What to Expect at Chef Charles Montañez' Liyab Restaurant

(SPOT.ph) Thanks to his inventive tasting menus, Chef Charles Montañez, former head chef of the Alegria Group, has long had us rethinking everything we knew about playing with fire in the kitchen. So it came as a surprise to many that, after shining brightly through his inventive dishes at Alegria Manila, he announced he was leaving the group late last year. But it turns out Montañez isn’t bidding us goodbye by any means. In fact, the young chef’s got exciting stuff in the works for the latter part of 2024, primarily in the form of his soon-to-open spot Liyab and its sibling Anomaly.

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Chef Charles Montañez on his upcoming restaurants:

Finding a great space in Bonifacio Global City in June of 2023 sparked the idea of opening the two restaurants. Montañez knew he wanted to take the opportunity to lease the space, and considering the “magnitude” of the project in his head, he decided to leave the Alegria group “to start anew and put myself in a situation where I will be more hands on with the craft."

Formally announced in October of 2023, Montañez’s departure from the Alegria Group puzzled many, us included. The chef had been with the restaurant group for six years after all, leading to the natural intertwining between his identity and that of the group’s dining spots—Alegria Manila most especially, which served a winning tasting menu featuring fired-up Filipino and Latin-American elements.

Montañez admits that as the years went by, he got drawn away from the cooking side of things because he also had to take care of business matters. Now, he is intent on "starting from scratch again—going back to my roots which is focused on the craft.”

This brings us back to the said space in BGC, which is sizable to say the least at 1,300 square meters. Here, he gets to open two concepts under the KGA Group, best known for their bars and casual establishments in Quezon City. With Chef Charles’ new ventures, slated to open in October this year, KGA is diving into the fine-dining sphere. 

Keeping the Fire Burning at Liyab

For starters, there’s Liyab, a dégustation spot that will be equipped with a “full-on wood-fired kitchen”—and no gas. “We're channeling the different ways you can cook around fire,” says Montañez. Though Liyab’s space is large, seats will be limited to 30. “I want it spacious,” Montañez says.

Contrary to popular belief, a wood-fired kitchen is not just for grilling, the chef tells us, and there are “at least four to five ways of manipulating fire to produce food”—from smoking, to open-fire cooking, to rotisserie cooking and more. “I designed a wood-fired cooking line that can be seen from the dining area,” Montañez explains. “Even our pots and pans, how we stew, how we're gonna be cooking our rice is gonna be over natural fire.” They will also be aging their meats and seafood in-house and will have these on display.

Local ingredients will figure heavily in Liyab as Montañez will be partnering with Negros Occidental's Ramon Uy Jr. of Slow Food and utilizing produce sourced from around the country. “We've been tracking down a lot of ingredients that are on the brink of extinction and putting [them] in one place,” he says. “So pinapag-connect- connect namin yung mga small-time farmers, and then we plan to utilize their ingredients.” Putting these on the spotlight would hopefully pique people's interest, says Montañez, and encourage others to use them as well, “para hindi maging extinct ‘yung mga bagay na ‘to.”

Given Montañez’s prowess in Latin American flavors, as those who have dined at his Alegria restaurants would know, this naturally gives rise to the question: Would Liyab's food also be Latin American? He maintains that the cuisine will still be a major influence on his cooking but that it wouldn’t define it. “We don't want to be confined by [having Latin American as a theme] but it's still gonna be evident,” says the chef. This influence would play out stronger in terms of technique, he adds, rather than in flavors. "There’s [also] going to be a lot of curing in our cooking style now."

Ultimately, Liyab will be a highly personal dining spot for Montañez. “There [are] gonna be a lot of dishes that kind of represent my life and what I’ve been through,” he elaborates. “Everything that holds weight in my memory is going to be transmitted to the plates, and the overall experience. It will be an expression of my life seen through a culinary lens.”

Anomaly, Liyab’s Swanky Sibling

The BGC space will also be home to a VIP lounge which would be overseen by Montañez’s partners in KGA. Called Anomaly, the concept is meant to accommodate some 150 or so diners, or a 250- to 300-strong standing crowd. There will be an indoor and outdoor lounge, a bar area, rooftop terrace, and two private dining areas.

“It's gonna have proper sit-down food, but [with a] lounge setup,” says Montañez, who’ll be taking care of the food side of things. Guests can have dinner here, he tells us, and the dishes can be ordered à la carte. It also serves as a spot where people can hang out and sip cocktails "after your Liyab meal."

Consider it Liyab’s swanky older sibling, as Anomaly is expected to flaunt stylish interiors where people can also vibe with the beats and/or dance the night away.

Going Back to His Roots

It's clear the sparkle in Montañez's eyes has yet to dim. During our interview, he describes the upcoming parts of the two concepts in great detail (we can’t quite go to specifics yet but watch this space)—the place, the design, the guiding ethos and philosophy. At the end of the day, however, this chef’s heart goes back to the kitchen—which he hopes to make the focal point of his work.

“I have this commitment that when we shift to [Liyab and Anomaly], [my kitchen team is] gonna see me more often. From the time we open the restaurant and when we close—which is what we're used to doing naman talaga as chefs,” says Montañez. “My promise to people with this new home is that I’m gonna be the one welcoming and hosting them everyday, cooking the food that they deserve—for taking the time to visit. At this point, after going through everything, I only caught myself longing for the real essence of being passionate about feeding people and letting them in to the pursuit of my culinary curiosities.”

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