Sage is the newest double-floor restaurant in the Makati Shangri-la. A menu filled with dishes of European cuisine, a relaxing ambience, the signature hospitality of the Shangri-la staff, and urbane interiors – it may seem a bit romanticized to combine all these together, but to our surprise, they delivered more than what we expected.
An experienced culinary artist from the South of France, chef Gilles Galli has brought his expertise from Grasse to Manila. Being the Frenchman that he is, Galli loves his salt, but practicing his art here meant adapting to local preference. “Filipinos, they like their food sweet. In the beginning, I liked to put rock salt on everything. I got a lot of complaints. I took off the salt; no more complaints.”
But another thing that sets Sage apart from the other restaurants in the hotel is that it is the only restaurant that makes use of a Josper Grill, a one-of-a-kind machine that functions as both an oven and a stove to better infuse ingredients and keep flavors intact. The Japanese spiced hamachi fillet, the chef’s personal favorite, is a must-try. The thin, feathery slices of fish melt in your mouth, while the barley salad provide a strong contrast. For the dessert lover, the milk chocolate mille-feuille is a delight for the taste buds. The light taste of mousse disappears almost instantly, making way for the chocolate to seep in. Just when you start thinking the chocolate is enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, out comes the delicate mango finish.
Read more about Sage in the May 2014 issue of Inquirer RED.