The Tagaytay Food Festival 2025 sizzled amid rain
Tagaytay has always been a food destination. With maliputo and bulalo as easy lures (and Antonio’s being among the country’s best restaurants), this windy town south of Manila becomes busy and bustling. Even more so on weekends—either as a detour or the main pitstop for people looking for quick eats and escape from the metro.
For several days last month, the city reinforced its position in the food scene by staging the second installment of the Tagaytay Food Festival, organized by The Fatted Calf’s very own Jayjay and Rhea Castro-SyCip.
“We see the necessity to have the festival, so that we can show that Tagaytay has so much to offer. There is variety and diversity in choosing where to eat in our city,” says SyCip. “Of course, by having a food festival (and take note, this is the only one that I know of in southern Luzon at this level), tourism will improve, interest in the city will increase. And, it’ll prove that, despite an active volcano, it’s always a safe place to go to for an awesome meal or two.”
Fun festivities
The festivities started on June 18 when the Taal Vista Hotel became the most happening spot in the city, given that it hosted three events that day. There was a purveyors market at the al fresco veranda, which started at 8 a.m., followed by a drinks fest during happy hour—5 p.m. to be exact. Then, at six in the evening was the Grand Tasting, held at Ballroom 1, where more than a dozen of Tagaytay’s restaurants convened and set up a booth to serve their specialties.
Siglo handed out a pineapple-designed plate holding four of their one-biters—namely a kiping chip cradling sisig, grilled pinyadobong pork belly, a corn-coconut pudding layered with Jacobina biscuit, and a slice of dragonfruit topped with caramelized pineapple conserve. Florita’s had kansi braised beef and KBL (kadyos, baboy, langka) arancini, while Anya served slow-cooked manok sa gata, alongside Samira’s crisp pan tostado, topped with house-made boquerones and red pepper confit.
Asador Dos Mestizos had a mouthwatering display, composed of paella negra, callos con garbanzos, and roasted pork belly bocadillos. And right next to their station was Ribchon, which had a table full of bulalo steak pie, banana heart sisig, and beef ribs with crispy goto Batangas.
A couple of Manila-based chefs who also operate restaurants in Tagaytay were in on the action, too. Happy Ongpauco-Tiu’s Pamana intrigued guests with her aligue creme brûlée and piaya with Brie cheese; Robby Goco’s new Greek spot Elaia by Cyma had spanakopita and roast lamb served two ways: with rice or as a wrap; and Kalel Chan of Farmer’s Table (which won best booth) impressed diners with his cotton candy-wrapped tawilis and buko polvoron pie.
Talk of the town
Whereas last year’s edition involved mostly dining, this 2025, the organizers decided to add more meat to the matter by adding talks into the program. “We saw that there was more clamor for more experiences this year. There is so much talent to highlight in Tagaytay and we curated experiences that can be enjoyed by everyone all throughout the weekend,” says Castro-SyCip. “We partnered with Asian Culinary Exchange this year to provide insights through a series of discussions [in] an effort to expose our local talents and students to industry trends and pressing issues within the food and beverage industry.”
It proved very informative and inspiring, as some of the country’s best were in attendance to shed light on relevant topics. Hapag’s Kevin Navoa and Thirdy Dolatre, along with Metiz’s Stephane Duhesme, kicked things off by telling the crowd why it’s important to innovate Filipino cuisine, while still tipping the hat to traditions—followed by International Councilor for Slow Food Southeast Asia, Mr. Ramon Uy, Jr. and Toyo Eatery’s Chaela Lee, who both not only pointed out ways on how to be sustainable, but also explained why there’s also an urgent need for it.
After lunch, Ryan Cruz, the president and CEO of Nippon Hasha Inc., joined by Decorum MIL’s Isabel Lozano, stated their cases on more fair treatment for the staff members. And to cap off the day, good friends Tina Legarda, Bettina Arguelles, and Rhea Rizzo reminisced their early days as chefs.
In between talks, Chan hosted a short cooking demo and tasting session of Japanese-inspired dishes using the frozen seafood items of Cold Storage Seafood, which was one of the conference’s major sponsors. The other one was PICKUP Coffee, which provided hot cups to all who attended on that very rainy Friday.
Served with fizz
At night, it was the SyCips turn to cook and serve a full house at their The Fatted Calf. In collaboration with Hafizzul Hashim of one Michelin-starred Restaurant Fiz in Singapore, the three laid out a stellar Southeast Asian repertoire that tasted familiar, but was dressed in new clothes. Kaya toast came crowned with caviar, crispy catfish skin nestled smoked milkfish mousse and torch ginger gelee, while the rellenong alimasag had a turmeric custard base and was perfumed with lemon basil. Meanwhile, the nasi lemak took on a new form—wild-caught tiger prawns with coconut rice espuma and sambar tumis.
The diners were more amazed at the seamless “meeting of minds and culture” among the chefs as the tasting menu progressed. The tender meatiness of the dry aged sea bream worked beautifully with the sourness of the padas sinigang, and the smoked duck leg rendang offered a totally new experience, each time it was eaten with one of the many sides (coconut glutinous rice cooked in bamboo, vegetables with fish sambar, cassava leaves stewed in coconut milk, and my favorite of the bunch, unripe jackfruit cooked in gula melaka and kaffir lime leaf). And the Tres Marias was served Cavite-style—beef brisket adobo and duck kare-kare, paired with kilawin papaya.
Castro-SyCip’s desserts were equally notable, as they highlighted regional cake heritage, along with shared cultures. There was a rice cake with salted egg, a bitso-bitso made with miso latik, and a salted coconut bahulu with nutmeg leaf dust.
The lineup of activities also included a Sunday brunch at Samira by Chele Gonzalez at Anya Resort, the opening of Anzani Restaurant, and a collaboration at Sinta by Ariel Manuel, Bettina Arguelles, and the PYC chefs.
The festival will culminate with the 2nd Creative Bulalo Challenge at Skyranch on August 3—paying homage to the soup that placed Tagaytay on the map.
For many diners, the annual food festival is a celebration of the best food and talents the city has to offer. And for the participating chefs, it’s a testament to the strong camaraderie and sense of community they’ve got in Tagaytay—another reason why its gastronomic culture continues to thrive.
