Seafood, soba, and a savory sampling of Siargao
The local food scene was abuzz last Saturday as two collaborations happened simultaneously—one hosted by an always-crowded natural wine bar in Makati, and the other by the country’s best restaurant.
David del Rosario’s Cev went through an evolution—from a thesis concept to a surf bar that shared space with a motorcycle shop to, now, a full-fledged restaurant attracting many of Siargao’s tourists.
Upon the invitation of the owners of Bombvinos Bodega, Del Rosario flew out of the island to develop three new dishes in the wine bar, along with a few plates from Bodega’s chef partner Don Baldosano. The event easily sold out just a couple of days after announcement and also resulted in a long waitlist. This was understandable, as the collaboration proved to be downright fun, especially as cool tunes and curated cocktails and wine were also on offer.
‘Sinuglaw’ and beef tartare
For his part, Baldosano, aided by his team, came up with two plates in line with Cev’s brand. There was Sinuglaw Ravioli, which featured a mound of smoked mahi-mahi strewn with a crispy rice salad and cloaked with thin strips of cured pork. The other was a bed of beef tartare studded with cured egg and salmonette.
Both were punchy in taste, which mostly came from the flavored oils and pools of sauces that surrounded them, and they mingled well with the funky characteristic of the natural wine.
Del Rosario, on the other hand, had an offshoot of the Cev bestseller Pacifico. In last weekend’s version, an ensemble composed of fresh salmon, salmon roe, grilled corn, cilantro, parsley, fried and boiled sweet potato, and red onions was dressed in calamansi leche de tigre, chili garlic oil, and an herb oil. He also plated braised cuttlefish, pomelo, tausi, and cornick dressed in sea urchin sinamak, as well as an iteration on shrimp toast. His pan-seared shrimps tossed in spicy XO mayonnaise, toasted cashew nuts, and charred cherry tomatoes came nestled on fried milk bread.
Apart from the wide selection of wines, three cocktails were on hand—mezcal with orange juice and cosmos-thyme syrup, a play on the New York Sour made with rye and pineapple juice, and a mango-flavored beverage spiked with tequila blanco. These, along with the food and music, surely had guests in high spirits (no pun intended). (Bombvinos Bodega is at Unit 3, Zone Sports Center, 7224 Malugay Street, Brgy, Makati; Instagram @bombvinos.bodega.)
Soba specialty
When Toyo Eatery’s Jordy Navarra was in Kyoto, Japan, he chanced upon a humble six-seater soba restaurant heralded for its noble ethos. Its owner, Akiya Ishibashi, juggles two roles: As a farmer, he tills the field, harvests the grain, and works with the buckwheat berries to produce flour that he gets to play with. As a chef, he kneads the dough to produce his very own soba, which he then turns into something many people fly to Kyoto and make a beeline for.
“I compose buckwheat husks, vegetable scraps, and the kombucha and katsuo-boshi used to make the dashi and return them to the soil as nutrients. Our food waste is approaching zero,” he said in an interview. Such honorable efforts have consequently gotten his restaurant, Juu-go, a Michelin Green star as well as a Bib Gourmand citing.
Last Saturday, Inatô—a concept of Toyo Eatery—was converted to look very much like his Kyoto haven where Ishibashi not only got to make fresh soba noodles before the lucky diners (only five guests were accommodated per 90-minute interval, spread over four time slots per day over three days), but also got to show them three ways to enjoy them.
First is plain, sans any seasoning, so one can indulge purely in its fragrance, the nutty taste of roasted buckwheat grains, and lovely chew. Second, dunked in a mix of dashi, mirin, soy, and sugar seasoned according to the guest’s preference, with grated daikon and chopped green onions. And lastly (my favorite of the lot), lubricated with a special soy sauce from the Saga prefecture.
After that delicious meal, diners were led to the private room where each got a hefty serving of matcha kakigori, which, like the soba, was prepared before the guests. It was composed of multiple layers of light-as-a-feather ribbons of shaved ice, a shapeless blob of shiratamako, macapuno from Batangas, and polvoron.
It was a thoughtful way to cap a meal, given that Kyoto is recognized as the matcha capital of Japan, and the components all lent just the right amount of flavor and texture to make for a satisfying spoonful. Indulging in this bowl of kakigori made everyone feel excited, as it acted as a preview of the Toyo group’s upcoming project. (Inatô is at The Alley at Karrivin, Karrivin Plaza, 1231 Chino Roces Ave, Extension, Makati; Instagram: @inato.ph.)
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