Inside Tatler Dining Kitchen: a collaboration by chefs JP Cruz & Chele González

From the very first bites, the chefs made their intentions clear. González opened the meal with a vibrant abalone tartlette that burst in the mouth with flavours of malunggay pesto, calamansi, cauliflower purée, malunggay sabayon and marinated ikura for a pop of salinity, all layered in a paper-thin lumpia wrapper shell. Fans of Inatô are surely familiar with their signature pinakbet, fashioned after a recipe Cruz inherited from his mum. His playful pinakbet croquette fused his mother’s pinakbet with his collaborators’ Spanish heritage, seasoned with isda bagoong (rather than the usual alamang), coated with panko and topped with jamón Ibérico and mimolette cheese to up the umami factor.

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Next up was a memorable trio of snacks, starting with the memorable “ear puff.” Inspired by dinakdakan, the collaboration bite was stuffed with Wagyu longganisa, pig ear, woodear mushrooms and pig brain sauce, served with a punchy pinakurat emulsion to complement the otherwise decadent taro puff. Excitement intensified with Cruz’ smoked oyster: a plump Pacific oyster from Washington state marinated in soy sauce, ginger and tapuey for six days, then smoked with coconut wood, finished with a delicious spiced coconut jelly and spring onions. Filled with Chinese-spiced and roasted duck, Gonzaléz’s fried duck bao closed the snacks, leaving guests eager to taste what the chefs still had under their sleeves after such a strong start.

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Generous slices of yellowtail brushed with patis soon came out of the kitchen, artfully plated with pickled jicama, dayap zest and a bright leche de tigre with lime, habanero, ginger, onion and cashew-passionfruit vinegar—a collaboration dish that quickly became a crowd favourite. Next, a bowl of plump Hokkaido scallops grilled ever so slightly to preserve their natural sweet and creamy flavour, with a sauce of black pig pork pata (pork shank) simmered over three days poured tableside. Cruz cleverly balanced the dish with pickled ubod and a unique garnish of saltbush from Victoria, Australia, allowing guests to savour more of that rich, collagenous sauce.

The chef on the rise continued his one-two punch with a beautiful cut black cod, cooked to perfection. Piercing through its crisp, slightly charred skin revealed a moist, flaky centre—a buttery canvas for the coconut milk sauce infused with sili and ginger. Paired with pickled burnt rakkyo (Japanese scallions), guts harvested from Negros diwal (angel wing clams) and fresh golden pomelos from Davao, guests were encouraged to tailor each bite to their preferences.

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Carabinero has become quite the highlight as Asador Alfonso, chef González’s hot new Spanish restaurant in Cavite (Best Design 2025). For Tatler Dining Kitchen, he took the opportunity to showcase these pristine scarlet prawns, quickly grilled in the Josper oven and smothered in a marriage of garlic butter, soy sauce and red miso by team Inatô before being finished in the Salamander. González then bridged the flavours of Spain and the Philippines with a stunning cut of Ibérico presa marinated in BBQ aromatics, grilled yakitori-style. With green papaya, celery, pickled kailan and pineapple, and a flavourful sauce of pork jus, green chillies and peppercorns, the BBQ course was a delectable precursor for the chefs’ pièce de résistance: lamb lechon.

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Designed to be enjoyed family-style, González served mouthwatering suckling lamb roasted with the aromatics of Cebu lechon, complete with a lamb lechon sauce and goat cheese salad to cleanse the palate. Meanwhile, Cruz prepared a toothsome side of rice that blended short grain rice from Negros and duman (a variety of glutinous rice typically harvest immature, lending a goldish-green hue) from Pampanga, achieving a more fragrant profile. For a soothing, comforting touch, the collaboration course also came with a cup of chicken soup soured with batwan.

For their grand finale, the chefs leveraged nostalgic flavours and unexpected executions to craft a dessert that’s at once fresh yet familiar—grilled mango with purple sticky rice ice cream, chocolate mousse, miso salted caramel and cacao biscuit, their unconventional take on mango sticky rice. As guests savoured another round of wine and cocktails, the kitchen brought out two more tasty bites: a coconut and chocolate bonbon, and a carabao’s milk dulce de leche covered in candied pili nuts.

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Not ones to let guests leave empty-handed, González surprised guests with miniature truffle bibingka, while Cruz bottled up Inatô’s explosive chilli garlic. Likewise, Tatler Dining prepared thank-you gifts of our own, featuring a sophisticated box of Pia Fine Chocolates by Pia Lichyatoo (dark chocolate with caramel, milk chocolate with coconut crunch, white chocolate with pistachio and milk chocolate with hazelnut crunch), a copy of the Tatler Best Philippines 2025 Guide and the latest edition of Tatler Philippines.

Tatler Dining Kitchen was a masterclass in collaboration, bridging the flavours of the Philippines with the scrumptious delicacies the world has to offer. We are grateful to our co-presenter, Security Bank, for sharing our mission to champion the best of F&B; our featured chefs, JP Cruz and Chele González, as well as their respective teams at Inatô and Gallery by Chele, for their tremendous work from the kitchen to front-of-house; and last but not least, our Tatler Dining community, for their continued support as we push the envelope with innovative dining experiences.

Stay tuned as we announce our upcoming Tatler Dining events—including the much-anticipated return of our flagship food festival, Off Menu—coming your way soon.

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