All Stories

Everything we've published, newest first.

Ronald Ventura’s Istraktura, in which a small boy in a white tank top drags a chain across a grayscale construction site of orange cranes, mining trucks and a colossal stone face

Ronald Ventura’s ‘Kalupaan’: Appetite for reconstruction

Saints in hard hats and a bird nesting in a construction site: Ronald Ventura asks what progress costs, in the first show at Cloudgrey Gallery.

By Igan D'Bayan · March 3, 2025
Chef Chele Gonzalez in whites spreads his arms wide before a winged wooden relief at Gallery by Chele

Nuts over coco

Chef Chele Gonzalez, a DJ before he was a chef, turns the coconut into a tasting menu: kare-kare bonbon, refined nata de coco, Wagyu with bistek sauce.

By Igan D'Bayan · February 27, 2025
The Dawn perform on the Hard Rock Cafe Manila stage under colored lights at the anniversary party

How The Bistro Group rewrote the rules of Philippine dining

Thirty years from the first TGI Fridays in Glorietta to 26 concepts and 225 stores: how The Bistro Group changed the way Manila eats out.

By Igan D'Bayan · February 20, 2025
A giant glowing orb of stacked lights rises from the desert plain near the Pyramids of Giza at dusk

The SpY who loved graffiti

A four-metre mirrored sphere at Giza, a globe inflated until it burst in Bilbao: the Spanish artist SpY brings his interventions to Art Fair Philippines.

By Igan D'Bayan · February 17, 2025
A tentacled figure in a dark overcoat stands on a rainy seaside promenade beneath a red umbrella, book in hand, as fish rain from the grey sky past a Victorian lamppost

So long, 2024, and no thanks for all the phish

Phishing texts, meetings about meetings, and A.I. acquaintances suddenly writing like Hitchens. Welcoming the new year with a renewed sense of dread.

By Igan D'Bayan · January 4, 2025
Hard Rock Cafe staff raise joined hands in a huddle beneath a Love All Serve All sign

Clark ’n’ roll, the Hard Rock Café way

A new Hard Rock Café opens at Hann Casino Resort in Pampanga, where the stage sits above the bar and a Zeppelin tour jacket hangs by Mariah’s pumps.

By Igan D'Bayan · January 2, 2025
Red banquettes and brass dome lamps beneath a glowing sign reading In here, it’s always Friday

TGI Fridays: 30 years of maximum fun, food & stories that sizzle

Thirty years from that first fateful Friday in Glorietta 3: RC Tiongson on red hair, truffle chips and why the vibe has not aged a day.

By Igan D'Bayan · December 15, 2024
Artist Olan Ventura and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos standing together in front of a colorful, deconstructed floral painting at Goldenberg Mansion

Tradition takes a selfie with disruption

Olan Ventura & Ronson Culibrina take us to the visual edge and back in Olan’s ‘Prismatic Petals’ and Ronson’s ‘Marahuyo’ exhibitions at Goldenberg Mansion.

By Igan D'Bayan · December 9, 2024
Four festive dishes in a grid: beef Wellington, sliced turkey, glazed salmon and a dark pudding

Have yourself a very Ramsay Christmas

Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill’s first Philippine Christmas: Beef Wellington Rossini, a Jingle Bell Sour, and a gingerbread house built like a Gehry.

By Igan D'Bayan · December 5, 2024
Bronze statue of José Rizal in an overcoat, chin resting on his hand, with bright chrysanthemums at its base and a Philippine flag over the misty hills behind

Feeling Rizal hover ‘In the Air’ tonight in Heidelberg

Rizal on bread, cheese and forever potatoes: retracing his Heidelberg addresses with Ambeth Ocampo, from the eye clinic to the river.

By Igan D'Bayan · December 2, 2024
Crowds fill the Philippines stand at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, a kite-framed timber canopy and book-lined shelves under a Philippines banner in the exhibition hall

Literature both spectral & realistic: PH gears up for primetime in 2025 Frankfurt book fair

The Philippines takes the Guest of Honour scroll from Italy for 2025: Patrick Flores and Stanley Ruiz on the pavilion, and a line from Sisa’s chapter.

By Igan D'Bayan · November 24, 2024
Three models mid-stride in a white studio wearing Uniqlo x Anya Hindmarch knitwear: an olive cardigan over a white tee with wide camel trousers, a navy crew-neck sweater with small embroidered eyes and loose jeans, and a bright pink sweater with wide jeans

If winter comes, can Uniqlo be far behind?

Anya Hindmarch’s darning stitches and embroidered eyes meet Uniqlo’s LifeWear staples, just in time for somewhere nippy.

By Avee Navarro Tan · November 21, 2024