Top 10 restaurant openings of 2024

Tatler Dining’s Chef of the Year 2024 Stephan Duhesme opened Automat this year. Situated right above the fine dining Metiz, Automat on the other hand presents a more casual experience. While Metiz’s tasting menu focuses on the provincial Filipino diet, focused on vegetables and seafood, Automat presents the urban diet in Manila, one where global and regional culinary influences converge to create a distinctly unique cuisine according to Duhesme. Here Arlo Gregorio, who works as head chef of Automat, curiously explores the bounds of Filipino cuisine. 

Automat’s menu started off as prix fixe and has recently transitioned into à la carte. At the restaurant you will experience comforting Filipino flavours through impressive dishes bubbling with innovation, all served in a homey atmosphere as if dining at a friend’s apartment. 

Up the wooden stairs, on the seventh-floor mezzanine, you will find Ayà, Hapag’s stunning skylit, glass-box cocktail bar decked out with plush lounge seating and an outdoor terrace to boot. Designed by Liza Morales of Ecotecture Designs, with finishing interior details by Isabel Lozano of Decorum by MIL, this two-storey haven certainly turns heads and is deserving of praise not only for its design but for its F&B experience too. Here, chefs Thridy Dolatre and John Kevin Navoa share an à la carte menu for both lunch and dinner that displays an array of Filipino dishes embodying the same innovative flair you have come to love from the team at Hapag. 

From an imposing crackling piece of gamet kropek with fermented red pepper aioli; gooey sweet and savoury pares toast with lasuna chimichurri; luscious pansit negra with adobo negra sauce and taba ng talangka aioli; or a slow roasted dry aged lamb litson with mustard seed “Mang Tomas”, pickles, and farmer’s herb rice, dive into bites of your choice amid Ayà’s glowing lights and allow yourself to be charmed with a drink (or two) in hand. Try out their rice martini, kamias margarita, loggan mojito, or range of wines curated by partner and head sommelier Erin Recto.

See also: All about Hapag and Ayà at Balmori, Rockwell

Carlo’s by Carlo Alvarez and the team behind Izakaya Geronimo is an Italian-American eatery boasting playful comfort food, housed in a stylish space designed by architect and interior designer JJ Acuña. 

At the restaurant, they blend classics with playful touches presenting elevated childhood favourites like mac and cheese or mozzarella sticks, along with premium pastas and of course their signature pizzas. Carlo’s hand-tossed, thin-crust, New York-style pizzas are 18” wide and packed with flavour. Opt for their spicy vodka pizza, drizzled with pesto and Parmigiano Reggiano, or their roasted broccoli pizza with mozzarella, karasumi, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Fret not, for if you want a slice you don’t need to commit to a whole pie, instead pop by their takeaway window and grab one to go. 

Carlo’s recently launched a Secret Menu experience that is exclusive to one table per seating. Carlo Alvarez imports select ingredients from Japan just for this special changing menu, which recently featured pastrami from Shibuya’s Freeman Shokudo, Italian burrata, and plump Amela tomatoes. 

See also: Carlo’s, the new American-Italian restaurant in BGC

The Counter at Ginza One is a 11-seater yakitori omakase experience led by chef Masahiko Kodama. As a yakitori master, he champions his flagship restaurant in Tokyo (Yakitori Kodama) and now brings his experience to Makati through a 10-12 course menu that showcases the subtle, tasty possibilities of chicken. 

The menu includes non-yakitori appetisers, followed by a slew of unbelievably well-cooked and delicately seasoned chicken bites. It begins with a plump and succulent momo (thigh), and then a tebaskai (wing) that’s curiously and purposefully served in an inverted manner to allow diners to slip the bones right off. Then you are met with a moist tsukune (meatball) topped with salt-cured egg yolk and an indulgent kawa (chicken skin) served with tangy ponzu. Slightly more adventurous bites like chicken heart (hatsu) and liver (liba) are amongst the options for guests to pick from too. The last dish is a wonderful clean kakesoba with soft, bouncy, noodles, while the meal ends with a velvety egg-based (sugar-free) custard drizzled with a caramel syrup and a dash of bright citrus. 

Chef Edward Reyes (who has been with the Ginza group for years) trained in Japan to imbibe the Kodama way. Trip after trip, he began to embody his principles and today effortlessly prepares a beautiful yakitori experience for Philippine diners while Kodama is back in Tokyo. Every month, he visits The Counter to re-train and create a slightly different omakase experience.

Hálong in Legazpi Village is chef Cara Davis’s new restaurant. She returns home after having lived abroad and around the world since she was 18. This chef has tested and sharpened her culinary skills at some of the world’s best restaurants. She worked at Arzak (San Sebastian), Eleven Madison Park (New York), Alinea (Chicago), and Acra (Mexico). Most recently she spent seven years in Mexico and even opened her own restaurant Mestixa. 

Now she developed Hálong as her homecoming project. The word in Ilonggo (tying in her family’s roots) means to nurture and to take care of. Here, her menu is currently à la carte featuring a Mexican motif with pops of bold Asian flavours and will introduce a more Mexican-forward tasting menu. 

See also: Nadine Lustre and Christophe Bariou unveil their new coconut milk brand Dehusk

Iai is chef Bruce Ricketts’ innovative sushi kappo restaurant where he focuses on Filipino and seasonal Japanese ingredients while showcasing his mastery of Japanese techniques. Each artfully created dish shares Ricketts’s perspective and tells stories that are wonderfully influenced by his personal experiences.

Here, diners are treated to a more vulnerable expression of chef Ricketts’s approach to F&B. He along with his wife and business partner Jae Pickrell reveal their inner workings and deepest passions through Iai. As a continuation of where he left off with Mecha Uma, Iai is a refined distillation of his ideas and his experiences. 

No details were spared, from menu paper stock, wall textures, to custom-made tableware, furniture, and lighting too. The stunningly designed, intimate Japanese concept is located in BGC, and is a strong reflection of this couple’s deep passion for food and hospitality. 

See also: Butcher Boy by chef Andrew Walsh opens in Salcedo Village

In April 2024 chef Aaron Isip opened Kása Palma, the next chapter for what was Balai Palma. Here, he introduced a fire-powered “jungle kitchen” which cooks up a fabulous à la carte menu, while the inside kitchen houses a totally separate team that handles his degustation experience. Both menus serve what he calls topical island cuisine rooted in French techniques, with hints of Latin flavours, all fueled by beautiful Filipino produce, with a focus on seafood. 

The meticulously designed spaces were created under Isip’s watchful eye. Every nook evokes a unique island ambience, a particular aesthetic that pays homage to both Palawan and Tulum, locations that have special places in Isip’s heart. Start your journey at the outdoor bar and sip on their signature Kasa Grande cocktail before embarking on either dining experience to take a journey through the bold, smokey flavours and nuanced dressings that the maître saucier is celebrated for. 

See also: Chef Aaron Isip reveals a new tasting menu at Kasa Palma

After working at some of the world’s best restaurants, chef Kei Takahashi plants roots in Manila to helm the new Japanese concept from the Wildflour Hospitality Group. From surfing and snowboarding with friends, with no culinary training under his belt, to working at the French Laundry and then at Arzak, chef Kei’s life story is definitely one for the books. 

This new 24-seater wood-laden temaki bar features an open kitchen where chef Kei now works his magic. Each hand roll is made with the utmost care and attention to detail, each infused with his unique twists to boot. Here, guests can expect a slew of tasty treats from this Japanese-born, international-bred talent who now calls Manila, home.

See more: Kei Maki opens in BGC

While celebrated for this mastery of Japanese cuisine, chef Jorge Mendez has since successfully taken to Thai food with his restaurant Some Thai. Chef Mendez explains that his Thai food is not designed to be authentic. Each creation is his interpretation of Thai favourites. His cooking style clearly shows how he enjoys applying irreverent twists on traditional dishes, whether it be Japanese (Ohayo, Mōdan), Mexican (Tadeo Fil-Mex), and now, Some Thai. Dig into a vibrant crab curry with silky scrambled eggs or Son and Raw Egg, featuring fried egg whites topped with semi-cured egg yolk, drizzled with a unique version of prik nam pla. Lastly, don’t forget to take a spoonful of Mendez’s creamy prawn bisque tom yum. 

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