Imaginary restaurants
MANILA, Philippines - What if world-renowned cooks and chefs opened here in Manila? It’s a question we tried to answer with the help of our friends over at Pepper.ph. From Ivan Orkin remodeling an MMDA bus to Christina Tosi’s version of our favorite panaderia, we imagined how today’s gods of food would interpret Filipino fare. Fair warning: this may make you crave something that is — so far — impossible.
Ivan Orkin
In 2007, New Yorker Ivan Orkin set out on a seemingly doomed voyage. He opened a ramen shop in Tokyo. Granted, he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and has spent quite a number of years living in Tokyo, but for a foreigner to open his own restaurant, let alone a ramen shop, was foolhardy to say the least. Today, Orkin’s shop Ivan Ramen is considered as one of the best ramen shops in Tokyo and he’s opened four additional stores, two in Japan and two in New York. Not bad for a self-proclaimed “Jewish Kid from Long Island.”
What he’d do in Manila:
Driven by an obsession with noodles, Orkin moves to Philippines and remodels an old MMDA bus, turning it into a food truck. Refusing a paint job and sticking with the MMDA name, he forcibly christens the bus the “Mami-Miki-Dimsum Automobile” and begins roving the streets of Metro Manila, experimenting on different noodle soups while adding dimsum to the mix.
His signature dish:
Orkin combines tsukemen, a type of ramen dish where the noodles are dipped in a concentrated broth before being eaten, with Filipino mami. His batchoy tsukemen is currently in the works.
Ferran Adria
Ferran Adria is not so much a chef as he is an artist. As the head chef of elBulli, he brought about a new era in cooking in the form of deconstruction. He pioneered several techniques such as the use of foam and transforming unusual ingredients into edible pearls (look for his olive oil caviar). His influence extends to this day, which can be seen in today’s top chefs. ElBulli alumni include Rene Redzepi and Grant Achatz.
What he’d do in Manila:
Adria retires from the food industry and decides to move to Poblacion to settle down, relax and spend the rest of his days drinking beer and watching football matches. However, inspired by the neighborhood’s growing food scene, and the nearby red light district, he decides to open a small and well-hidden restaurant in the area where he teaches promising young chefs his techniques.
His signature dish:? He begins brewing his own beer similar to his Inedit beer which he then pairs with a deconstructed balut. For dessert, it’s taho in the form of tofu foam with sugar pearls accompanied by tapioca crisps.
Christina Tosi
Christina Tosi was originally hired by David Chang to write about the food safety plan of Momofuku Noodle Bar. Chang realized her potential and instead hired her to be the pastry chef. At the time, there were no desserts on the menu. She has moved on to running her own division in the Momofuku restaurant group as founding chef of Momofuku Milk Bar. Her most notable creations are the cereal milk ice cream, compost cookies, and crack pie.
What’s she’d do in Manila:
Tosi, on an exploratory trip to Metro Manila, falls in love with the city and decides to stay. She explores several high-end restaurants for work but eventually figures out that she’s better on her own. In her attempt to discover the roots of Filipino baking, she decides to open her own bakeshop in Kamuning called Tina’s Panaderia, which is written on a Coke-sponsored signboard.
Her signature dish:
Tina’s Panaderia creates chaos in Manila as thousands of people line up every morning for her turon pan de regla, mais con yelo spanish bread, and sorbetes pan de sal. She plans to open another shop near Binondo.
Rene Redzepi
From the son of a poor immigrant to head chef and co-owner of Noma, one of the world’s best restaurants, Rene Redzepi is famously known for reinventing Nordic cooking — and, of course, foraging. This understanding of what else can be eaten was a new and refreshing avenue for the industry. So much so that from 2010 to 2012, and again in 2014, Noma was voted the best restaurant in the world by San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best.
What’s he’d do in Manila:
After a storm grounds Redzepi’s plane in Manila, he decides to stay and help in the recovery efforts. He ends up at the La Mesa Watershed Reservation and is blown away (not literally) by the different types of flora. He goes on a crazy tasting experiment, eating every shrub and leaf he can get his hands on. The guards and other relief workers, thinking he’s just hungry, offer him sandwiches. Inspired by his surroundings, he starts his own restaurant in the middle of the reservation.
His signature dish:
A unique type of moss that only grows when the La Mesa dam overflows. It’s similar to dulse, the plant that tastes like bacon. Of course he plates this in the most earthy-looking way, with all kinds of leaves and flowers. Typical Redzepi.
Virgilio Martinez
Heading the spread of Peruvian cuisine, Virgilio Martinez is the top dog of Centrale Restaurante, which is currently at number one in Latin America’s 50 Best list — number four in the World’s 50 Best. Martinez is known for taking Peruvian ingredients to the extreme, even working with professionals and scientists on expeditions to discover new ingredients in the Andes and the Amazon.
What he’d do in Manila:
After his Madrid Fusion stint in Manila, which includes his dinner at Vask, the quiet and low-key Martinez goes missing. A month later, he is seen on Mount Pulag, living with the locals and exploring new ingredients. He starts a restaurant near the top of the mountain and creates a strong clientele among climbers. He even creates copies of his high-altitude potatoes, which taste different since Pulag’s altitude is less than half of those found in Peru.
His signature dish:
Adapting the techniques of the Ibaloi, Martinez draws from the Peruvian dish cuy (guinea pig), and serves up mummified mountain rat — similar to — with edible bamboo shoots. It’s a must-try for climbers. Art by Shy Cabajar
