At the 16th floor of luxury hotel Discovery Primea Makati, a grand “living” chandelier greets diners who enter its newest restaurant, Flame. With a sleek, marble-top open kitchen and a panoramic view of the Metro Manila skyline, the ambiance seems daunting at first.
I had my reservations – Will this be just another pretentious and stiff hotel restaurant? Will customers be paying for the high-end look while eating average-tasting food? Will the menu be overly complicated and overpriced?
It seems that Discovery Primea general manager David Pardo de Ayala, himself a chef-at-heart, was expecting such concerns.
“Sometimes you need a course from Harvard to understand your appetizer. Here you can recognize your food. But there is always an element of surprise, something unexpected and delightful,” he said as he gave a tour of the restaurant, starting from the imposing chandelier with Spanish moss accents.
“We feature European cuisine but with an Asian comfort twist. There are flavors, presentations and concepts that have an Asian flavor to them, but at our core is modern European,” he added.
Take the restaurant’s Asian beef carpaccio, prepared on the spot by Executive Chef Luis Chikiamco, whose culinary career is a continental fusion of Asian and Western cuisine with over a decade of experience in France, Mexico and the Philippines. The classic Italian dish, consisting of thinly sliced Angus beef, is transformed into something very familiar as it pays homage to the Japanese beef tataki. Chikiamco used Thai sriracha chili vinaigrette with sesame oil for a nutty taste and chili oil for an additional kick. He placed dollops of miso dressing made from white miso paste and crab fat, and sprinkled slivers of red onion, wasabi-coated almonds, chopped Thai basil, arugula and microgreens.
Complex appetizer? Definitely. But take a bite and discover how easy it is on the palate.
“It’s something new, a variation, but at the same time it is recognizable and familiar,” said Chikiamco.
For his part, Discovery’s corporate chef Anthony Raymond made an elaborate display of the restaurant’s Porthole infuser where he combined olive oil and white balsamic vinegar with pepper, rosemary, thyme, garlic and slices of lemon. The oil is infused for 48 hours, and is poured on organic, lightly salted butter from Cagayan de Oro.
According to Pardo de Ayala, while each ingredient has a distinct flavor, the careful combination is “the source of great taste and moments of delight.”
“That sense of wonder, surprise and awe is what we hope will make our guests return for more,” he said.
For starters, Flame offers, among others, quezo de bola with glazed ham and asparagus; soft-shelled crab tempura with Saigon herb salad and spicy Remoulade – a French invention that is usually made with aioli or mayonnaise; and the house-smoked duck breast, which is served with pickled Portobello mushrooms, petite greens and Madeira wine balsamic vinaigrette.
The main courses include seared Chilean sea bass paired with Shiitake mushrooms, garlic confit and Madeira mushroom broth; braised US short ribs with celeriac puree, mustard seeds and lightly-flavored ginger-tamarind sauce; and pan-seared foie gras, contrasted with teriyaki eggplant and pickled pears with crunchy nori-tempura flakes.
Guests have several choices for dessert, such as a flourless chocolate cake complemented with homemade pistachio ice cream; caramelized apples in cinnamon puff pastry, and Italian taleggio cheese with mostarda (a traditional offering of candied fruits with mustard from Northern Italy) of apricot and cherry.
Perhaps the best proof in the pride that the restaurant takes in its conscious choice of ingredients and innovative flavors is its hub seating, which brings customers right next to the chefs who prepare their food. “There is no exhaust, so you can really smell all the ingredients. We want our guests to enjoy watching our kitchen in action,” said Pardo de Ayala.
“See, we really are not a steakhouse,” he added in jest, acknowledging that some guests have automatically assumed that Flame is all about grilled meat. “Flame is about a deep respect and understanding of the ingredients. It is that fire in your belly when creating something new. Flame is all about passion.”