Together with Miramar’s Paco Pérez, Barcino celebrated its 20 years in the F&B business with a soulful exploration of the sea

So how do you celebrate 20 years in the Philippine food and beverage industry?

If you’re Barcino, you distill it in 12 dishes with no less than esteemed chef Paco Pérez who has a total of five Michelin stars under his belt across Miramar (the heart and soul of his vocation), the modern Mediterranean restaurant Enoteca in Barcelona’s Hotel Arts, and Arco in Gdansk, Poland.

A massive milestone like this is no small feat, after all. Beating out the tapas and wine bar competition, bucking an unprecedented pandemic problem, and defying the industry’s fairly high failure rate are, frankly, signs of a cultural food icon more than just a cult food favorite.

“It has been quite a journey, made even more meaningful by the trust and support we have been privileged to rely on as we charted Barcino’s growth” say Matteo, Lucas, and Maria Lorenzo of RestaurantConcepts Group, Inc.

“It has been quite a journey, made even more meaningful by the trust and support we have been privileged to rely on as we charted Barcino’s growth” write Matteo, Lucas, and Maria Lorenzo of RestaurantConcepts Group, Inc. on the special menu-meets-compendium chronicling Barcino’s story, Pérez’s approach to reimagining tradition, and the two culinary forces’ fleeting yet permanent legacy in Manila.

A sea change

Across three days from Oct. 18 to 20 and representing two Michelin star restaurant Miramar, the experimental yet romantic chef made Manila his personal playground as he gladly took over Barcino’s beautiful S Maison branch and gave discerning Filipinos a taste of the wild coast.

“We didn’t want to do a fusion,” says Pérez. “We wanted to bring a piece of our home here and the way we work, the way we do stuff for the people that can’t travel there, so they can try it.”

“We didn’t want to do a fusion,” says Paco Pérez. “We wanted to bring a piece of our home here and the way we work, the way we do stuff for the people that can’t travel there, so they can try it.”

The kitchen takeover is also a preliminary changing of the tides for Barcino whose transformation is bound to become a progressive journey towards a refreshed identity.

Though his beloved “sea and mountain” concept isn’t an enigma to Filipinos given the shared topographies of Pérez’s hometown and the Philippines, there is a lot to love about and discover in the chef’s vibrant take on a “sealand” tasting menu.

“There are some dishes from this year, last year, and a few years back,” says Pérez about his presentation. “We have to think about [how] to create a good menu and adapt it here to the concept.”

Staples of the Miramar menu

It’s plain to see that Pérez had a ball with Barcino.

The Miramar magic began upon sitting on the table with a glass ant (symbolizing teamwork) resting atop a square mirror coaster, as if foreshadowing Pérez’s enchanting culinary imagination, exquisite respect for ingredients, and versatility in “generating happiness for the diner who sits at his table.”

Referencing his body of work—particularly from the Marroire’24 La mar d’Amunt—Pérez showcased the depths of his experience as a chef in Catalonia and his steady ingenious energy.

Referencing his body of work—particularly from the Marroire’24 La mar d’Amunt—Paco Pérez showcased the depths of his experience as a chef in Catalonia and his steady ingenious energy.

His opening salvo consists of three appetizing bites that came in like a tsunami. Aptly labeled “three waves of the sea,” the 12-hour sous-vide abalón, blue and brown crab blend on a tempura-like crisp, and a “sea taco” made with koji-cured scallop and seaweed oil before wrapping it in Indian cress, all established Pérez’s intent to transport Filipinos to Miramar and he did so in progressive steps (from the buttery and salty abalone and salty-sweet crabs with tinges of richness to the briny yet slightly sweet scallop taco).

One of the items from his Marroire’24 La mar d’Amunt tasting menu follows suit and while it’s called the “emptiness” caviar, it is anything but as it mines the flavors of lyophilized (freeze-dried) almonds in a hollow meringue-like dome pastry and caviar in a feel-good butter form and a healthy dollop of actual Oscietra caviar on top. For as stark as its moniker is, the mouthfeel is joyous and jam-packed with creamy textures and mild flourishes that draw inspiration from the night’s theme.

“When you are creating a menu, you have to think in the whole. When you see a movie, it’s like all the moments and discussions. All the small things pull the whole together and it creates the experience as one,” says Pérez.

“When you are creating a menu, you have to think in the whole. When you see a movie, it’s like all the moments and discussions. All the small things pull the whole together and it creates the experience as one,” says Paco Pérez.

Soon enough, it clicks: You understand that Pérez is now slowly floating you up to the shallower and perhaps into more tropical waters, too. A lomo y ventresca de atún (tuna loin and belly) on a creamy “sea” of almonds and caviar emerges next and when you swoop in to catch it, you taste the other side of the flavor showcase—a crunchy koji rice, caramelized butter, and tuna roe garum all enhancing the effect.

From there, it’s a series of bangers. Pérez’s memories of Asia is buoyed by a beautifully light king prawn curry with a glass-like coconut water jelly, textured coconut milk, and shrimp heads essence while the lobster bolognese—that utilizes the whole crustacean—retains its tender, meaty texture amid tomatoes, chives, coriander, and shiso for two of the most successful courses of the night, ultimately winning Filipinos over for their fully-realized gastronomic heft.

The end of the grand collaboration begs the question many might have thought of from the start: What is the most appropriate way to preserve food traditions but also continue to drive innovation?

Elsewhere, a thinly sliced pulpo almost romantically blankets a mound of creamy rice with squid ink oil, nora (Spanish dried pepper) oil and powdered laurencia (a type of algae), then a grilled sea cucumber (espardenya) staggers forward as the blank canvas for the liberal pil pil sauce made of truffle miso, fermented hazelnuts, and a crispy skin of the espardenya itself.

The last of the savory dishes simply called “Portobello” sees the menu going inland where Pérez creates his own mille-feuille using layers of portobello interspersed between a lovely truffle yolk and portobello butter then spiked with green pine cone honey—it’s a dish that’s begging to be picked up and bitten into.

Making a soft landing as well are the desserts that finally cranked up the flavors and textures of the forest. First is a coconut-focused bowl featuring  coconut foam, coconut ice cream, and coconut toffee with just a hint of chocolate that when eaten together jolts you out of any lingering fullness.  It’s the same feeling the chocolate ice cream “rock” gives, thanks to its chocolate ganache and cloud of cacao bean skin that Pérez calls a fake meringue.

The coast is clear

The end of the grand collaboration begs the question many might have thought of from the start: What is the most appropriate way to preserve food traditions but also continue to drive innovation?

Pérez, in his enduring years in the industry, answered this with each plate that came out of the Barcino kitchen.

“What we now have as tradition was once a vanguard too,” he explains. “So it’s like keeping that line of growing and creating new things, and keeping the things that are good. We are both tradition and innovation, one cannot exist without the other.”

It’s this outpouring of childlike wisdom that has enabled both Pérez and Barcino to continue to galvanize their respective positions in the Philippines and Spain.

“What we now have as tradition was once a vanguard too,” Paco Pérez explains. “So it’s like keeping that line of growing and creating new things, and keeping the things that are good. We are both tradition and innovation, one cannot exist without the other.”

And as playful as this illustrious intersection of two coasts is, everyone is reminded of how Pérez and Barcino have proven that eschewing personal limits in their collaboration is key to both having a darn good time in the kitchen and making a strong statement about permanence in the industry.

In short, never forsaking that child within.

“When you are a kid, the way of thinking is like you want [to go] beyond, you want more, you don’t have those restrictions you have as an adult,” Pérez says. “But you also have to be a good chef. It’s good to have constants in your work, to be strong, to have creativity.”