A farm-to-table odyssey around Asia
Seven years is no small feat for a restaurant’s lifespan, especially one in a continually blossoming locale like Cavite. For The Fatted Calf, those years were fraught with both highs and lows, spanning periods of temporary closure, reopening, and redirection.
Nevertheless, it was a path that has serendipitously led them to where they are today. And the direction they take today is one that remains grounded in their farm-to-table roots, while welcoming more influences from around Asia with open arms.
Embracing adaptation
The Fatted Calf is no stranger to change, and welcoming it with open arms has become the necessary step that has allowed for their evolution.
The restaurant first opened in Silang in 2019 and was initially intended to be an all-day breakfast spot, shares The Fatted Calf’s chef Jayjay SyCip, who heads the restaurant with his partner Rhea SyCip. But they soon found that it was lunch and dinner time that their customers gravitated towards, and thus, they adjusted the menu accordingly.
In 2023, the SyCips also packed their bags and made the big move to Tagaytay—specifically along the Tagaytay-Nasugbu road, where The Fatted Calf still stands today. Though most of the diners at the old Silang location were people who visited more intentionally—often making reservations rather than walking in—the current Tagaytay home welcomes a wider audience who are open to new flavors.
“In the new place [in Tagaytay] we have new diners who are exploring new concepts like us [that] are now in the main road,” says Jayjay. “Now we have more walk-ins than reservations. And more curious diners are coming to explore our menu and cuisine.”
The Asian flavor focus
Even when The Fatted Calf first started, they were already bringing Asian flourish to Western classics: a splash of curry here, a drizzle of kaffir lime oil there. More recently, however, the restaurant has shifted to a stronger focus on Asian flavors—a shift that mirrors what Jayjay has observed to be an increased demand for Filipino and Asian cuisine in Tagaytay.
“I want a more pronounced taste [of Asia],” says Jayjay. “More defined and not subtle.” Though the formats are still largely continental, what we see now are more of the essential ingredients and flavor profiles from China, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and other parts of the continent, gone more contemporary in rendition and—in some parts—continental in interpretation.
More on the straightforward end of the spectrum are stuffed chicken wings that bring to mind a similar Taiwanese street food. Bite through each farm-fresh chicken wing’s crackly-crisp skin and you’re met with a machang-like medley of glutinous rice, Chinese chorizo, mushrooms, and the restaurant’s own bacon made in-house.
And then you’ve got the crispy omelette with grilled prawns—Jayjay’s take on a Thai classic that he holds close to his heart. “When I opened the fine dining outlet of Discovery Samal in 2023, [the restaurant’s version of Thai crispy omelette] was what I would always eat in one of the outlets whenever I’m there,” he tells us.
Also distinct to the restaurant’s approach today is a focus on “[being] creative with the [flavor] combinations,” says Jayjay. He puts this into practice in their remixed take on a grilled bone marrow, adorned with zingy dollops of The Fatted Calf’s own XO sauce, pickled onions, and kaffir. Cue fireworks of flavor when scooped onto the baguette rounds served alongside.
Another playful number is the pata tim terrine. Pork hocks are the starting point of this velvety starter served in slabs, with molasses, earthy mushrooms, and a raisin relish giving it the sweet, savory, subtly spiced character of its namesake.
We see classic Asian ingredients and flavors used in new ways: Zingy, aromatic sambal serves as a spunky marinade for grilled chicken in an aromatic coconut sauce. Meanwhile, Kerala beef fry’s spice-heavy warmth shines through when wrapped in soft, lacey roti jala, as in the appetizer dubbed “beef rolls” finished with curry leaves and lashings of garlic cream.
There’s the Chiang Mai sausage pasta, with crumbled bits of The Fatted Calf’s own house-made Chiang Mai sausage delivering an herbaceous, chili-laced kick to every forkful of the al-dente spaghetti. Equally hearty is the duck rendang ragu, with duck rendang cooked down to a stick-to-your-ribs sauce that just about melts onto their house-made papardelle.
More on the deeply savory end is the steak fettuccine, which has house-made pasta, tossed in beef demi glace and oyster sauce, topped with juicy slices of Australian wagyu oyster blade.
The Fatted Calf is not afraid to bring different cuisines together, either, as it does in its braised beef brisket dish blanketed by a thick, unctuous sauce of Japanese miso and Filipino aligue, then kept company with a big block of potato pave.
Back to its roots
Much has changed, but The Fatted Calf maintains the foundations of its philosophy—in particular, the farm-to-table, slow-food approach to sourcing ingredients and coming up with dishes in the kitchen. The team lives out these principles by working directly with farmers and using seasonal produce from Tagaytay, allowing ingredients to arrive at kitchens at peak freshness; and making as many components as it can from scratch.
“We honor our ingredients as much as we honor those who grew them,” says Jayjay. Sometimes that means pricing their dishes higher, allowing them to pay farmers fairer, too.
Entering new frontiers while keeping the core doesn’t always come easy, but it’s a challenge The Fatted Calf conquers—with vibrant, flavorful results.
