FIRE AT THE HEARTH
A new restaurant plays with food while keeping the warmth of home
“Rules? There are no rules,” emphasized three- Michelin star chef Grant Achatz with a smirk on his face in the first episode of Chef ’s Table season two. Eating for nourishment and eating for pleasure are two different things. Why else do chefs transform into mad scientists and think of the oddest ways to prepare and present food? Case in point: Achatz serves a helium- filled balloon made of green apple taffy for dessert in his restaurant Alinea, urging foodies from all over the world to reserve a table simply to experience this bizarre food firsthand.
With the city becoming more cosmopolitan, the rise of business developments has also opened up more progressive food concepts. The dining scene has become more dynamic and the people are more receptive to trying something beyond the usual lutong bahay fare.
Kayu is one of the first restaurants that opened in 32 Sanson by Rockwell. Often mistaken as a Japanese term, the restaurant’s name is derived from the Cebuano word kalayo, which means fire or passion. After training under the wing of iron chef Masaharu Marimoto, chef Francis “Izzy” Sy went back to Cebu and conceptualized a modern- fusion restaurant that would rise in the heart of the city. “I wanted to break that chain where Cebuanos don’t get to see what’s outside. They’re used to the food that’s just here, and I wanted to show them what’s out there, that there’s still more,” he says.
Dining here is like stepping into an old friend’s house turned into a modern restaurant with a full view of what’s going