The partners behind Bolero are bringing their tastes, Michelin experience, and design ethos right in the center of Manila’s dining scene
Bolero. It’s a slow, sensual dance in Spain. It can also refer to a woman’s short top with long sleeves that traces its inspiration from the embellished short jacket Spanish bullfighters wear in the bullring. In the Philippines, it has come to mean a sweet talking man—one who you want to believe in but aren’t sure is telling the truth.
Now, Bolero is also the newest restaurant in Bonifacio Global City that serves beautiful plates of food and slices of a legendary cheesecake.
With previous experience operating restaurants, architect and Bolero co-founder Felipe Díaz de Miranda felt like destiny played a part when he attended a wedding in Marbella, Spain.
“I didn’t know anyone at the wedding because I was only the plus one. I got to talk to the groom and he told me that he wanted to go to the Philippines for their honeymoon.”
The groom was lawyer-turned-chef Fernando Alcalá whose restaurant Kava was added to and recognized in the Michelin Guide 2020 as a Bib Gourmand restaurant and made quite a name for himself.
“We clicked right away and we talked and talked. He told me how he was getting tired about how the food scene in Spain was overwhelming. The level was set so high that sometimes it wasn’t about good food anymore and it was more of a show,” Díaz de Miranda recounts.
“[Fernando Alcalá] told me how he was getting tired about how the food scene in Spain was overwhelming. The level was set so high that sometimes it wasn’t about good food anymore and it was more of a show,” Felipe Díaz de Miranda recounts.
“He loves simple things that are good, well-cooked. He’s very elegant when it comes to his cuisine, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s balanced. He just wants people to enjoy the food and to surprise you a bit.”
During Alcalá’s honeymoon in the Philippines, Díaz de Miranda wooed him some more to open up a restaurant in BGC.
“This was like the theory of the red cars. If I asked you how many red cars did you see today, you probably wouldn’t know. But if I told you beforehand to count all the red cars you see, you’re for sure going to see some. Fernando and I were both looking for red cars that day we met. It wasn’t random. I was ready for something to happen. He was comfortable in Spain but I felt like he was also looking for something to happen.”
“I told him, ‘I’m serious. I can get a great spot for the restaurant. I have knowledge in running a restaurant.’”
Together with their third partner Luis de Isasa Muñoz—who handles the bar and the events at the restaurant—the three founders would find balance in their partnership. As the architect of the group, Díaz de Miranda was tasked to come up with the design of the restaurant. When it came to deciding whether to line the windows with a mesh curtain, he had a heavier opinion.
“That’s the good thing about having business partners, you can have someone to make the call. For instance, I don’t want three of us to vote about the food. Fernando should make that call. If Fernando says something is good, his vote should count more than my vote. That’s what I truly believe,” he says.
“Sometimes people take the majority opinion as the most valid one, but sometimes it’s not. I respect and listen to my partners. And they respect and listen to me about the design. In the end, someone has to make the call.”
“When Felipe said that he listens and respects his business partners, he does the same thing to partners like us,” says Design for Tomorrow (DFT) creative director Ric Gindap who was tapped to conceptualize and execute Bolero’s tongue-in-cheek branding.
“They have a specific vision in mind, but when you counter with an argument about, let’s say technicality or choices, they will listen, they will assess, and they will always find a way to say ‘ok we love this, we don’t love these.’ That clarity is very important to us.”
A suite of visual assets made by DFT express the spirit of the Bolero brand—Dali’s surrealist painting of a melting clock matches the edges of a sunny side egg, an elegant pearl necklace continues on to be a link of sausages, or a vintage artwork of a man with a gramophone for a head has pulpo for his tie. This place doesn’t take itself too seriously but you can expect good food and a good time.
Although Bolero is led by a Spanish chef, don’t expect traditional Spanish food like paellas and croquetas. Modern European cuisine fills the menu with colorful plating of food fit for fine dining.
The skipjack tuna features handsome slices of partly grilled tuna on a neat layer of chilled almond cream speckled with yellow and orange and topped with sliced grapes and salmon roe. The pork dumplings may seem Asian, but a bite into it will transport you to Southern Spain with a moorish, smoked spicy tomato sauce.
A crowd pleaser is the Iberian pork chop grilled to perfection that starts with the sweetness of bacon and continues on with flavorful bursts of umami.
“We love the word bolero in the Philippines. We know it’s on the dangerous edge, like you don’t want your husband to be a bolero for instance. That’s why there’s a red line on our logo because this,” Felipe gestures to the plates of food on the table, “is not bola bola. The food here is as good as we say. We’re not boleros.”
And you must not leave without trying what Bolero calls “Spain’s Best Cheesecake.” Alcalá’s recipe is so creamy that the slice oozes with mascarpone and other varieties of cheese, and delights with a toasted top. Apparently Spain takes its cheesecakes (or tarta de queso) seriously and actually has a National Championship of Cheesecakes, which Alcalá won in 2019.
Bolero aims to elevate casual dining or make fine dining food more accessible. “We want to show that casual dining can also be interesting and have surprises and flavors and great presentation,” says Díaz de Miranda. “Also the price point is not scary. Our goal is really to give good food at the right price.”
And if you’re wondering why there’s a red line striking out the word Bolero in their logo, Díaz de Miranda flashes a cheeky smile on his face.
“We love the word bolero in the Philippines. We know it’s on the dangerous edge, like you don’t want your husband to be a bolero for instance. That’s why there’s a red line on our logo because this,” Felipe gestures to the plates of food on the table, “is not bola bola. The food here is as good as we say. We’re not boleros.”