Bridgetowne's Bocca Combines Good Food With Posh Interiors

(SPOT.ph) The owners of Bocca talk about the restaurant as an investment. They come from the world of business, and it can’t help but leak into their language, even while they’re talking about food. There is talk about making the restaurant a comfortable place to have a meeting, or a nice place to have an event like a product launch. And this is true: with its gorgeous, high-ceilinged interiors, elegant decor, and high-end food, Bocca will likely turn out as a destination for people looking to impress a client, or the press, or anyone else. 

But also, Bocca is an investment in the area it’s in. It’s in Bridgetowne, a burgeoning luxury development positioned to be a new BGC around the border of Quezon City and Pasig. There isn’t a whole lot there yet apart from the requisite office buildings and condominiums: there is a mall set to open in a couple of months, a football field, an obstacle park, and a towering statue designed by Filipino-American artist Jefrë.

Also read: This 20-Storey Sculpture Statue in Quezon City Is Finally Complete

Bocca is there, though, with the understanding that this community will grow, and that they’ll want food that reflects their luxe surroundings. 

What's the food like at Bocca?

This isn’t to say that Bocca’s food is overly fancy. What it does is offer the kind of thoughtfulness and attention to detail that’s generally found in the top restaurants around the world. Chef Ed Grafilo, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu, really tries to bring those standards to the restaurant.  

A lot of that can be seen in their sourdough, which they bake themselves and ends up as a component in several of their dishes. The starter is old, at least part of it having been borrowed from a bakery abroad. Chef Ed added bubod to it, the native Northern yeast adding a touch of local flavor to the ancient starter. It is the crostini that goes along with their wharf chowder with crayfish, providing a vessel to sop up the rich, sea-sweet soup. Toasted crumbs serve as a bed for the octopus salad, which is served with charred lettuce, caesar dressing, and another slice of that bread.

The pizza on the menu, which comes out of a really impressive oven, is also made with the same sourdough. It gives the pie a strong chew and a mild, but complex tang. The pizza they served us was one with locally sourced burrata on it, matched with an XO-sauce-infused honey. The pie feels decadent and elegant all at once, the creamy excess of cheese matched with subtle hints of sweetness and spice. 

The meal moves on to heavier fare. There’s foie gras sliders, served with paper thin potato chips and a sweet, smoky, and spicy barbecue sauce. There’s surf and turf: a lamb chop served alongside a seared scallop and a potato pavé. The lamb is marinated in yogurt and spices for days, blunting its gamey characteristics, and giving it a distinct mediterranean flavor. The pavé is one of those things that just really shows off what this restaurant can do: it is a preparation that is generally reserved for the most high-end of restaurants, since it is so meticulous and time consuming. And Bocca just does it. 

Bocca makes fresh pasta, too. They use it in their carbonara, made the Italian way with just eggs and cheese. It features in their duck rillette tortellini, a remarkable construction that uses duck confit as a filling for the pasta, and is served along with fava beans and a carrot spuma. This might have been the best bite of the whole meal, offering deep notes of umami that just set off on the palate, complemented by the sweet notes of the accompanying vegetable components. It is undeniably rich, but there is also a certain lightness that balances things out. 

Their approach to cuisine extends to their drinks. The cocktails are designed by Shinichi Itoh, currently head bartender at Raion. And like the San Juan bar, the drinks at Bocca are playful and modern. The PB&J is a highlight, the bourbon-based cocktail tasting very much like its inspiration, kicking off with a hit of peanut, before developing a berry jam backnote. The most striking of the drinks is Contrast, with its distincts layers of golden Japanese whisky at the bottom, a creamy layer above it, and red wine floating on top. It is a beautifully nuanced cocktail, starting with a floral bloom and tannins of the red wine, before delivering a sweeter payload of nutty flavors and settling on the oak and heat of whisky. 

During the meal, there was a lot of talk about what else the restaurant could be: a space where wine tastings could be held, or clubs could meet up. They talk about opening up their kitchen to other chefs, about being flexible with their menu. There is talk of also doing a degustation. It feels like there’s still a lot up in the air for Bocca, which will grow along with the community that it’s in, and will likely adapt as more people pour into this new luxury area. But at this point, what’s clear is that Bocca is set up to impress. It is just a truly impressive place, with food that tends to go an extra step to be memorable. 

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