At their kitchen takeover at Dumbo in Poblacion, Hannah Locsin and Jaysen Clifft curate Brooklyn and Manila food culture on a plate with a side of local aspirations
“So what does a perfect plate look like to you?”
In my head, it’s a question that can be answered in a multitude of ways, but the distinct responses of On the Plate (OTP) Brooklyn’s Jaysen Clifft and Hannah Locsin signal the kind of gastronomic experience they espouse.
“Personally it should have a lot of meaning to it but it’s really about the influence. It comes from the cuisine because it’s specific to what it means to a lot of people and to what kind of liking someone may have,” says Clifft.
For Locsin, meanwhile, it comes down to balance of flavors. “When I think about how we create a dish, we’re always thinking about texture. Do we want crunchy or smooth or serve soup or sauces? And then [we ask] is it too sweet, too sour, too salty, too acidic?”
The collaboration dubbed Boroughs and Bites is the first in a series of events from dual-concept space Scratch and Dumbo and the first opportunity for Clifft and Locsin to introduce OTP Brooklyn to Manila diners
Perhaps it’s partly owing to the New York City-based couple’s philosophy of balance that seems to permeate seamlessly across their endeavors, choices, and even life principles that the talented Hawaii-born chef and chic model and event curator seem unfazed by the biting frenzy behind their two-night takeover at Dumbo in Poblacion.
Sure, the idea of balance in foodservice isn’t revolutionary but they claim it to such a degree that is completely authentic to them that despite the whirlwind surrounding their pop-up, Clifft and Locsin seem to be that calm center of the storm.
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“We just finalized the menu Tuesday night,” confesses Clifft, adding that he only came into the kitchen for the first time on Thursday to navigate teamwork with the Dumbo staff and get a feel for the workflow for the Friday and Saturday events.
The collaboration dubbed Boroughs and Bites is the first in a series of events from dual-concept space Scratch and Dumbo and the first opportunity for Clifft and Locsin to introduce OTP Brooklyn to Manila diners.
You could also call this event a stroke of serendipity. “In November, we both knew we were coming home. And I would inject Jaysen [with the idea that] maybe we should do a pop-up in Manila,” says Locsin. But after a slew of corporate events left them exhausted, the couple ditched the idea—until Dumbo’s Marco Viray invited them over for a pop-up.
“We found it very fitting. Where we live it’s not exactly Dumbo but it’s the same neighborhood. If we were going to do our first pop-up in Manila, it kind of still connects to what we do here in New York,” says Hannah Locsin
“And I was like, Oh my God,” exclaims Locsin. “We found it very fitting. Where we live it’s not exactly Dumbo but it’s the same neighborhood. If we were going to do our first pop-up in Manila, it kind of still connects to what we do here in New York.”
For Clifft, it’s also a full-circle moment who, six years ago, previously worked in the kitchen of the now-defunct Japanese Scandinavian sake bar Yoi down the block on Fermina.
“I told myself at one point, I’m going to come back here and cook.”
Only the beginning for OTP Brooklyn
Whereas the Dumbo takeover feels like everything falling into place, the journey to putting the pieces of OTP Brooklyn together was anything but. As early as 2023, the pair was keen on finally getting their brand off the ground but illness forced Clifft and Locsin to postpone their passion project.
“I had to go on this other kind of journey for a whole year that was not cooking,” shares Clifft. “But then I realized, after I got sick, that cooking was a big part of what I still wanted to do… and not to say that being sick was a good pivotal point in my life, but it definitely helped me with the way I navigate around my job.”
Currently a tournant at New American restaurant The Noortwyck, Clifft not only balances his time between his day job and OTP Brooklyn with Locsin, but he’s also taken it upon himself to weave some of his finest cooking moments centered on shared experiences with people—whether family, friends, or strangers.
“I feel like when you have something that’s really memorable, it’s usually around other people, and that’s what we wanted to circle around,” says Jaysen Clifft
“I feel like when you have something that’s really memorable, it’s usually around other people, and that’s what we wanted to circle around,” says the chef who also formerly worked at Michelin star restaurants such as Hong Kong’s Amber and Aska and Crown Shy in New York.
“And that’s something we both agreed on,” echoes Locsin. “We like our experiences more when it’s not just about the food, when it’s also about the environment, design, music, vibe, and service.”
Stepping up to the plate
On the first night of their takeover, all of these were on full display as they revealed eight dishes that were not just enjoyable but also exuded flashes of nonchalant confidence, experiential gestures that typify the OTP Brooklyn attitude, and a taster if and when they become a fixture in the Manila dining scene in the future.
“We want it to be very approachable,” Clifft says. “I used to work in fine dining and it was a lot of detail, which I like, but at some point food just got lost and I feel sometimes it really should just be simple, where people come back to the simplicity of the produce. But it should be well-thought-of at the same time.”
“I used to work in fine dining and it was a lot of detail, which I like, but at some point food just got lost and I feel sometimes it really should just be simple, where people come back to the simplicity of the produce”
Making the biggest splash on the menu is their trademark tuna ceviche—a favorite from their previous pop-ups and a personal homage to their roots. Fresh, bite-sized tuna cubes bathe in a coconut vinaigrette then mixed in with mangoes (“Because we’re in the Philippines,” says Clifft) and crisp petite potatoes give it the impression that this pretty take on kinilaw is an ocean on its own with flavors of the sea lapping up the bounties of the land.
They then deliver a punchy collaboration burger where Clifft slathers an aromatic blue cheese aioli and caramelized onions over Scratch’s double smashed patty. A side of furikake fries serves as an ode to Clifft’s Hawaiian roots—which he plays up once again in the excellently cooked lapu-lapu katsu. Sitting elegantly on a creamy sesame cabbage slaw akin to how New York’s autumn foliage falls delicately on the ground, the katsu is deceptively simple but a dazzling array of flavors from the wasabi aioli, unagi, and furikake make this taste more like a burst of Hawaiian summer.
The spice-rubbed roasted pork belly burns bright not only because Jaysen Clifft created “almost like a lechon kawali” but also played on the well-loved Mang Tomas sauce
The spice-rubbed roasted pork belly burns bright not only because Clifft created “almost like a lechon kawali” but also played on the well-loved Mang Tomas sauce. “So it’s a mushroom purée mixed with black garlic, a little bit of soy sauce to give that kind of tangy umami and a little bit of coconut sugar for sweetness.”
Elsewhere, the Green Goddess Romaine Salad (a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich in salad form with green apples and Parmesan) and NYC-style Halal Cart Chicken and Rice (shawarma spiced chicken quarter) wander down the rabbit hole of New York City’s street food staples. “We wanted to use that as the essence of what inspires the menu here,” explains Clifft.
When it comes to the final stretch of the menu, Locsin’s desserts are energetic additions to the city-inspired lineup. Her ode to the traditional Brooklyn Blackout cake is a deconstructed triple whammy of salted dark chocolate pudding, dark chocolate ganache, and chocolate cookie crumble—that we finished in literal minutes—to form a pillowy mound. It’s rich but not overwhelming despite the chocolate melange and, to quote Locsin, it really is “a cute little thing.” Which is also an apt reaction to the Big Apple apple pie served with warm spices like cinnamon and cardamom and vanilla ice cream.
Hannah Locsin’s ode to the traditional Brooklyn Blackout cake is a deconstructed triple whammy of salted dark chocolate pudding, dark chocolate ganache, and chocolate cookie crumble—that we finished in literal minutes—to form a pillowy mound
“That’s something I’ve already done so many times,” says Locsin. “Just in a smaller version. So my dad will be very happy to see that on the menu.”
For the love of plates
It’s easy to ship the one true pairing of OTP Brooklyn and Dumbo but it’s also fascinating to see how far the canon of Clifft and Locsin have taken them from their Cobble Hill apartment to their Margot pop-up and eventually to Dumbo in Poblacion.
They seem to have cracked the one-time password of making private dinings and pinworthy pop-ups successful based on the idea of a plate and the possibilities a circular food vessel can hold. In any restaurant, the most common factor you will always have is a plate in front of you but “you never know what’s going to be on the plate,” explains Locsin.
They seem to have cracked the one-time password of making private dinings and pinworthy pop-ups successful based on the idea of a plate and the possibilities a circular food vessel can hold
Sure, you would have an understanding of the cuisine a place serves but it’s not until you sit down and sink into the space, absorb the domain, and be swept away by the offerings or run adrift with the chef that you see the self-portrait of a restaurant on a plate.
“It always comes with what we want to introduce,” says Clifft about letting the plate be the anchor to the surprise.
I suppose it also helps that they both love plates.
“I honestly think we’re huge fans of plates,” Clifft laughs as he confirms this fact.
“Yeah we’re always looking at plates,” chimes in Locsin. “Like where did this come from?”
I remembered this moment at the end of the dinner and responded to them in my head: “From somewhere overtly personal, Jaysen and Hannah.” That is what’s on your plates: something endearingly personal, down-to-earth, and always expressive.
