Pop food comes to Manila
Mic he linstar chef Davide Old a ni, who’ s cooked for the likes of Giorgio Armani and Jessica Chastain, has brought his game-changing Cucina Pop cuisine to Manila at FOO'D (pronounced “food oh”) in Shangri--
La at the Fort.
What is Pop cuisine and why is it so popular?
“The philosophy of our Pop food is affordable with high quality,” Oldani says. “It’s also the balance and the contrast, because on the plate we put sweet and salty, crispy and soft, cold and hot. When you eat my food you move your whole tongue and palate, then you can say, ‘Oh, this is good.’”
Oldani’s concept of “affordable luxury” is so successful that you have to book a year and a half in advance if you want eat at his 40-seat flagship restaurant D’O in Milan, Italy.
“Harvard did a study on chef Davide’s restaurant, on why he can do 100-percent occupancy as opposed to other three or two Michelin stars that only have 50 percent occupancy — which is mostly dinners — and they came to the accessibility of it,” says Eric Thomas Dee, managing director of FooDee Global Concepts, which owns and operates FOO'D. “Prices at a Davide Oldani restaurant start from 32 euros to a high of 55 euros, and that’s why he’s booked for 18 months.”
So how can Oldani, who trained with such chef-maestros as Alain Ducasse and Pierre Hermé, offer his Michelin-starred food at such reasonable prices?
“Most of the ingredients are seasonal, and if you use seasonal food you have less price when you buy,” the chef reveals. “Affordable food and high quality is done only if you use seasonal ingredients in the right way.”
Oldani also glorifies inexpensive ingredients like the onion, which is the star of his signature dish, Cipolla Caramellata, or caramelized onion tart.
“He likes doing that: taking the humblest ingredients and treating them with the respect that you would treat an expensive ingredient,” notes Dee. “And being fair about pricing. What we find now, opening FOO'D in Manila, is people questioning, ‘Hey, why are other restaurants charging this much when a fine-dining Michelin-rated restaurant can charge P800 for a three-course meal?’”
FYI, FOO'D doesn’t offer dishes à la carte but as three-, four-, and now five-course tasting menus at P800, P1,200 and P2,500 respectively.
“We want to curate your journey, want you to taste what D’O is all about,” Dee says. “People are wanting more, so now we’re upgrading items, adding lobster and steak to the menu.”
At present there are only 18 “strong” items on the menu — the same number as D’O has in Milan. Ingredients are sourced here and from Italy, and it’s the different kinds of produce that come his way each season that Oldani says inspires him to create new dishes.
“I’m a fan of modern techniques now, not molecular because it’s old — 15 years ago,” he says. “Modern food is seasonal, more natural. We use the vacuum, the Combi oven, low-temperature cooking… overall we use fresh food, fresh ingredients — this is the most important technique at the moment.”
Dee, whose FooDee Global Concepts also brought in Todd English Food Hall, Tim Ho Wan, Llaollao frozen yogurt, and created homegrown brands Mesa and Sunnies Café, decided to bring Oldani’s Pop food to Manila on the strength of a friend’s recommendation.
“We have an Italian partner that wanted to introduce chef Davide’s food to the Philippines, so we made a trip to see him and try the food,” Dee recalls. “We loved the philosophy that he has, which coincides with what our group also believes in: affordable luxury — ultra high-quality food but accessible.”
At first Oldani was a little bit skeptical, never having been to the Philippines, but Dee convinced him by reciting every single item on D’O’s menu from memory. “He was like, ‘Are you a chef?’ I said, ‘No, but we share the same passion and love for food.’”
Dee and partners Nico Bolzico and
Niccolo Pizzocheri flew Oldani to Manila a couple of years ago and showed him how they took care of their brands, and let him taste Filipino food.
“I like it, it’s more sweet,” Oldani observes. “My food as well is a little bit sweet. I find Filipino food similar in the sweetness and saltiness.” TRENDY AND TRADITIONAL
We found out for ourselves what Pop food was all about in the three-course dinner Oldani served during the grand opening on Jan. 18.
The Faux Egg appetizer exemplified the clever, modern techniques Oldani is fond of. What looked like the yolk of a sunny side-up egg was actually a carrot and orange sphere on a “white” of creamy cauliflower velouté, with a cauliflower tabbouleh sprinkled on top for texture and crunch.
What followed was chef Oldani’s take on surf- and- turf: USDA Wagyu beef cheek with lobster tail, topped with salmon roe, a couple of asparagus spears and sauced with lobster jus. After the modern minimalism of the first dish I was a bit surprised at how classic and traditional this entrée was, but Dee had mentioned how Oldani tries to strike the right balance between what’s trendy with very homey cooking that’s close to his roots.
He continued in this homey vein with the next dish, a surprise fourth course that he demonstrated for the media earlier that evening: fregula — small Sardinian pasta balls larger than couscous that have a great mouth feel. Cooked slowly and painstakingly like risotto with small amounts of water, the fregula boasts three different roasts and is swirled with a Grana Padano cheese sauce made bright with red saffron threads from Lombardy. Foo ’d is the only restaurant in the Philippines that serves fregula, and I’d gladly go back just for this dish.
Oldani bookended his meal with another contemporary play on a traditional dish, White Coffee Tiramisu, the conceit being the dessert was all-coffee but its color was all-white, thanks to the use of colorless coffee essence. With a darkchocolate cocoa crunch at the bottom, a sphere of mascarpone cheese and stick of dehydrated meringue on top, I finally understood what Pop food was all about: not only is it about balancing flavors and textures but it also contrasts the modern with the traditional; the cerebral whimsy of contemporary cuisine with the soulfulness of Italian home cooking.
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FOO'D is located on the ground level of High Street Park, outside Shangri-La at the Fort, 30th Street corner 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Call 246-9069 ext. 620 for information and reservations. Follow Foo’d by Davide Oldani on Facebook, and @ FOOD by DO_PH on Instagram.
*** Follow me on Facebook (Therese JamoraGarceau), Twitter @tjgarceau and Instagram @tj108_drummergirl.