Two stars, one man at the Helm
Starting the chapter of Josh Boutwood’s story with his two Michelin star win feels like an obvious way to begin. Yes, it’s a historic feat that is inspiring as it is well-deserved, but this only captures the headline, not the whole story. The journey to this culinary milestone, after all, goes back to the literal blood, sweat, and tears shed. To the many all-nighters pulled, the relentless pursuit of excellence, the many trials and failures, and ultimately, the lessons learned along the way.
And even so, all this barely scratches the surface of the story that has shaped Boutwood into the chef he is today.
From its early beginnings in 2018, Helm shared a space with the chef’s more rugged, meat-forward concept Savage. Both nestled in an intimate space at Arya Residences, Helm operated on a modest 12-seat capacity, which has since doubled after moving to its new home at Ayala Triangle in 2023.
Beyond curated plates, the elegant wines, and the seamless choreography of service, Helm is also about the experience—the personal touches, the thoughtful details, and the occasional banter. “But we choose the guests to do that with,” Boutwood explains. “It’s all about analyzing how they are, what their personality is, and what they are celebrating. That will determine our service style.”
In the quiet stretch before dinner service, we caught up with the chef on his historic Michelin win, his possible plans for Helm, and the in-betweens that keep him busy.
What was the moment like for you and your team when you found out that Helm won two Michelin stars?
Never in our wildest dreams did we think we could achieve that. Remember, we had no point of comparison. This is the first year, so none of us knew how we would fare with inspectors and Michelin, of all places. So obviously, I personally was dumbfounded and completely floored at the fact that they gave Helm two stars. I can only see the videos that the team took during the awarding night because we were open and I was there, and obviously, it made everyone extremely emotional.
I’m a person who shows very little emotion, but I did break down on the balcony while having a cigarette with my wife—not that she smokes—but she joined me. It was just such an overwhelming year, culminating in that particular moment. And I’m so proud of everyone for doing what they’ve been able to achieve, and I think the morale has been absolutely amazing since then.
We do feel the pressure of being the only two-star restaurant. I wish there were other restaurants up there with us because at the end of the day, it’s a large responsibility to carry, and it’s quite a feat to retain those stars at the same time.
What do you think changed the most between that first version of Helm and the one that now holds two Michelin stars?
If I can reference the art of kintsugi (where something is broken, you mend it, and it becomes a lot more beautiful), Helm was a great restaurant. Even though the original Helm wasn’t broken, we knew we could do better. We knew we could evolve, and we knew we could expand in terms of size and seating capacity.
Along with the maturity from the learnings that we’ve had in the past, I think we were able to create a restaurant that I’m very, very content with, and a team that is extremely strong. And if you look at Helm today and compare it to the original Helm, the soul of it still remains the same. But like anything, it’s mature, it’s stronger, it’s better.
In a 2019 NoliSoli feature, you describe Helm as a concept “where [you] prefer to shine a light on [your] radically fun side as [you] set off on a personal exploration with high-quality ingredients and creative techniques.” Is this still true today?
I said that? Wow, I was smart back then! (laughs) Yeah, I believe so. I mean, I do like to have a lot of fun when it comes to cooking, and especially when it comes to the service of Helm.
It’s a very, very personal service where we do have a lot of banter with guests, but we choose the guests to do that with. It’s all about analyzing how they are, what their personality is, and what they are celebrating, and that will determine our service style.
For those particular groups, I always feel like I’m able to become extremely extroverted the moment service starts. So at six o’clock I can switch it on like a light switch, but like, as we’re talking like this, I still feel quite introverted.
But the fun side of cooking has never changed, and our ethos on using techniques to get the best out of ingredients has remained the same. Nowadays and even pre-Michelin, we’ve had a lot of time to experiment with different cooking techniques and styles where we could really bring out the most of the flavor of the dish, of the ingredient.
When diners experience your tasting menu at Helm, what aspects of you do you hope they taste or feel?
With the decades I’ve been cooking, I’d like to think we’ve created some type of edible signature, like a Johnny Hancock—not a signatu
re dish, because our dishes change constantly—but I’d like to think that if somebody were in a dark room and they tasted one of my dishes side by side with somebody else’s, they’ll immediately understand that that was a Josh Boutwood dish.
It’s very important for a concept like Helm to have a cohesive story with the menu and theme, but also not something overbearing and complicated. Our food at the end of the day is simple. But what guests don’t understand is the complexities that go into making those components appear simple. And I don’t think they will ever understand that. If we tried to explain it, it might be a 10-minute lecture on how we did certain processes to get to the point that we did.
Are you doing anything differently since you’ll be catering to a wider audience now?
No, I don’t believe that we should change anything. I think in general, we’ll still keep doing what we do and what we enjoy. That enjoyment shows in the food. When you cook something when you’re unsure, you’re depressed, or you’re not comfortable… guests can taste that.
And I feel like we’ve done well with doing what we do. Why should we change now? Obviously, there’s a lot more focus and higher expectations from guests when they come here, but we do our very best to make sure that the experience is very well catered to them.
You once said in a 2023 F&B Report feature that, “Like a young plant that’s outgrown its pot, Helm needed to be placed in a new location to continue to grow and flourish, awaiting the perfect moment to flower or bear fruit. As with all things in life, after a certain amount of time, it has to evolve to grow.” On that note, what’s next for you? For Helm?
See, I do remember that one. I think Helm will always be in a state of constant evolution. I don’t think we can relocate Helm because I love this place. I think the location here is probably one of the best in Makati to have a restaurant.
What can guests expect to see in Helm? Any upcoming themes for the tasting menu you can share with us?
I have yet to decide what the next theme is going to be, but if we base it on our thematic calendar, our next menu will be a little more serious—history-related—and then we go on to our entertainment menu, and then a fun menu. So we’ll see. We’ll see when the time comes. I just need to take a little bit of time off so I can clear my head and think of different themes that we could possibly do.
For young Filipino chefs who dream of reaching Michelin-level excellence, what truth—or myth—about the journey do you wish someone had told you?
I don’t think I can debunk something that somebody’s told me, because this is the first time Michelin came to the Philippines. But I think it goes to show that hard work pays off. I’m in this restaurant every single service—there’s not a night that I’m not here.
And you have to keep your head down. You have to remember why we do what we do, and why we enjoy what we do. And it takes a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of energy, and it takes everything. To be honest, I’m just very fortunate to have such an amazing team and a wonderfully supportive family.
For the younger generation that does this, it is no easy task. In order for us to achieve greatness, we have to sacrifice everything, and I still sacrifice everything in the process, but it’s a very rewarding experience to get to where we are today.
