Cover Inside the inaugural edition of Mood For Food, a new food festival organised by Tatler Dining
Inside the inaugural edition of Mood For Food, a new food festival organised by Tatler Dining
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This year, Tatler Dining launched its first rendition of Mood for Food, a festive dining experience that puts a Filipino twist on your favourite comfort food dishes
Eight restaurants, eight exclusive dishes, two nights only—Mood for Food 2024 was a delicious celebration of our vibrant restaurant industry, and we are ecstatic to have welcomed 600 of you to our first rendition of this new food festival.
We challenged eight top restaurants to create a unique dish exclusively for Mood for Food, grounded in this year’s theme: elevated comfort food with a Filipino twist, a dose of nostalgia and modernity with every bite. Across both nights, guests got to know their favourite restaurants—and the talented chefs behind them—in a new light.
In case you missed it: Meet the chefs at Mood for Food, Tatler Dining’s new food festival
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Each restaurant was handpicked by Tatler Dining for its creative flair and culinary excellence, culminating in a powerful lineup: A Mano, Canton Road, Indus Modern Indian Kitchen, Izakaya Geronimo, Lámpara, People’s Palace, Roots, and Taquería Franco.
On June 28 and 29, the Bonifacio Hall at Shangri-La the Fort, Manila, was transformed into a gastronomic playground filled with cocktail tables, picnic seating, and colourful lounge chairs designed by Moss Manila. Each of the eight restaurants was given its very own booth on either side of the hall, where the teams would prepare their exclusive dish for 300 guests over the course of 4 hours per night. The festive affair came complete with unlimited drinks, including wine and cocktails with cognac, rum, whisky, and tequila, plus music by DJs Tomas (Tomas Cabili) and Nomoclassiq (Kevin Shaw).
Armed with their official Mood for Food passports, guests were invited to design their own culinary adventures and curate their eight-course experience however they saw fit. The room grew abuzz with excitement as guests wandered around the space, visited each station, chatted with the chefs of each restaurant as they prepared their tasty creations, and even forged new friendships with fellow foodies.
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Led by Raghu Bansh Singh, Indus Modern Indian Kitchen crafted chicken adobo golgappa chaat: crispy puri shells stuffed with chicken adobo chaat, mixed with fresh chopped vegetables, flavourful spices, and crispy sev. The filled puri shells were drizzled with sweet homemade yoghurt, amchoor chutney, and mint chutney, resulting in a symphony of flavours with every bite. Taquería Franco’s shrimp kinilaw tostada was another popular pick to start off the evening—an ode to chef Miko Calo’s roots in Butuan. The dish featured fresh shrimp “cooked” in coconut vinaigrette and kabayawa, artfully plated on the restaurant’s signature buckwheat galette, deep-fried to a crisp.
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Meanwhile, Izakaya Geronimo’s chef Erik Idos served up a dish that marries his American-Filipino heritage with his love for Japanese cuisine: a miso-marinated beef cheek caldereta sandwich with cheese, delectable beef jus, and delightfully pungent wasabi mustard. Likewise, Canton Road’s five-spice kikiam with Ibérico pork, pickled sayote, and spinach rice harks back to chef Wang Wei Qing’s early food memories in Fujian province, where his mother would create five-spice pork rolls with tofu skin.
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Fresh off a trip to Thailand to source ingredients for the festival, chef Kerwin Go whipped up bowl after bowl of his dry tom yum noodles topped with lechon kawali, pinsec frito, and kwek kwek—a dish many have petitioned to introduce on the menu at People’s Palace. The station even featured a condiments station, and on day two, the restaurant surprised everyone with carafes of Thai iced tea. Siargao’s Roots also joined the lineup, represented by Daan Overgaag, Ricardo Miranda de Sousa, and Marina Castañeda. Together, they crafted an adlai risotto with Filipino wagyu ragu, tapuey rice wine, borracho goat cheese foam, saliargaw, and bread crumbs with biasong zest—a hearty bowl that showcases local ingredients the team often use at the restaurant.
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Comprised of handmade garganelli pasta, coconut milk, guanciale, shrimp paste, and spicy chillies, A Mano’s innovative Bicol express garganelli was inspired by chef Jonathan Redoblado’s Bicolano background and restaurateur Amado Forés’s recent trip to Bicol. As Redoblado and his team got to work creating the dish, guests were encouraged to try their hand at rolling their own garganelli right at the station. Finally, all roads led to Lámpara for a unique dessert that spanned flavours: tart, sweet, and savoury. Here, chef Alphonse Sotero presented his Pavlova Tropikal: individual pavlova with salted egg custard, egg yolk pandan threads, mango compote, Don Papa-infused pineapple, and lime zest.
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This playful food festival was both an inspiring showcase of culinary talent and a testament to the Philippines’s palpable hunger for creative dining experiences—something you can expect more of from Tatler Dining, very soon.
Mood for Food Philippines 2024 is made possible through the support of our gold partner Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, and supporting partners The Singleton, Don Julio, Martell, Don Papa, and Shangri-La the Fort, Manila.
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About
Lauren’s love for food came much later in life than one would expect— an obsession awakened in the streets of Melbourne’s multicultural dining scene. Armed with this newfound passion, she returned to the Philippines determined to discover the best eats in her home country, with a personal advocacy to champion local cuisines and homegrown talent. Nothing is off-limits; if it’s delicious, it’s worth celebrating.
Work
As Tatler Dining associate editor, Lauren covers all things food and drink, from listing the latest openings in our monthly Dining Radar to interviewing chefs and bartenders about the biggest obstacles crippling the industry today. Beyond the digital space, she also organises Tatler Dining’s tentpole events, including Off Menu and Tatler Dining Kitchen, as well as the annual Tatler Best Philippines awards night and guide launch, detailing the best restaurants in the country.
For leads and event invites, contact her via lauren@tatlerphilippines.com or follow her on Instagram at @laurengolangco.
Photo: Ralph Mendo
