The wine, a smooth Guy Allion 2011 Sauvignon from the Loire Valley, is chilled at the perfect temperature and poured with care into a crystal-clear glass.
The poached egg is organic and free-range and sits atop a freshly baked brioche. There’s also kale salad with a confetti of dried figs, strawberries, almonds and quinoa, drizzled with aromatic mustard truffle vinaigrette.

Tables, set at discrete distances from one another, are dressed in crisp, white linen while in the background romantic songs whisper of love and longings.

It’s the kind of setting that makes one think he’s in some romantic getaway in France, except that Le Jardin is in the heart of Bonifacio Global City’s (BGC) business district. It came to Manila in a roundabout way—through a restaurant in Vietnam run by an expatriate French chef who once owned three restaurants in the Riviera.

The brains behind this almost secret hideaway are Irene and Duke Ng, an adventurous young couple who had been exploring the restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City. Following a tip in Lonely Planet, they went to Les Trois Gourmands, owned by French chef Gils Brault. They were so impressed by the food that they decided to talk with him.

“The food exceeded all expectations,” Irene recalls. “The way he executed French food was so flavorful and light. It was creative. Taking a bite would make you feel happy.”

Wanting to share their experience with others, the couple talked Brault into partnering with them in a similar restaurant in Manila. With the agreement settled, the couple sent two chefs, Jonas Ng and Hasset Go, to train with Brault for six months.

Opened just over a year ago, Le Jardin has all the romance of a French setting, with indoor plants and window panes, natural lighting and sparkling dinnerware. Add to that a panoramic view of BGC and its environs, made possible by its penthouse location in W building.

Then there’s the menu. All the training that chefs Jonas and Hasset learned from their six months with Brault are reflected here. It’s French food, but without being utterly so, its sophistication balanced by a touch of country.

For one thing, though Le Jardin may serve some French classics, nearly all the ingredients are sourced locally. The duck is from Davao, the chicken from Abra (as are the organic eggs), and the lettuce and cherry tomatoes from Tagaytay.

“We adapt to what’s available,” says Jonas.

From scratch

In addition, he says, they do everything from scratch: “We smoke our own duck and chicken and we bake our own bread.” Even the cheese is made from their own supplier of milk. At present they just call it Gils’ cheese, and it’s served both young and aged. But they look forward to adding more varieties to their repertoire soon.

For all-day dining, Le Jardin offers a brunch menu. The set brunch includes a choice of fruit juice (lemonade, orange or pineapple), coffee or tea, and a platter that includes the classic eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce, smoked salmon, smoked chicken, boudin (blood sausage), potatoes fried in duck fat, quinoa salad and dessert of the day.

All in all it seems closer to a lunch than a breakfast but it’s served all day, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and until 3 p.m. on Sundays.

It may seem unlikely but this French restaurant also serves burgers. Far from the American style burgers, however, Le Jardin’s is more complex. Made with beef cheeks, the burgers are served with either foie gras, truffle mushrooms, leek fondue or caramelized onions. All come with garlic aioli, micro greens, and crispy string potatoes and are tucked into the restaurant’s signature brioche bun.

The aptly named crispy string potatoes are an amusing conversation piece. Wiry thin, they curl in a mound unto themselves and are crunchy to the bite.

On the lighter side are the chicken dishes, but even these have their own complexities. Forest truffle chicken is braised in red wine, with accompaniments of creamy mashed potatoes, French beans, cherry tomatoes and black truffles.

On the other hand, the concorde poulet is topped with organic poached egg and béchamel sauce and served with grilled vegetables on freshly baked rye bread.

Then there’s the duck confit crêpe, a duo of duck confit and smoked duck served in a crepe, with organic poached egg, zucchini gratin and mixed greens, all made more flavorful with a pool of sauce a l’orange.

No French onion soup

One won’t find French onion soup on the menu, because chef Jonas thinks it’s too common. But there’s steak and eggs (grilled sirloin, with organic fried eggs, duck fat-fried potatoes and mixed greens) and steak and frites (grilled USDA hanger steak with French beans and potatoes).

On the other hand the meat entrees are balanced by the seafood, pasta and vegetable dishes: salmon (saumon royale), for instance, as well as salade de thon (grilled tuna with organic poached egg, mangoes, cherry tomatoes, mixed greens, all drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette) and an assortment of pasta.

For vegetarians there’s ratatouille as well as kale and quinoa salad and mixed salad greens with balsamic vinaigrette.

While all these may be delectable and flavorful, Le Jardin raises the bar further when it comes to desserts. No simple cheesecake will do. Instead the cheesecake is mixed with a medley of berries—blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries—depending on what’s available, thereby resulting in a sweet, tangy flavor that’s intriguing and elusive.

Likewise there’s a triple chocolate cake that blends dark, milk and white chocolate with layers of silky mousse and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Already Le Jardin has become a favorite among celebrities who like the privacy that surrounds the place. Located in a penthouse, it’s not likely to be hounded by the general public. Some companies, too, such as Estée Lauder, have found it to be the ideal setting for their product launches.

“We attract people who understand us,” says Jonas.

In addition, a number of customers have made marriage proposals in the restaurant, sometimes with the staff happily in cahoots. After all, when they opened Le Jardin, Duke and Irene Ng wanted it to be a happy place where people can dine on fine French food and celebrate.

Le Jardin is at the penthouse, W Fifth Building, 5th Ave. cor. 32nd St. Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Open Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Call 0917-8176584; e-mail lejardinfrenchrestaurant@gmail. com; www.lejardinmanila.net.

For more tips, recipes and stories, visit the author’s blog www.normachikiamco.com and www.facebook.com/normachikiamco.