Our First Three Michelin Starred Collaboration: Hertog Jan X Toyo Eatery (April 2017)
Brothas for life! Jordy Navarra of Toyo Eatery and Gert de Mangeleer of Hertog Jan (Photo by Tristan de Hesa)
Cross Cultures hosted our first ever 3 Michelin-starred collaboration with Hertog Jan from Belgium, and one of my favorite restaurants in the Philippines, Toyo Eatery during the period of Madrid Fusion Manila, as part of the Dinner with the Stars and Flavors of the Philippines. *Hertog Jan also recently just jumped up to land the No. 61 spot on the World’s Best Restaurants list!
The collaboration officially began with a trip to Malipayon Farms in Silang, Cavite (we left Manila at 5AM, whew!) where Hertog Jan’s chef-owner Gert de Mangeleer and sous chef Jef Poppe sourced for local vegetables, for their salad dish, “A Walk Through The Gardens of Manila.” They handpicked over 40 ingredients that included fennel, alugbati, baby amaranth, baby corn, carrots, sweet potato, mango, papaya, cashews, peanuts for our event three days later.
The event was very intimate– only 30 (very coveted) seats– a request from Gert to keep quality control in check. He meticulously prepared everything himself, and never left the kitchen, only until after all the dishes had been served, which were paired with wines from Sommelier Selection and free-flowing sparkling and still waters from San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, officially distributed in the Philippines by Werdenberg International.
We’ll let all of Tristan Dehesa’s stunning photos do the talking (all photo credits by him, except for 2 photos I took!) and I want to say that it was a beautiful exchange of cultures between Belgium and the Philippines, and also between two chefs who both share the common denominator of using modern techniques to highlight the excellent qualities of their produce. “Planning the menu was done over a period of time,” shared Jordy, who had developed a real bromance with Gert after just meeting for the first time this trip. (They event met up in New York the week after!) “When team Hertog Jan arrived, we spoke about their plans with the products they brought over from Europe, and team Toyo just decided on what we felt best paired with the dishes from their menu. It was easy to decide on the menu because there was really good communication on both ends.”
“It was a wonderful experience to combine Philippines products with our Flemish products,” Gert said,”I didn’t expect the Philippines to have such a fine cuisine and such beautiful products. We are also happy to have made [new] friends.”
The final planning… (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)We are ready! (Photo by Cheryl Tiu)Free-flowing San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna for our guests! Our favorite waters are officially distributed in the Philippines by Werdenberg International Corp. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Hertog Jan’s Gert de Mangeleer (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Hertog Jan sous chef Jef Poppe (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Let’s go, TOYO! (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Hertog Jan’s knives. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Toyo Eatery’s Jordy Navarra. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Service time. Cheryl welcoming the first round of guests. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Plating the gorgeous A Walk Through the Gardens of Manila, using almost 40 ingredients from Gerardo Jimenez’s Malipayon Farms. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Hertog Jan’s Black Radish, Talakitok and Fermented Tomato Juice, shaped as a rose. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Toyo Eatery’s Pencil Clams sourced from Sorsogon. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Hertog Jan’s Smoked Duck that they brought in from France. It was stuffed with burnt hay, and dry-aged for 3 weeks, before being cooked, smoked and finally finished with salt and black pepper. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)The duck was served with beetroot powder; cooked beetroot, fresh cherries, black garlic, licorice. Perfection. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Toyo Eatery’s Lightly Grilled Mackerel in Grass-Fed Butter with Semi-Ripe Guava and Kamias, a favorite in their new menu. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Chef Gert de Mangeleer’s guilty pleasure is… Snickers chocolate bar! He eats at least one every day! So for his dessert, which is also a Hertog Jan signature, he created one of chocolate, peanuts and caramel– which was cooked in nitrogen to create an “ice cream.” (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Ces Drilon and Ricky Carandang (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Clinton Palanca (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Neal Oshima (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Michelle Ayuyao and Mara Coson (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Jin Perez and Jerome Go (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)John and Katrine Tiu, Charles Tiu (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Julien Royer of Odette in Singapore (Photo by Cheryl Tiu)Our guests went home with homemade bread from the Toyo kitchen and a spread created by both Hertog Jan and Toyo, using both local and European fish, and San Pellegrino goodies. (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Cross Cultures (Cheryl Tiu): Hertog Jan (Gert de Mangeleer) x Toyo Eatery (Jordy Navarra) (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Pasalubongs to bring back home for our Belgian guests! The lovely May Navarra, wife and the woman behind Jordy! (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)Thank you and congratulations everyone!!! It was an awesome evening! <3 <3 <3 (Photo by Tristan Dehesa)
