THE HOLIDAY MENU OF GALLERY BY CHELE
Gallery by Chele is a modern restaurant that serves cuisine inspired by the best local ingredients prepared by chefs Chele Gonzalez and Carlos Villaflor. It’s a place I frequent, as I love their food and I recently went there to preview their new holiday menu!
Table Love by Pinky set the dining experience for Gallery by Chele’s Tasting Menu launch. Pinky Tobiano has been creating beautiful table arrangements to make dining more festive even during her lifestyle program on TFC. She did just that as we had an unforgettable holiday lunch setup at Gallery by Chele in Taguig City.
We started with “bites,” which were all memorable. Their “Uni Hash Brown” was topped with beef tartare, sea urchin and pickled pepino melon. “Insulin Tacos” consisted of an insulin leaf stuffed with Kurobuta pork and pickled dragon fruit. “Corn Tamales” was shrimpinfused corn puree and cilantro oil topped with fried alamang. The “Mushroom Burger” was a mushroom mousse sandwiched by salted meringue “buns.” “Bicol Chawan Mushi” was an egg custard dish with shrimp, coconut, and snow peas with Bicol Express as a base flavor. A crowd favorite, “Kare-Kare Bonbon,” is a peanut-praline beef cheek bonbon that is to be dipped into a bagoong mayo.
Then the entrées arrived starting with two of my personal favorites. “Layers” is a Japanese-inspired crab dish that comes with layers of gelatin, tinapa, kalamansi, and tomato sorbet. “French Connection” is a peeled prawn enrobed in Hollandaise sauce served with sigarilyas and salmon roe. “Shades,” which used cashew milk, tapioca, white snapper that is cooked in a banana leaf, and a topping of cashew praline, crispy fish skin, and pepino melon was a dish I couldn’t eat due to allergy restrictions, but it looked totally delicious!
“HMB” was the next dish that made up for what I couldn’t have. It’s a reimagined humba made with Iberico secreto. This was another one of my favorites.
Our main course was called “Across the Seas,” a narrative of history telling a story through food. This dish is served with adobo rice, beef kinilaw crackers with homemade mango vinegar, and tenderloin cooked in Spanish adobo sauce.
Three desserts were served. “Baguio” was served “taho” style and is a panna cotta made from goat’s milk instead of soybean. They added fresh strawberries marinated in orange and paired with Chantilly and sugar glaze topped with strawberry syrup with vanilla, crispy tapioca, and chocolate-mint.
“Talandang” was a textured chocolate dessert consisting of a meringue topped with chocolate, orange, and rum ganache, cacao nibs, and chocolate ice cream with kalamansi zest covered with hot chocolate foam.
The last and most famous of Chele’s desserts was his Signature Bibingka Cheesecake.
Imagine having all these bites and small portions of this entire menu for lunch or dinner? I actually got really full but was very satisfied, as I am always satisfied with the food of Chele and Carlos. Try out this new holiday tasting menu at Gallery by Chele!
* * * Gallery by Chelle is open for dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. every Tuesday to Sunday. They are located on the 5th floor of the Clipp Centre Building, 39th Street Corner 11th Avenue, BGC, Taguig City, Philippines.
Make a reservation via reservations@gallerybychele.com or call (0917) 546-1673. Visit www.gallerybychele.com.
For more artful tablescaping check out @TableLovebyPinky on Instagram or contact Anya Camacho at 0917-823-8888.
Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.