You may think you’ve stumbled into a South American ultra-haute cuisine lab, or some outlying Latin American episode of Chef’s Table, when you visit Alegria Manila at Uptown Parade, BGC. But don’t be puzzled by what seem like twigs or soil on your plate; chef Charles Montañez, who is also one of the owners of this Latin American-Filipino fusion restaurant put up by Grupo Alegria, knows exactly where he’s going with his tasting menus.
With several bars, cafés and cantinas on the Manila map already, Montañez swings for the fences here with a signature restaurant (designed in his own dream-theme, neo-noir purple by Amanda Brodett of Huephoria Interiors), and five-, seven- and 16-course tasting menus that really are like no other on the local food scene.
First, it’s a cross-cultural journey, borrowing many of its wood-fired techniques from South America (in particular, the Argentinian parrilla, or open-fire grill with grates); second, these methods are applied to local flavors and dishes in innovative ways.
“I’ve always liked Latin food,” Montañez says. “It incorporates the European discipline and has the explosive flavors and umami of Asian dishes.”
Trained at the International School for Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management (ISCAHM) and the Global Culinary and Hospitality Academy in the Philippines, with stints at Ibiza in BGC, Movenpick Hotel in Cebu and various restaurants in Singapore, Montañez opened the first iteration of Alegria Manila in BGC in 2017, opening several more restaurants after that. Last year, he and his partners, sous chef Gilbert Borja, pastry chef Chico Orcine and head bartender Cholo Valencia opened Alegria Singapore, which Montañez manages remotely.
“I worked under a Puerto Rican chef who was half-Jamaican,” recalls the chef. “I learned a lot about Latin American culture.”
Alegria is all about the Filipino-South/Latin American-fusion tasting menu, where you can choose five, seven, or the full course of 16 dishes. We had the full-course, of course, starting with cocktails, and proceeded to embark upon a culinary journey through Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela by way of the Philippines.
Montañez opens with Infladita (Inflated), a masa tortilla balloon stuffed with parrilla-smoked mushrooms and topped with crunchy “soil” made from the trimmings. One bite and it explodes with flavor, in which you can taste earth, fire and smoke — a great starter that epitomizes the Alegria philosophy.
It’s accompanied by Pao de Quiejo, which emulates Brazilian cheese bread.
“It’s gray because of the huitlacoche, like a type of corn smut or fungus, regarded as the Mexican truffle,” notes the chef. “We put quesillo cheese and shaved winter truffle on top.”
This duo, with its explosive flavors, sets the tone for the rest of the meal, in which the chef likes serving the dishes in pairs because “they complement each other.”
Inihaw na Talaba (grilled oyster) focuses on kinilaw (ceviche) flavors with the addition of a cornick a nice textural surprise, accompanied by
Dinuguang Sinuglaw, a dinuguan cup filled with grilled pork and fish, topped with salmon roe and shoestring potatoes. The latter and the Okoy Tostada boasted enjoyable textures and complex, savory flavors.
Alegria sources its ingredients from suppliers both local and overseas: Mexican ingredients, for example, are shipped in every three months.
Next comes Piyanggang Coxinha, a Brazilian croquette that resembles a House of the Dragon egg on the plate, coated with Pampanga itum, or charred coconut meat — not the usual fried breadcrumbs. “We smoked the coconut, made it into a dough, and stuffed the chicken stew inside.”
Even with the Pinoy fusions, we’re tasting many of these flavors for the first time; Therese’s only encounter with South American food was when chef Virgilio Martinez came to Manila for Madrid Fusion in 2016, and introduced ingredients like huitlacoche. Aside from that, this is all new to us, but that’s part of the fun, as well as Montañez’s visually arresting presentations.
One of our favorites was the Ilocos Empanada Birria, filled with longganisa (he prepared pescatarian versions for Therese), green papaya, and quesillo. Wrapped in a mustard-leaf tortilla, dipped in a smoky consommé and chased by a spoonful of salted-egg mousse, this was deliciously innovative and interactive.
Elote followed — Baguio strawberries and hot peppers are smoked on the parrilla before being made into a sweet and spicy glaze the chefs brush on Cordilleran baby corn while still in their husks. The seasoned baby corn is then cooked on the grill with puffed quinoa to simulate its kernels.
“Since learning wood-firing, I love it, I don’t want to do any other type of procedure,” Montañez enthuses. He uses santol, kamias and apple wood, and a special Japanese charcoal, binch?-tan, that has a hole in the middle. The pressure gives it a higher temperature.
A tribute to corn, Nicuatole — grilled maja blanca with mais foam, popcorn and corn caviar — provided a sweet entremets in between the savory courses.
“My favorite ingredient is corn because you can do so much with it,” the chef informs us.
Another highlight for us was the Squid-Silog, stuffed squid with wood-fired rice, sofrito de calamar, egg yolk and bonito. Its intense umami reminded us of paella negra made creamier with the yolk confit.
The Alegria version of kare-kare sports deep wood-fired flavors — the pork slice abed a flor de calabaza and almond puree, peanuts and roasted squash; the base is salsa XO, from Veracruz, Mexico, similar to baby shrimp, adding an enhanced bagoong flavor, more umami than you’d expect from this Filipino dish, but balanced with flowers and greens for a satisfying taste journey.
T
hen came a trio of desserts: Champorado Brigadeiro with pinipig and dilis on top; Sundot Kulangot, a dark-chocolate truffle filled with caramel and kalamay; and Banana QT, a twist on the traditional banana-cue with banana cake, mousse and chips.
Throughout, the menu plays with textures, colors, variations, preparing the same ingredients different ways.
We ended the meal with halo-halo, a modern take on the beloved dessert with its frozen pebbles of milk ice cream.
A lot of chef Montañez’s dishes have survived over a long time, from earlier menus. “We had a lot of time to research and develop the dishes; we didn’t know which to pick for this menu,” he says. He narrowed it down to “dishes I really like to eat.”
This gustatory adventure showed us that Montañez has the confidence, brashness, creativity, and talent to back up the grand overall scheme of Alegria Manila. The restaurant is already attracting a younger, well-heeled crowd eager to try flavors they’ve never had before, traveling via their taste buds to a side of the world Pinoys don’t often get to experience.
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Alegria Manila is located at Retail 9, GF Uptown Parade, 9th Avenue and 38th Street, BGC, Taguig. Open Tuesdays to Sundays for dinner (closed Mondays) from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., for reservations, private events and other inquiries, contact 0956-834-8677 or email reservations.alegriamnl@gmail.com . Follow on FB and IG @alegriamnl.