Nostalgic Flavors Meet Elegant Formats at This Private-Dining Venture in Makati

Mireia Dining
Somewhere in Makati City
Instagram: www.instagram.com/mireiadining

(SPOT.ph) With endings also come new beginnings. For Mark Dee, that ending was the end of a government consultancy job he worked at for three years while staying in Bulacan. And that beginning was dipping his toes into F&B, trying his hands at different food endeavors before eventually opening Mireia Dining—a private-dining venture the personal chef holds in his own residence, where you’ll find polished, well-thought out dishes melding old and new.

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Here's the story of private dining venture Mireia Dining in Makati:

An open kitchen greets the SPOT.ph team as we made our way to the residence on a Thursday. While the production team sets up, the soft sizzle of the fryer hums in the background as Dee plates the first dish from their six-course menu (starts at P3,900/head) to be served that afternoon. Out comes the Oyster Taco, which he likens to an "Asian-Chinese take" on the dish of Mexican origin: over warmed scallion pancakes, he places slivers of pickled onion, garlic chives, and Korean bean sprouts (“[it's like a] deconstructed egg gribiche," he tells us); a homemade XO sauce; and oyster tempura, fried to a perfect golden brown, with uneven webs of batter that make each piece one of a kind. 

We fold our piece over and dive into it like we would, well, a taco. And what awaits is a surprising amalgation: think symmetry of vegetal, briny, and umami tastes, along with the contrast of crisp, crunchy, chewy, and creamy pretty much any good taco would exhibit. There’s familiarity as far as taste is concerned; modernity in textures and form; and refinement in the balance of flavors.

This multifaceted character is one you'll see throughout the rest of the menu—as we did as we moved along.

Switching Gears + Learning the Ways of the Kitchen

Going into food was a surprising turn for Dee, who majored in Public Administration and took on the government stint right as he graduated. Both his parents were cooks and had dabbled in F&B themselves (with a catering business plus food kiosks and restaurants over the years—among them, the former Guava in Serendra) but it “never really became an interest" for him.

Even as he was working the consultancy position, though, he’d find himself drawn to food media in his spare time, to the point of him “falling asleep” to reruns of food shows on cable TV. As he left the government job in 2015, he had the idea of starting his own food business as well—a “healthy meal subscription” that came in before delivery apps like Grab were as popular as they are now. Though this was intended to transition into events catering for his family’s events spot in Batangas, a number of “setbacks” kept the project from pushing through. Over the pandemic Dee tried his hands at other delivery-oriented food businesses (offering everything from pizzas to ramen to dry-aged steaks) as well, but ultimately closed down his commissary in the end.

That didn’t put out his (cooking) fire—in fact, Dee found himself cooking even more following his commissary’s closure. “Ironically, that was the most time I spent cooking in this kitchen behind me,” he says, gesturing to his own home kitchen. “This was during the lockdowns, [and] I was… just basically cooking a lot for my wife and just for a few friends.” The idea, he shares, was for them to host friends and family (hence the long table they now own in their dining area).

Eventually, his family encouraged him to expand the venture to be available to the public—fitting right in with the rise of private-dining spots over the pandemic. Named after one of his daughters, Mireia Dining is an avenue through which Dee gets to show the side of him passionate about cooking, as he welcome guests into his own home and hearth.

Putting Ingredients First

Amazingly, Dee is mostly self-taught and even learned some of his tricks through online content (Cheflix, in particular). And in his book, coming up with great dishes begins with great ingredients—particularly premium ingredients that he can then bring out the best of. “My cooking philosophy would be, [that] a dish should be packed with flavor—so we start with the raw ingredients,” he tells us. “So if there's one raw ingredient that I feel is very good or that stands out, then the process begins.”

We see this in practice in the Iberico Katsu Sando—essentially their take on the Japanese classic (a favorite of Dee and his wife), but with the use of Iberico Secreto pork (brined, cooked sous vide, then breaded and fried) making for a juicier bite than most. Things go fairly traditional from there as the fried cutlet is sandwiched along with a cabbage slaw in between Hokkaido milk bread slices, but also ups the ante subtly with a thin smear of black garlic butter on the inner surface of the bread.

These great ingredients, for the most part, are the starting point for Dee. “A raw ingredient should taste very good on its own, and at the same time we just build around that particular ingredient to see what compliments [it] to further enhance the dish.” Australian trout, cured and brightened with ponzu, shines in the Trout Tartalette and it's lent further zing by pickled cucumbers, ikura, lemon zest, and green onion. Held together by a thin, crisp tart shell, the sum is as vibrant in taste as it is in appearance.

Elegant as Dee’s dishes may veer toward being in quality and in form, they nevertheless exhibit the comfort of eating in a family member’s home. Take the Hokkaido Scallop, for example—which begins with scallops cured in a mix of miso and koji, then goes the homey direction with a thick soup of potatoes, clam broth, aromatics, and dill oil. Think clam chowder gone luxe, with just a hint of umami from the Japanese ingredients that keeps the dish from becoming cloying.

Where applicable, Dee ups the ante in the flavor intensity department. "Since we're Asians [and] we have the Asian palate, we love flavorful foods," he explains. Take the Crab Pasta, for example, which so happens to be the dish that “started everything” for Mireia as its prototype was among their first creations. Fresh squid-ink bucatini from Noodle Lab forms the base onto which Dee layers over fresh crab meat, tomato cream, a seafood sauce, black caviar, and a dollop of yuzukosho. Contrasting as the ingredients might appear at the onset—in taste, in textures, in color—everything melds into a briny, umami-rich, creamy, zest-filled party once mixed together.

Mireia enters nostalgic territory in the Beef Oxtail—a contemporary take on the old meat-and-potatoes combo we all know and love. Forming the meat part of the equation here is oxtail cooked low and slow for eight hours; it’s then pressed into a disc of sorts, and air-fried for a charred, crisp exterior full of browned bits and edges (read: Maillard reactions!). Enoki mushroom tempura on top keep the cronch going, at least until the truffled pommes puree underneath provide creamy, starchy refuge. And to illuminate this otherwise-all decadent plate, the Mireia team dabs on dots of real balsamico right upon serving.

Dee admits the sweet stuff aren’t his strength, yet presents a decadent Chocolate Fondant that gushes out with hot liquid as you poke your fork in. It's lush, it's decadent, it has us fighting over forkfuls—yet in the name of balance, it's also contrasted (on texture and temperature fronts!) with accompaniments of milk gelato, honey tuille, strawberries, and a buttery caramel sauce.

It's been an adventure-filled ride so far at this point, and we're brought right back home with a post-dessert dessert that harkens back to our childhood days. As the team gathers 'round to unwind, Dee brings out freshly baked Chocolate Chip Cookies (made by his wife!), served with warm horchata for sipping in between nibbles or even dunking into.

Mireia happily blurs the lines between homey and refined, marrying familiar flavors with quality ingredients and updated formats. And with how Dee explains his ways while going around or right from the kitchen—much like a friend or family member hosting guests at home would, zero pretense involved—there's a very personal, intimate feeling to the venture that feeds not just the stomach, but the inner human as a whole.

Photos by Hans Fausto

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