Bibio goes Kiwi, but with a Filipino twist
Seated at the long table at the center of Bibio, a natural wine bar in Poblacion, co-owner Justin Apolonio and chef-in-residence Kier Ibañez get into a light banter on who messaged each other first on Instagram—an encounter that led to their fruitful collaboration. Ibañez seems to think Apolonio was first, but Apolonio is certain about the train of events.
“He messaged me, saying ‘Thank you for bringing natural wines to the Philippines. I’m glad you opened a natural wine spot,’ and that was it!” Apolonio recalls. “It started with that DM (direct message).”
A melting pot of different cultures
Ibañez is from Cebu and has lived in New Zealand as a chef for the last 11 years. During the pandemic, he started Long Table Pop Up in the Kiwi nation as a way to introduce his food to more people. Not only did he get to cook with the large variety of seasonal ingredients that was available there, but he got to incorporate some of his Filipino heritage.
At Bibio, the menu is proudly serving New Zealand bistro food.
“What’s New Zealand food like?” Ibañez asks the question all of us are thinking. “Basically if you think of New Zealand food, it’s westernized food with a play of British, [and a] play of Maori. My food is very westernized with hints of Filipino.”
Apolonio chimes in, “New Zealand food… it’s hard to place it. It’s usually a bit of a melting pot. You may have a bit of Lebanese food, you have a lot of Asian, but of course, they still have their core Commonwealth English.”
At Bibio, they want to keep things lively and casual with creative, small plates of food and guest DJs playing later in the evening. And with frequent collaborations with different chefs and community partnerships, Bibio guarantees freshness on tap.
“We envisioned a very dynamic place with dynamic energy. Our vision did come through and people did interact with Bibio,” he continues. “We also learned, as time went on, that Bibio had a different energy on different days, depending on the event, and so on. That Bibio started to become more of a place for community and the place where we could highlight new chefs.”
Wine pairings and food must-haves
Ibañez loves natural wine, and that’s what drew him to Bibio in the first place. “I design my food so that it goes along well with wine,” he says. “Like with the tuna crudo, you want something that’s light, that’s fresh and white to go well with the fish. Then you go to the pasta and that’s when the red [wine] comes in.”
“As a natural wine drinker, you don’t normally just drink red wine. You like your red wine chilled. Since this is a wine bar, we have our bread—and we can’t have just normal bread. You have to put flavor into it. We pair ours with chicken skin butter,” he adds.
The bread is a poetic introduction into Ibañez’s passion for food—a chewy crumb, an irresistible crunchy crust, and an umami-packed chicken skin butter. The bread is your companion for the rest of the meal—a canvas for the smoked fish rillette or a tool to mop the sauce from the oxtail ragu pappardelle.
The classic pork rillette gets a Filipino twist with the smoked fish rillette. “The rillette is made from smoked tangigue and served with condiments you would see in like a New York style bagel. You have your little pickled onions, your pickled capers and all that,” Apolonio adds.
The Filo dip is an easy starter with your first glass of wine and is the Filipino answer to their Kiwi dip—a popular onion dip in New Zealand that utilizes a packet of onion soup powder, reduced cream, and a touch of vinegar. The Filo Dip, on the other hand, gets its creaminess from the cashew and salted egg before getting whipped up into a creamy fluff that you can dip deep-fried kamote chips into.
Local touches and upcoming collaborations
Ibañez finds many ways to infuse local ingredients into his food. “I was challenged by Justin to make a vegetarian dish. It’s a good challenge because when you’re in a bistro, it should be inclusive, no? We should cater not just [to] meat eaters. We have vegetarians. We have people who eat gluten-free. So I wanted to make spinach pasta and went to the market. That’s when I saw kangkong (water spinach).”
There are a lot of firsts for Ibañez as he navigates his way through cooking in Manila. “Here in the Philippines, we don’t get much seasonal produce. We play more of that through fruits, not vegetables. That’s something that I’ve learned along the way,” he says.
He’s clearly adept at combining flavors and textures that bring out the best of local ingredients. One dish pairs grilled nuggets of succulent pulpo with crispy deep-fried potatoes and the familiar taste of longganisa on top of a bed of cauliflower puree.
With an upcoming Baker On East collaboration—a new all-day restaurant in BGC in the pipeline—it seems like Bibio is only starting. “We’ve been talking about the next place for quite a while now. Poblacion is good, but we feel like we’re getting older,” Apolonio laughs. “I mean we love the nightlife, but we also like going out for brunch and coffee. That’s the next step for us.”
But even so, he says that, “We will still put a lot of love into Bibio because this is a place where we can really experiment.”
