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Chefs & Kitchens

14 stories

Triptych of brunch plates: a cheese toastie with pickle, crab cake benedict and a layered mango dessert

Out to brunch as the world turns

The Great British Brunch at Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill: unlimited cheese toasties and sticky toffee pudding, and a chef with Ramsay tattooed on her arm.

By Igan D'Bayan · September 18, 2025
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 server holds a pizza before a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the illuminated Ortigas skyline at night

Podium Social brings culinary cool to Ortigas

Five restaurants on The Podium’s sixth floor rethink how Manila gathers and eats, above a kaleidoscopic view of Ortigas.

By Igan D'Bayan · July 17, 2025
A dry-aged tomahawk steak carved tableside into rosy medium-rare slabs on a vertical stand at Smith & Wollensky

Eyes on the Tomahawk and other tales at Smith & Wollensky

The Manhattan steakhouse lands in BGC with dry-aged Tomahawks carved tableside, a Grammy-nominated pianist, and no interest in local tastes.

By Igan D'Bayan · July 10, 2025
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
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
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
Chef BoonHoe Bun standing with arms crossed in his chef uniform and tall white hat in front of a blue and white porcelain patterned background

The dim sum pairing is a lob fest at Summer Palace

At Edsa Shangri-La’s Summer Palace, resident master chef Andy Liew turns dim sum into a study in patience, tradition and the art of the perfect pairing.

By Igan D'Bayan · October 24, 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
Senator Loren Legarda standing between chefs Rhea and Jay Jay SyCip inside The Fatted Calf restaurant in Tagaytay

Farm to table, heart to heart

After a volcano, a pandemic and a lost lease, chefs Jay Jay and Rhea SyCip’s Fatted Calf finds its footing in Tagaytay, one farm-to-table plate at a time.

By Igan D'Bayan · July 25, 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