Inside the Michelin Guide Parties: The Sightings, The Vibes, The Whispers

(SPOT.ph) It was an emotional night. Happy tears were shed, there was much jubilation, and to be sure there were a few who got their hearts broken. But—and this will sound like we're quoting from a press release—excitement was definitely high Thursday afternoon as people rushed to the Marriott Grand Ballroom for the inaugural Michelin Guide honors for the Philippines.

It was an extraordinary event. For starters, it began promptly and no one was made to wait for this VIP or that. While DOT Secretary Christina Frasco was present and gave perhaps the evening's most impassioned speech, the true VIPs were the chefs and restaurateurs who were the ceremony's raison d’être. The event was able to gather, too, in one room not only the best of the best chefs in Manila, the familiar names we see in the usual F&B reportage, but also those who don’t get the usual share of the spotlight.

There was unmistakable thrill as soon as the first award was announced, and everyone cheered when the awardee was declared: Gallery by Chele getting a Green Star for its dedication to great food while being devotedly sustainable in its kitchen practices.

While the audience—composed of media, sponsors, and people from the restaurant industry— tirelessly cheered for the winners throughout the evening, the next most emotional moment was when everyone found out the Michelin Guide wasn’t stopping at just giving out one-star honors for the Philippines—there’s a Filipino restaurant getting two stars. People gasped in anticipation and then quickly segued to warm applause when the fine dining restaurant Helm was called and its chef Josh Boutwood stood up from his seat at the back. Before getting up on stage, Boutwood did a left turn and, to the delight of many, made his way towards his wife seated in front and gave her a kiss.

The next part of the evening was one audiences watching from the live stream didn’t get to see. It turns out the Marriott Grand Ballroom was divided into two that night. Behind the audience section, a black curtain rose to reveal a top notch buffet-style tasting experience for guests to enjoy. The party has officially started.

At the center of this second “room” were bite-sized treats laid out for everyone to partake of, prepared by Michelin-anointed restaurants. From the Philippines, there was the Manam section manned by Moment Group chief Abba Napa; there was new Michelin-starred Toyo Eatery where chef Jordy Navarra held court; and then there was British chef Jamie Doe from Cebu’s The Pig and Palm serving the most refreshing oysters. The duo behind the world’s first Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant, the chef couple Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama in Chicago, attracted fans of their own, as did their Chicago-Style Hot Dogs.

But of course people won't stop talking about the lechon! And there were two to choose from: Dedet Dela Fuente’s stuffed lechon had her own station, while small but generously filled plates of lechon from Cebu were coming out from across the room—we even spotted Chef Tatung Sarthou there with veteran food writer and editor Micky Fenix. Chef Tatung had reason to celebrate that evening: his Lore was among the Michelin Selected restaurants.

Elsewhere in the room, we saw more chefs and non-chefs celebrating and partaking of the food: Malu Gamboa of Cirkulo (Michelin Selected) shared a table with Colin Mackay of Blackbird and Sala (both Michelin Selected) and Cebu’s Lalay Nava, chef of Abaseria Deli and Cafe (who won a Bib Gourmand). Over at another table, Chef Aaron Isip of Kasa Palma (One Star) and Cochi’s Marvin Agustin exchanged stories. Marvin told Spot he wasn’t expecting his Bib Gourmand for Cochi and was just expecting to be included in the Guide. But when his restaurant wasn’t called as one of the Michelin Selected restaurants, he thought “Baka nagkamali sila ng pag-invite sa akin!” Of course it was the actor-chef-restaurateur who was mistaken.

As we made our way to reach for another glass of wine, we spotted James Beard awardee Erwan Heussaff chatting (likely in French) with Chef Remy Carmignani of the Michelin Selected Old Manila of the Peninsula; photographer Neal Oshima keeping his son Stephan Duhesme's [Michelin Selected Metiz] plaque safe in his arm; actors, food vloggers and real life couple Khalil Ramos and Gabbi Garcia posing for pictures; the very tall Negros Rep. Javi Benitez carrying around his little plate and enjoying the food selections; and Amado Forés who brought her beloved mom Margarita along via a pin he wore on his barong’s collar. Margarita would have loved to be there, the very first Michelin Guide awards in the Philippines, to cheer her peers on, of course, and also because her Lusso and son Amado's Steak and Frice and Ramen Ron made the cut for the Michelin Selected restaurants.

Between the bites and the schmoozing were the serious exchanges and whispers about the just-released list. Many were happy with it but where was Modan in the one-star elite circle, people asked. Where was Antonio’s? How about new dad Bruce Ricketts’ iai? It was great to have Aida’s on the list (its late owner Toto Tarrosa would have been so proud, Slow Food advocate Reena Gamboa said, sharing our sentiment) but where’s the Bib Gourmand for the great Chicken House Express of Makati’s Pablo Ocampo Street? Oh well.

As the party at the Marriott Grand Ballroom winded down, those questions were put aside for awhile as chefs, restaurateurs, their friends, and food writers drove to the after-parties. We shared a ride with Slow Food advocate Ramon “Chin-chin” Uy and the Celera team to the first of three post-awards fetes, the nearest one: the party at the fabulous Whisky Library at Newport, where chef Johanne Siy sat down with the chefs from Kasama, where Celera’s Quenee Vilar (also celebrating her birthday) passed around a bottle of tequila, and the evening eventually led to some dancing to ABBA. Chef Yuichi Abellare arrived too which reminded us of one of the evening’s bigger questions: Where was Crosta in the Michelin list?

But before we could craft an answer in our heads, we were off to the Taupe pop-up at Balmori for more merrymaking. The usually bright and maaliwalas vibes of the Balmori space shifted to dramatically dim that night as tunes from Dua Lipa and Sabrina Carpenter (full disclosure: our requests!) came out of the DJ's booth. There was also a celebration happening upstairs at Aya hosted by the Hapag boys (who were also awarded a star that night) but, after a couple of drinks, we figured it was already past our bedtime and we were all partied-out. Time to call it a night. We just imagined the other chefs were also by that time safely in their respective restaurants, celebrating with their respective teams.

Which brought us back to the best quote of the night, coming straight out of Chef Nicco Santos after he and Chef Quenee got their one-star distinction for Celera. "I think I'm just very proud of the hard work my team has put out for the last eight months we've been open," he said. "So I think for us, this is just one star to add to my 18 stars in the restaurant waiting."