A string of new openings, menu expansions, and course offerings continue to send waves in the industry. And while not everything seems back to normal, considering the tight economic pressure businesses face, these brands are showing grit and heart to reward Filipino consumers with new experiential opportunities for ultimate satisfaction.
White Plains diner comes on strong with value-driven dining in BGC
If there is one important lesson to be learned from Tara! Filipino Diner’s expansion from its original White Plains location to its new outpost in BGC, it’s that getting back to basics doesn’t mean compromising on creativity.
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Because in today’s high-cost environment where inflation spikes faster than wages increase, consumer spending becomes strategic. When it comes to dining out, it means favoring affordability and experiences that are actually worth the money.
It’s a quandary that Millie de Luna-Daluz, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, and Datu Shariff Pendatun—founders of Aluyan Food Group, the mother company behind Tara! Filipino Diner—navigate with purpose in how the diner manages to be both familiar (referencing neighborhood carinderias and local eateries) and innovative (with chief culinary officer Datu Shariff Pendatun’s myriad twists) at the same time.
Their personal brief illustrates this well: to build a brunch place they wished they had growing up. Somewhere familiar enough to become a regular haunt, but playful enough to keep surprising you.
More than just a White Plains replica, Tara! Filipino Diner BGC takes its signatures—the trendy, ultra-thick Party Purple Pancake; The Big Brekky and its trifecta of tapa, tocino bacon, and longganisa; and Belgian champorado—and improves on the menu with burgers, bowls, cocktails, and craft coffee that follow the same quality, consistency, and presentation.
The brand also invests in guest experience through nostalgia, referencing long-standing Filipino favorites such as Dynamite, seen in the standout Firecrackers (a formidable twist in which sisig is filled inside a lumpia wrapper, then spiced with green chili, cheese, and garlic aioli), and Jollibee’s Amazing Aloha Yumburger with their reinterpreted Manila Piña Burger upgraded with a brioche bun, a slice of charred pineapple, and a “secret” sauce.
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Humor appears heavily on the menu, too, with items such as Lucky Me Popcorn (yes, with pancit canton seasoning), coffee specials Flat White Rabbit and Spanish Bread Latte, and a Chocnut Mudslide cocktail.
On the surface, such conceptual nods can appear like marketing bait, but thanks to Pendatun’s deft hands honed as a corporate chef at Unilever and then as development chef for Asia Pacific at Kerry Ingredients and Flavors, the menu delivers on its promise of food that moves comfortably—from breakfast to lunch, merienda, dinner, and after-work drinks that are unmistakably Filipino in their flavors, references, humor, and sense of hospitality.
Tara! Filipino Diner is located at G/F, Tower 1, Avida Towers Turf, 9th Avenue corner Lane S, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, and is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Champagne Room expands a la carte menu
As the year approaches one of the most awaited seasons, the Champagne Room at The Manila Hotel turns its attention to its a la carte menu and amplifies its appeal for fine lunches and dinners.
“The new dishes are designed to stay true to the distinct Champagne Room experience while giving our guests something new to discover,” says The Manila Hotel’s executive chef Konrad Walter. “We wanted to bring together familiar favorites and a few dishes with a sense of occasion, so every course feels special from the first bite to the last.”
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Shaping the menu is an array of starters, mains, grilled proteins, and desserts, with a couple of dishes sweeping customers with a theatrical tableside presentation.
The enhancements are elegant and conveniently reflect the Old European grandeur of the room. New starters such as the New Zealand half-shell mussels baked with Parmesan and herbs deliver layers of briny, nutty, salty, and savory flavors.
Variety, meanwhile, is on offer in the mains category—from a gindara in miso butter sauce to a beef stroganoff flambéed tableside before being served. The Surf and Turf, which brings products of the earth (Angus striploin) and the sea (salmon) on one plate, is perfectly complementary and comes in relatively hefty portions.
Meanwhile, the grill menu features USDA beef tenderloin, kurobuta pork loin steak, lapu-lapu fillet, and pampano—making room for customers maximizing their protein intake.
Dessert concludes the affair with a fiery mango flambé, finished with coconut rum and served with buko ice cream and pili nuts. Elsewhere, a crème brûlée with berries and a warm chocolate lava cake add a significant amount of sweetness to its upgraded repertoire.
Champagne Room is open Mondays to Saturdays for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 pm. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. For inquiries, call +632 8527 0011 or +632 5301 5500, email [email protected], or visit www.manila-hotel.com.ph
Le Cordon Bleu launches six-month bread-baking diploma in Manila
The next batch of talented Filipino professional bakers might just come from Le Cordon Bleu Ateneo de Manila Institute, as classes begin for the inaugural batch of the Diplôme de Boulangerie in the last quarter of the year.
This marks the first time Le Cordon Bleu’s professional French bread-baking diploma will be taught in the Philippines. In six months, students will be trained in the full range of French boulangerie—from the baguette and the croissant to natural sourdough and decorated showpieces. Classes are held in the Institute’s professional kitchens at Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, and are limited to 16 students per batch.
“Bread is a living craft, guided by technique and passion,” says chef Régis Doré, the Institute’s boulangerie chef instructor. “My students will work the dough with their own hands every day. By the end, they will understand why a loaf turns out the way it does, and they will be able to do it again tomorrow.”
The diploma runs in two three-month levels:
Basic Boulangerie: covers bread fundamentals, equipment and hygiene; French flours, kneading and fermentation methods; baguettes, traditional and specialty breads; viennoiserie such as croissants and petits pains; and shaping, scoring and decoration.
Advanced Boulangerie: covers levain and natural sourdough; poolish, long and controlled fermentation; aroma development and specialty flours; decorated showpieces and buffet presentation; and advanced viennoiserie.
“Filipinos have always loved their bread, from pandesal at dawn to the new artisan bakeries opening across the metro,” says Liza Hernandez-Morales, institute director of Le Cordon Bleu Ateneo de Manila Institute. “The Diplôme de Boulangerie gives aspiring bakers, career changers, and working professionals the same training Le Cordon Bleu students receive around the world, without leaving Manila.”
