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Bistro Group

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Collage of four plated dishes from The Test Kitchen, including cured meats, a glazed lamb shank and a pork chop

Inside a kitchen constantly put to the test

Ever the explorer, Chef Josh Boutwood treats The Test Kitchen as a culinary laboratory rather than a typical restaurant.

By Igan D'Bayan · August 28, 2025
A chef leans on the black marble bar of a Bistronomia Group restaurant, backed by shelves of liquor bottles and copper mugs

Exploding olives, tempting tapas, and a tale of virtual travel

Las Flores, Tomatito, Rambla and Rumba: how the Bistronomia Group serves a trip through Barcelona, Navarra and Madrid without a boarding pass.

By Igan D'Bayan · May 22, 2025
Collage of LongHorn Steakhouse dishes: grilled steaks, lobster tail, a chicken salad and a chocolate dessert

Real steak cannot be faked

LongHorn Steakhouse rides into Ortigas with a meat-slinging manifesto and no truffle foam anywhere. You cannot fake steak, is the belief.

By Igan D'Bayan · May 1, 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
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
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
Chef Josh Boutwood with a curled mustache stands in Ember’s kitchen between grills of resting meats

Chef Josh Boutwood’s vision for Ember’s fiery fare

Chef Josh Boutwood on the mushroom dish he tried to kill, the salmon heads he loves, and why perfection would be the saddest day of his career.

By Igan D'Bayan · October 17, 2024
A collage of five rescued dogs in Bistro Group bandanas and shirts: a black-and-white dog, a yellow dog, and white-and-tan strays with their tongues out

Bistro Group named its rescued strays after restaurants

What started with a stray refusing to move from under Paul’s car became Bistro Fur Friends, and a headquarters that is home to fifteen dogs.

By Igan D'Bayan · September 5, 2024
A smiling man in cream stands among marble tables, yellow chairs and patterned tile at Siklab+

For a boldly Filipino food experience, seek and you shall Siklab+

Two years and eight corporate chefs to get the crispy pata right: inside the Bistro Group’s first Filipino restaurant, at Shangri-La Plaza.

By Igan D'Bayan · August 15, 2024
Group portrait of TGI Fridays One Ayala team members in their black uniforms posing together inside the restaurant

Mojo risin’: A tale of set meals and endless mojitos

Bottomless mojitos, set meals and a little existential drift: an afternoon at TGI Fridays One Ayala, where P345 buys as many mojitos as the heat demands.

By Igan D'Bayan · July 18, 2024
Chef Josh Boutwood, in a white t-shirt and canvas apron with a handlebar mustache, stands before the blue-tiled open-fire grill of his kitchen

Chef Josh Boutwood’s appetite for evolution

The chef behind Manila’s most restless kitchens on why he never designs a menu until he is standing in the room, and the chapter he is closing now.

By Igan D'Bayan · July 11, 2024
The Bistro Group executives Lisa Ronquillo-Along and Divine Peralta smiling in front of a brightly lit modern restaurant interior

A night of dragon potions and Red Lotus eaters

A dinner of Sichuan Sour and Shanghai Spritz becomes a night of wild print-industry tales, at a resto-bar built for lowering your defenses.

By Igan D'Bayan · April 21, 2024
Patrick Sim in a blue suit gestures toward a lavish dessert table of cakes, teapots and flowers, beneath a terracotta wall with birdcage lamps and neon script reading “A party without cake is just a meeting.”

Savoring secrecy at Secret Recipe

A Malaysian cafe built on one marble cheesecake returns to Manila, where laksa and rendang share a menu with Irish lamb shanks and tom yum

By Igan D'Bayan · March 14, 2024