Azzurro’s Mediterranean flavors come to Ortigas

More than a year after Azzurro Bistro and Wine Bar opened its restaurant at Glorietta 4, it has carved a niche for its innovative take on classic Mediterranean dishes. This month, it is opening another branch at the SM Megamall Megastrip to further spread its gospel of casual dining.

Proprietor Sheila B. Romero believes Azzurro Too!, the SM Megamall Megastrip branch, will complement the Makati outlet by focusing on the largely untapped weekend family market. It will also introduce a delicatessen to provide diners with additional gourmet options.

"I’ve received so many offers for franchises, but I really wanted to take it slow and sure," says Romero. "I didn’t want to compromise on what we had to offer."

The new Azzuro outlet has been planned to provide diners with the ambience of a French sidewalk café but equipped with the trimmings of a luxury restaurant.

A more expansive dining area will be dressed up like a contemporary trattoria. The deli counter will be offering cheeses, breads, sausages and sauces. To cater to the needs of busy executives and office workers, it will be serving breakfast. And to live up to its wine bar appellation, it will carry a well-stocked bar, as in the Makati branch, with bottles of fine wine arranged in rows beside the deli.

Aside from the bigger dining area and the French sidewalk ambience, Azzurro Too! will have 85 percent of the items available in the Makati branch, as well as additional dishes, such as paella and pasta dishes, suitable for dining families.

For chef patron Philip Golding, the highlight of Azzurro Too! will be the kitchen. With its bigger floor area and showroom-type equipment, the Ortigas restaurant the kitchen crew can have more elbow room. All the equipment will also be set on wheels so that they can be moved around easily.

Golding says he has been working intently on the plan of the restaurant’s kitchen for the past months. When we met with him, he confesses to have already touched up the kitchen lay-out 15 times.

"Not so many people in the Philippines know how to make kitchens," he admits. He adds that showcase kitchens only became a reality in the Philippines when big restaurant franchises from abroad came to Manila a few years ago.

The bigger space has also given him room to be diner-friendly. A glass window will enable guests to see Golding and his staff prepare their orders.

While the concept behind the new Azzuro branch remains consistent with the Makati outlet, Golding says the Ortigas branch is envisioned to operate as a mid-range brasserie.

"People still do not want to wait for their food," he admits. Likewise, he says the fine dining market is now very small.

Since the new restaurant will focus on groups of family diners, all orders will be dressed down a little bit to speed up service. A case in point is his paella which can be cooked in less time than the required 45-minute wait in most Spanish restaurants.

A number of promotions available at the Makati restaurant will also be offered in the Ortigas branch. Romero says Azzuro Too! will hopefully set the trend for a new night life in the Ortigas area.

French wine dinners will be scheduled regularly. Azzuro’s first wine dinner, held last Monday in Makati, is a promotion in collaboration with Jardine Davies, which supplied the wines that were featured during the evening. The wine dinners will be able to accommodate no more than 30 diners to keep the experience cozy and intimate.

"I guess some people have forgotten that we are a wine bar," says Romero. "The wine dinners are designed to educate people on the combinations of food and wine."

Azzuro Too! will also be pushing Golding’s line of tapAZZ, finger food similar to the traditional Spanish tapas but expanded to include a number of popular pica-pica items. It includes crab claws, calamari, marbled potato wedges, ceviche, herb panko oysters, from among its extensive choices.