks, located in the somewhat gentriied Poblacion, a try, reserving my inherent misanthropy for a later date.

One of the primary reasons for the latter: it is the inspiration of Chef John Paul Grenot, the young half-French, half-Pinoy prodigy, fresh from a stint at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck. Despite its curiously pub-ish name, he Dog and Bollocks is undoubtedly a restaurant irst, one with an outlined farm-to-table philosophy; hardly the sort of establishment expected to be found in P. Burgos, the city’s most famous red-light district where midget boxing, gonorrhea, deep-voiced masseuses, and open-air dives are predominant features.

Sandwiched between two table dancing bars is the Dog and Bollocks— which despite its intentionally downtrodden, almost eerie exterior (its glass window panels are tinted a sinister black with a brightly colored Korean KTV-esque sign), inside is a contemporary abyss. here is a distinct speakeasy-type exclusivity here: burnt brick walls, raw looring, industrial wall lamps, salvaged wood tables, a very open kitchen with young tattooed sous chefs, the works. It is a Tuesday evening but the place is packed, welldressed couples sit at the bar drinking intricate-looking beverages from Mason jars. Fortunately, I made reservations.

Chef John Paul is melancholic and fairly timid—brooding even—not the demeanor one would expect from a hotshot alumnus of some of the most storied kitchens in New York and London. He is 31 but could pass for a university student; his jet-black long hair and slender igure making him relatively androgynous. “I learned to cook from my dad,” he says with a mild lisp. He grew up in Manila for the most part—but summers eating fresh oysters in Provence and grilling langosteens in the Mauritian coast afected him in a profound way. “I cooked my irst fried egg at four and

106 M AY 2016

never looked back. his is what I was born to do.” His fondest memories are of strolling through farmers markets in the south of France, conversing with lat-capped purveyors in broken French and browsing for vibrant, symmetrical produce.

For the Dog and Bollocks, his irst restaurant, he does not hold back— his creativity, his sheer ability to recreate classic dishes in his own distinct style is noteworthy. “We are all about using local, fresh ingredients here. We will not compromise,” he says, a sustainability-focused integrity inluenced by all those summers in France no doubt. He is adept at using sophisticated cooking techniques with indigenous ingredients and in the process producing familiar tastes. “Nostalgia is an important theme to me.”

I was enthralled by the ramen. More than just an obligatory tribute to his Momofuku Ko (he spent several years here as a line cook), this bowl of soupy goodness is an event in itself. Al dente homemade lat noodles are submerged in a fragrant native pork broth, daintily topped with a duck “adobo” egg and house-smoked bacon sliced like choshu. It is a gorgeous interplay of lavors, the syrupy glaze of the fatty bacon providing a welcome juxtaposition to the savory richness of the broth—umami in every very sense of the word. Congratulations David Chang, you have created a monster.

Fried chicken (particularly of the buttermilk variety) and wales may be ubiquitous on clipboard menus everywhere. John Paul deep fries grass-fed chicken thighs to a handsome orange and serves them in taco form using a pillowy, black trule-infused pancake as the tortilla, along with pickled cabbage and black trule aioli. “Instead of the traditional buttermilk, which is hard to get here anyway, we soak our chicken in cereal milk. It tastes even better. Buttermilk’s totally overrated.” I had never eaten fried chicken, perhaps my favorite food (whether hungover or not), in such a wonderfully unconventional way. Trule, fried poultry, pickled vegetables—a symphony of tastes and textures, both comforting and alien at the same time. I am in fried chicken euphoria; I had not experienced this level of fried chickeninduced satisfaction since a drunken 3 A.M. binge at my local KFC some

MIND BLOWN

As with most of the menu, the restaurant's sustainability values bleed out to the kitchen uniforms as seen in their 100-percent pure cowhide aprons (made from cows that died a natural death), and the chef's whites made of used flour bags. Clockwise from left: The enthralling tribute to the chef's former workplace Momofuku Ko, a ramen dish topped with duck “adobo” egg and cooked with a generous helping of umami; the gastropub interiors stripped of all capitalist polish; deep-fried chicken thighs cradled in tortillas that are actually black truffle-infused pancakes. Previous spread: The Biodegradable, Biodynamic Compost Cookie—the dessert roster's piece de resistance.

The Biodegradable, Biodynamic Vegetable Compost *VVRPL PZ H ÄUL HTIHZZHKVY [V [OL YLZ[H\YHU[»Z environmentally aware mission statement . . . the organic toppings may all be leftovers from other diners, but John Paul assures that they are cleaned thoroughly before serving.

TODAY'S MENU Sav

S t

Native Pork Broth Ramen with Free Range Adobo Egg and House Smoked Bacon

Tsokolate eh with Churros and Ritual Chocnut Butter

Grass Fed Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Black Trule Chinese Pancake, Pickled Cabbage and Black Trule Aioli Sizzling Steak and Quadruple Cooked Trule Fries Palawan Lobster Roll "Banh Mi" w/ Foie Gras and Native Pickles

Matcha and White Chocolate Concorde Cake Biodynamic, Biodegradable Vegetable Compost Cookie Barrel Aged Homemade Sriracha Red Velvet Cupcake with Pedro Ximenez Fromage Blanc and Xocolat Sauce

Chia Seed Caesar with Quinoa and Smoked Tofu Sous Vide Salmon Poached in Coconut Oil, Local Asparagus, Pinoy Hollandaise and 62 degree egg

years (okay, mid-last year) ago. he night doesn’t end there. For dessert, the Biodegradable, Biodynamic Vegetable Compost Cookie is not just tasty, combining the sweetness of chocolate chip and the earthy saltiness of vegetables, it is a ine ambassador to the restaurant’s environmentally aware mission statement. A chocolate chip here, half an onion or turnip there, it certainly isn’t the most conservative of desserts, but it is a dish that perfectly encapsulates the Dog and Bollocks. he cookie, a visual delight, harmoniously blends the classic with the avant-garde. A leftover bell pepper adds the elusive kick that most desserts simply do not have. he organic toppings may all be leftovers from other diners but John Paul assures me that they are cleaned thoroughly before serving. “Where someone sees waste, I see a creative pursuit. We don’t like to waste ingredients here anyway. hat just wouldn’t be right.” It takes multiple bites for my palate to familiarize itself with the seemingly incongruous elements. But when they do, wow. “his is a dessert I am very proud of,” he explains of the vegan confection. “I don’t want people to look at this as strictly a dessert, it is a meal in itself.”

108 M AY 2016

he red velvet cupcakes, meanwhile, showcase John Paul’s playful side. he delicate pastry is imbued with Chef ’s barrel-aged homemade Sriracha, artfully topped with white Pedro Ximenez Fromage Blanc, a lush dark Xocolat sauce encased in a urine drainage bag—the chocolate meant to be injected via catheter into each cupcake. Hospital paraphernalia is not an ideal sight post-meal, especially when it’s on your table with dark luid lowing through it (and when its original use is to collect human secretions). he sheer bizarreness of the sight is enough to shock and awe any customer whilst becoming the subject of countless Instagram photos.

(My latest post, 58 m ago.) Urine bag or not, it doesn’t taste particularly special though; the sriracha is a bit too pungent for a dessert, the pastry base a little too dry. here are other highlights, such as the sizzling steak and “quadruple” cooked trule fries (think a well-done steak frites meets Landmark food court). I am also told the Palawan lobster roll “banh mi” with foie gras is a hit, as is the Tsokolate Churros with ritual Chocnut butter. I will certainly be back soon, maybe I’ll even stay for a cocktail.

DEATH BY XOCOLAT

Spiritual experiences—like this dessert in Dog and Bollocks— inspire thoughts of mortality. These delicate red velvet cupcakes get the message across with this urine drainage bag containing a lush Xocolat sauce. Opposite: Grenot (left) in bespoke chef's gear by The Artisan; and the spare menu, divided between savory and sweet, upholds the garstropub's farm-to-table artisanal philosophy.

Ma y 2 0 16

SHOP LIST Where to buy the products featured in this issue

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER, PAGE 33 PAGE 34 Pottery Barn G/F Central Square, Bonifacio High Street, 5th Avenue cor.

30th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig; 9508187. Crate & Barrel 4/F SM Megamall Bldg. D Fashion Hall, EDSA cor. Julia Vargas Avenue, Mandaluyong.

Hermes G/F Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati; 757-8910. At Home in the Country athomeinthecountry.com.

PAGE 35 Hermes G/F Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City; 757-8910. Garden Barn Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Phase 3, Parañaque. Vista Alegre vistaalegre. com. Christian Lacroix christian-

110 M AY 2016

lacroix.com. Rockett St. George rockettstgeorge.co.uk. At Home in the Country athomeinthecountry.co.uk.

PAGE 36 Crate & Barrel 4/F SM Megamall Bldg.

D Fashion Hall, EDSA cor. Julia Vargas Avenue, Mandaluyong. Rockett St. George rockettstgeorge.com.uk. West Elm Estancia Mall, Meralco Avenue, Capitol Commons, Pasig; westelm.com.

Christian Lacroix christian-lacroix. com. Tartan & Zebra tartanandzebra. com.

Hermes G/F Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati; 757-8910 PAGE 37 Garden Barn Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Phase 3, Parañaque. Crate

& Barrel 4/F SM Megamall Bldg. D Fashion Hall, EDSA cor. Julia Vargas Avenue, Mandaluyong. MUJI 2/F Bonifacio High Street, 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig; 659-7220.

3133. Arbitare Internazionale G/F Crown Tower, 107 HV dela Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City; 8921887.

TICKETS TO THE LIGHT SHOW, PAGE 40

Giuseppe Zanotti Design G/F, Shangri-La Plaza East Wing; giuseppezanottidesign.com.

Dune London Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati; dunelondon.com.

Kenneth Cole Powerplant Mall, G/F Rockwell Driver cor. Estrella Street, Makati; 898-1465; kennethcole.com.

Tod’s Greenbelt 4, Ayala Center, Makati; 757-6292; tods.com.

Gucci Greenbelt 4, Ayala Center, Makati; 757-6293; gucci.com.

Saint Laurent G/F, Shangri-La Plaza East Wing, Mandaluyong; 956-3435.

Roche Bobois 2100 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati; 519-8240. Livable Products livableproducts.org. MOs Design 3/F B2 Mos Design Building, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig; 403-6620. The French Bedroom frenchbedroomcompany.co.uk.

LUXXU delightfull.eu. Amazing Crocodile Design Store amazingcrocodile.de. Orbik 722 Moriones Street cor. Juan Luna, Tondo, Manila; 245-

LET’S TWIST AGAIN, PAGE 55

Ma y 2 0 16

FAMOUS ROGUE MARGARITA A. FORÉS, chef HAVING BEEN CROWNED Asia’s Best Female Chef last January, Margarita “Gaita” Forés had to go through hell and high water before she could claim international recognition. Her maternal family’s anti-Marcos ties forced them to relocate to New York during the 70s, where she developed bulimia, an ailment that would take years and extreme resolve to shake of. She was working in Hong Kong when its market collapsed due to political conlict between China and the United Kingdom. Her displacement was made all the more tumultuous by the passing of her grandfather, real estate mogul J. Amado Araneta. And even after having studied Italian cuisine for four months, traveling from Florence to Rome to Milan to get her chops down, she was still looked down on upon her return to Manila in 1987, a precocious female chef from a “certain background” in a maledominated ield. hese baptisms of ire shaped her into the culinary force she is today. he founder of Cibo commits herself to promoting the pleasures and artistry of both Filipino and Italian cuisine. Today, she is known as the nation’s foremost authority on the Italian culinary arts. But what sets Forés apart from her contemporaries isn’t style, or even her various advocacies. It’s an insatiable hunger that keeps calling her back to the cutting board, despite and because of everything.