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Everything we've published, newest first.

Grilled Chicken Kuro Ramen: dark broth topped with charred chicken, soft egg, nori and scallions

Ramen, reimagined

John Concepcion and his son Michael on Ippudo Ramen Bar at Uptown BGC, where the tonkotsu stays put and everything around it is rebuilt.

By Igan D'Bayan · April 3, 2025
A curled fried octopus tentacle with a lemon wedge and a dollop of aioli on a dark ceramic plate at Juniper in Ortigas

Drops of Juniper

Juniper, like its namesake botanical, weaves a story of depth, complexity, and quiet strength. It’s a restaurant, yes, but it’s also an exploration.

By Igan D'Bayan · March 27, 2025
Four courses at Yamazato: appetizer trays, seared wagyu, sushi and a stone bowl of bamboo shoots

Yamazato: Hotel Okura Manila’s space for delicious rituals

Yamazato offers something more than just a meal. It serves time itself, delicately sliced and artfully arranged, to be held with care and chopsticks.

By Igan D'Bayan · March 20, 2025
Ana de Ocampo in a green dress at the bar beside a view of Osteria Antica’s wood-vaulted dining room

Ana de Ocampo’s Osteria Antica: A love letter to Italian cuisine

Ana Lorenzana de Ocampo flew a brick oven in from Italy to The Podium: Neapolitan pizza, handmade pasta, and the Ortigas skyline six floors up.

By Igan D'Bayan · March 13, 2025
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