Vask

The thing with eating here at Gallery VASK is you allow yourself to go on a journey, to soak stories in, and experience new things. Not the place for meat and potatoes, but if you open yourself to it, you will be rewarded. One of my favorite things from last night is this dessert of humble cassava, with coconut ice cream and torched carabao's milk. The effort they put into this is crazy (especially with the boiled and torched milk!) and it tasted awesome! 🙌

I love this picture because it captures a lot of things: the images of foreign chefs Chele (VASK) and Julieta (formerly of Mugaritz in San Sebastián) - who've scoured the Philippines to make a modern meal of all local ingredients and using flavors familiar to us but through their personal interpretations (Chele says he now knows how the great Brazilian chef Alex Atala felt when he fell in love and cooked with ingredients from the Amazon) --- but more importantly, the two chefs showing their playful side, showing us how a meal like this should be enjoyed: with a sense of childlike wonder and whimsy. It may not be for everyone, but I'm happy that things like this are happening on our shores. Our food scene moves forward.

 — with Juan Carlo Calmaand Chele Gonzalez.