The Unknown Faces of Cacao: A new menu from Gallery by Chele

By taking a deep dive into every part of the cacao fruit and its farming process too, the Studio Lab R&D team unravelled notes of lychee, rambutan, cotton fruit, citrus and a range of other bright tropical aromas one would not normally think of when hearing the word cacao. In common practice, the chocolate industry usually throws out the mucilage (pulp) while staying focused on the fruit’s beans. At Gallery, they decided to hyper-focus on the cacao meat and the many possibilities for its mucilage. They travelled to Davao, around the country, and worked with Rob Crisostomo of Tigre Y Oliva to experience the farming process and gain further inspiration in crafting this menu which has been in the works for three to four years. Ariadna Oliveri, a graduate student from the Basque Culinary Center came to the Philippines, joining the team Gallery as part of her thesis to further refine the cacao project and aid the team with her expertise in food science. 

The team experimented with Tigre Y Oliva’s ability to extract and pasteurise the mucilage. From there, they created a refreshing juice and further reduced it to develop a concentrated syrup. In fact, in The Unknown Faces of Cacao, the chefs substituted most of their sugar for this unique syrup. They even evaluated what they could do with the cascaras, or cacao shells and found it most useful for cooking techniques like roasting or smoking. They even tested fermenting the cascaras and developed a flavourful vinegar and kombucha. “Producing something out of what others might consider waste is really staying true to our philosophy. It is magic,” shares González. 

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Just as González and Carlos Villaflor (executive sous chef and partner at Gallery by Chele) journeyed across the Philippines to research cacao, they designed the menu to be a journey for the diner as well. The experience begins as you set foot into Gallery by Chele, by their cold plating station in front of the bar. Here a chef shares the first of a series of snacks. First up was a Pocket Full of Different Flavours consisting of tomato purée, pili, cashew, tamarind, charred corn, leeks and chives, paired with a vibrant hot pink dragon fruit kombucha. 

We were then taken to the restaurant’s outdoor herb garden nestled on the roof deck amidst ambient up-lighting. Here they make use of kitchen waste to fertilise and grow their most used greens. Another chef welcomed us and introduced Garden, a refreshing scallop tartlet with pumpkin purée, mangos, mustard leaf foam, moringa powder and pansit-pansitan in a crisp spring roll wrapper shell. 

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The R&D room, Studio Lab, was home to the third bite. At the counter, we were wowed by a powerful and intricately designed mouthful, aptly named Tomato—sinigang in a bite. Chef Kevin Menendez (in charge of Gallery’s R&D) showcased how they dehydrated a plump tomato, used its essence in combination with pork sinigang, and then rehydrated the tomato with their new creation, and topped it off with tamarind gel. 

Now seated at our table came a crispy eye-catching sweet potato nest, topped with trout, ikura, and shisho; a velvety yet crunchy beetroot parfait with chicken liver mousse, cacao, and beet chips; a fluffy fried bao, stuffed with an umami chicken (reminiscent of the flavours of char siu) marinated in banana ketchup, soy sauce, calamansi, and spring onions; plus a more familiar kare-kare bonbon with buckwheat, beef cheeks, peanut praline, and bagoong mayo. 

Chef Chele then brought out the cacao fruit alongside a trio of beakers showcasing the juice, syrup, and vinegar derived from the fruit. With teaspoons, we excitedly squeezed each pipette and tasted every varied and nuanced flavour coaxed out of the humble plant. These derivates were expertly used as dressings and ingredients throughout the menu instead of the more commonly used sweeteners or acids we are familiar with.

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Standout creations on the menu were the Swimmer Crab, Pomfet, and Belly Inasal. The Swimmer Crab was smartly composed, deeply intricate, and yet filled with restraint. It featured swimmer and mud crab, a homemade creamy, umami aligue, a slightly earthy shiitake gel emulsified with a punchy spiced pinakurat, floral lemongrass, aromatic ginger oil, shiitake dashi foam with a nutty yet slightly creamy burnt butter, plus a bright touch of mint, Thai basil, and zesty dayap. 

The Pomfret course was lightly cooked until perfectly tender yet boasting crispy fish skin, served with a decadent creamy sinantolan sauce cooked like Bicol express, fragrant lemongrass, spice from the ginger, with heat from the chilli, and sweet, tangy touches of onion, and herbaceous garlic notes, plus texture from chicharon. The Belly Inasal was a homage to one of González’s favourite classic Filipino dishes. Here the course spotlighted a beautiful tuna belly with homemade inasal dressing, pos of acidity from pickles, herbaceous garlic, bright wafts of lemongrass, crunchy chicharon, and a savoury Chinese-style chicken broth. 

Tableside preparations came at no shortage, too, as both the smokey octopus satay with a deep laksa sauce, pickled jicama, enoki mushrooms, cilantro oil, satay sauce, peanuts, coriander and the duck courses were presented in an interactive manner.

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The meaty mains came to the stage next with a dry-aged, roasted duck first up to bat. It was smoked over cacao cascara served with beetroot adobo, a 30-ingredient mole, duck jus with cacao juice and syrup, and mustard leaf oil. The crispy-skin-coated, beautifully pink serving of duck was paired with a Chinese duck fried rice and a slice of duck pastrami to boot.

A melt-in-your-mouth Ōmi Wagyu A5 rib-eye was presented with a trio of condiments (chutney with tapuey, black garlic, Wagyu fat emulsion) and beef jus with tapuey, five spice, cinnamon, star anise, and rice wine. 

To end the cacao adventure, the meal closed with chocolate, of course. Up first was Mucilage, a crisp chocolate merengue, in the shape of the cacao bean, that encased in a semi-sweet, tropical cacao juice sorbet and chocolate ganache, served with a flute of cacao “champagne”. Lastly, we dug into Chocolate, a velvety chocolate ice cream with green cardamom, kombucha, cascara tea and scobi. 

The team’s love for nature and dedication to sustainability were matched with an obsession for learning and effortlessly paired with their deep-rooted passion for excellent food. The combination made for a beautiful recipe for success. The Unknown Faces of Cacao menu is their strongest showing in years and has re-ignited my curiosity for what their kitchen will cook up next, too. 

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