MANILA, Philippines - No, it’s not the New York City police department. NYPD stands for New York Pinoy Deli, which opened recently with a grand launch at Resorts World Manila.
When Resorts World chief hotel operations officer W. Scott Sibley first thought of the name, “I thought it just sounded kind of cool,” he relates. He was thinking of a New York-style diner. “I wanted to come up with this Big Apple concept — something enjoyable, something new in the Philippines. I wanted to spread the love of New York food. New York is the melting pot of the world.”
But he also thought of injecting some local Pinoy flavor, as in a Pinoy deli. Thus, the NYPD name evolved.
It took four master chefs of four different nationalities to create a menu around the unique concept. The team included Sibley (American), who was once known as Chef Scott early in his illustrious career with the Marriott hotel brand; Hubertus Cramer (German), VP for food and beverage, who was also the executive chef of Hyatt Hotel in Manila when it opened; chef Cyrille Soenen (French), director for culinary arts, well-loved and respected since his days at Prince Albert of InterContinental Manila; and chef Angelo “Chubby” Timban (Filipino), chef de cuisine of the NYPD kitchen.
“Between the four of us, we worked for about a year, coming up with different dishes,” Sibley relates. “Finally, we came up with a menu that is one-third traditional New York deli items, some coming from the ’50s and some from the modern day, but all classics. We came up with one-third wholesome, home cooking, Pinoy food. And one-third of the menu is a fusion of the two. So you will find the American burger, for example, made with USDA beef, topped with pulled lechon pork and lechon skin.”
“Menu engineering” is how chef Chubby calls it. The Bistek Tagalog is Filipino-style pan-fried US beef steak with soy sauce, calamansi, onion rings, and potatoes. The famous Pampanga sisig is served with gravy and egg. The laing lasagna uses coconut milk instead of the usual white sauce. This is chef Chubby’s own original recipe, and was a bestseller at Mercado, the former restaurant where NYPD is now located, inside the casino at Resorts World.
Chef Chubby’s personal favorite is the Reuben Sandwich — pastrami, Gruyere cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread. It’s a challenge to make, he says, since you have to make sure the heat is able to penetrate the thick slices of meat. The bread has to be crispy outside, but not toasted. It’s also “controversial” since it happens to be the favorite of his bosses as well. “It better be good or heads will roll,” he says with a smile.
Consistency is important, Cramer says. “We are particular about cooking techniques and authenticity.” They invest in state-of-the-art kitchen equipment such as the sous-vide machine “for slow cooking, where the food is steamed in an airtight plastic bag that keeps all the natural juices intact,” chef Chubby explained. They use a pugon, which traps the heat inside and consequently conserves energy.
“The chef has to learn how to deal with the equipment. It’s a relationship that you have,” Cramer remarked.
“The plating is not extravagant, not like fine dining,” chef Chubby says. “You have three choices: buffet, a la carte, or buffet and a la carte.” You can toss your own salad from the Central Park Island Buffet. The a la carte menu includes a wide choice of sandwiches, such as 5th Avenue Fresh Roast Turkey Sandwich and Philadelphia Cheese Steak Hoagie, as well as Vigan Longganisa and Bacolod Chicken Inasal, both in pandesal. There’s the New York pizza and Pinoy pizza as well as pastas such as Tinapa Spaghetti and Brooklyn Style Linguine. Some of the classic favorites include Seafood Kare-kare, Pork Humba, Chicken Adobo, Grandmom’s Meatloaf and US New York Strip Steak.
“It’s honest food, no chichi, no blah-blah,” says chef Cyrille, who has his own restaurant, Brasserie Cicou, in Greenhills. He listens and learns from what his customers are looking for. “You like the real thing. It has to be authentic and nicely cooked.”
Chef Cyrille was recognized and honored by the Maitres Cuisiniers de France (Master Chefs of France), the first and only chef in the Philippines to be accorded this honor.
“My overall concept is to make all of you happy,” chef Cyrille says.
“When you tell me the food tastes good, then I know I did a good job,” says Cramer.
“Now, you can take your taste buds from New York City to Manila in a heartbeat and enjoy both flavors of both worlds,” Sibley concludes.