Fire in the belly
Pyro serves hot dishes
Mabini St. has fast become a haven for foodies with Tagbuan at the very edge serving specialties of Mindanao and the very driven and passionate Patrick Co making waves with Fat Cow and most recently his decadent cakes and coffee at Dairy.
So what happens when you have four top culinary graduates who team up to set up a restaurant called Pyro? Guts and good cooking skills are not enough, you have to be able to conceptualize, know the market, be grounded to what is current in the scene, and showcase innovation.
My first visit to Pyro made me realize how practical the limited menu was. These four young partners took the risk, hiring four culinary graduates, and decided to limit the menu in order to sustain and enforce their standards, starting from the preparations of ingredients. For the first visit, I wanted to try the most basic on the menu, their take on tuna kinilaw. This was a well-thought-of dish, deconstructed and given a contemporary twist. A bed of spiced tuba or coconut sap vinegar was turned into a granita to form the base for very fresh tuna cubes with a julienne of cucumbers and radish. It was topped with crispy dilis to increase the umami and to provide contrast to the otherwise softer cold tuna. Spiced coconut milk was poured over the dish and the creaminess seemed to tame the piquant sharpness of the crispy spiced vinegar ice crystals, while a fresh green element, the spring of fresh cilantro garnish, was added to the tuna ceviche.
The next course was a bone marrow cheeseburger served with miso mayo and red green cabbage slaw. I was appreciative of the fact that the service staff asked how I would like my burger done. I did order it medium and I got a beautifully pink, juicy interior with the beefy patty enriched with the bone marrow.
The fried chicken, as recommended by chefs Bianca Delgado and Randy Panganiban, went through three stages of preparation—brining, rubbing, and breading with butter milk and crumbs. An almost invisible glaze, after frying, provided a hint of sweetness. On every bite, the complexity of flavor and textures were built around that faint sweet and charming finish.
On my next visit, I tried their take on Scotch eggs made street style using sausage and crisp crumb quail eggs coated with native longganisa or sweet sausage. The dip was vinegar mixed with beer to boost the flavor of the egg dish with the lightly fermented and garlicky flavor on the sausage. Another starter was a pomelo spring roll with prawns and other seafood in a style much like that of the Vietnamese goicuon; the twist was the refreshing pomelo that just screamed “Davao” with every burst of flavor.
I wanted to try the pastas, so it was good that my son, Gino, also a chef, was there to share with me. We ordered the salmon mentaiko pasta. A long cut of salmon cooked Tataki style and coated with sesame seeds topped the creamy pasta enriched with mayo and
mentaiko, that in turn, were topped with nori shreds. It was given greater complexity with the teriyaki sauce on the plate. What seemed to be rich and up front was the sisig carbonara pasta with the richness of an eggbased sauce and gelatinous morsels of pork face. This truly decadent dish screamed for a craft beer or probably a wooded Chardonnay (that I will take on a next time…), which isn't available yet because the restaurant is taking its baby steps.
Though full, we had to make room for another dish, pulled pork quesadilla with pineapple gochuchang. This dish was topped with a good amount of gulled corn salsa. Next time, I will ask them to serve the pineapple gochuchang sauce separately as I personally would prefer a lighter sauce.
Dessert was not to be missed. What chefs Bianca Dizon and Matet Pascual recommended hit the spot: the Criollo Mestizo. A chocolate tablea bar launched by Bianca Dizon’s dad, Sonny, transcends the bean to bar concept as their company grows this Criollo hybrid and now, Bianca has created a signature ice cream. Another one of their flavors is the Thai milk tea that, like their chocolate, gives you a “lift.”
The potential of this group of four is great. These young chefs represent the touch of decadence that still prevails in the hearty eating habits of today with their passionate and modernized interpretations of simple and youthful bistro choices. It’s great seeing them churn out their cuisine and hearty meals with their inner pyro inside. They are fired up.
Guts and good cooking skills are not enough, you have to be able to conceptualize, know the market, be grounded to what is current in the scene, and showcase innovation.