Celera’s New Tasting Menu Gathers Its Best Bites in Neat 10-Course Package

(SPOT.ph) The lights are dim and the environment, hushed at Celera, chefs Nicco Santos’ and Quenee Vilar’s well-loved dining spot that opened in February of this year. But it seems to be the opposite case for the plates that come out of their kitchen: bright and full of life in their presentation, courageous in concept and vivid in flavors.

As soon as they opened, Celera has wowed diners with their ala-carte offerings—refined yet impactful dishes that blur the boundaries between culinary cultures. And the best way to understand what Celera is all about is by way of their recently released tasting menu, a lineup of power plates illustrating what they do best.

Also read:  
Celera Is Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar's New Playground for "Mixed Marriage" Cuisine 

Celera’s Discovery tasting menu

We’ve seen it in their previous ventures: Santos and Vilar's seamless way of uniting elements from different cuisines to form sublime, creative new dishes. And we see that same mixed-marriage approach in the Discovery tasting menu (P5,460), which is comprised of 10 courses. Some are fan favorites from the regular menu and some are exclusive to Discovery. All offer brilliant flavors in their own way, heavily featuring elements from around Asia, but with a bit of a continental backbone weaving the dishes together into a compelling, cohesive story.

Things kick off with a bowl of Brodo—a soothing soup of fish bone dashi that’s poured over white pepper crema, dotted with leek oil and smoked aroma oil. Next, powerful, punchy bites come by way of the Tartare of double gold beef tenderloin spiked with byadagi chili—a kind of chilli grown in Karnataka, India—served in crisp tart shells made of buckwheat and beetroot.

There’s the BBQ, starring tsukune-style meatballs of hand-ground white Peking duck and chicken. They’re grilled to develop a slight char on the outside, then served in rempeyek pancakes (taking after the Indonesian-Javanese cracker) and garnished with Baguio strawberry slivers for bursts of sweetness. More elegant is the Duck Liver—savory-sweet bites of duck liver mousse, local goat’s cheese, and caviar tucked into crisp, lacey discs of honey tuille. Shokupan offers a pleasure-centric break from its swankier predecessors, as it pits together fluffy buns of coconut sugar milk bread and aged kesong puti foam as a spread of sorts.

Things go feistier in the Lobster, a two-part treat of barbecued Maine lobster tail and, intriguingly, fish head noodles. The latter is a fun show of innovation by Celera, being made purely of tuna (no starch!) that’s gelatinized into long noodles. And it works beautifully as a lightly flavored canvas for the cold laksa bisque and white pepper leek foam it’s bathed in. Then there’s the Quail, which features different pan-seared cuts from its namesake (French quail, to be specific): the breast, which is the leanest; the tenderloin, which is soft and tender; and the legs, which are darker and meatier. There are little sidekicks to spruce up bites of the bird: grilled spinach; a sweet corn and caramelized onion puree; Malay-style pickles; and sweet, tangy soursop (guyabano) gel.

There's an option to supplement your meal with an additional course (around P2,900 to P3,100 depending on the size available) of Lamb, dry-aged in sake lees. Its rich, buttery meat is balanced out with the earthy thrum of beetroot mole; the zing of gremolata; and the complex savoriness of red wine miso. Circling back to the comforting side of things, we’re served bowls of Arroz—essentially porridge of Arborio rice in a smoked fish bone brodo base, plus tuna and tausi. Anything but simple it was, with the fish’s umami and depth making for soulful spoonfuls.

Dessert comes in the form of the Ais—that’s amazake (sweet sake) granita with a savory companion of soy sauce caramel cream—plus Sweetmeats, essentially petit-fours of tiny doughnuts imbued with tien obh, an incense from Thailand; and dark chocolate tarts with the plot twist that is savory-sweet, almost caramelized-tasting black garlic.

Celera, which opened in the wake of Santos and Vilar’s departure from Restaurant Aurora in 2024, has fast landed on the Manileño diner’s eat list since it opened. Santos, however, admits certain aspects of the restaurant remain a work in progress. “I think, we've just been just focused on trying to tweak everyday. Like there's never a day that we're not tweaking on all of the dishes,” the chef tells SPOT.ph. We can only be excited for what’s to come—but evidently, where they already are is itself a beautiful place. It’s well worth savoring it.

Also read:  
Soon at Celera by Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar: a "Fresh Start," "Mixed Marriage" Cuisine 
Café Aurora Lets Us in on the Streamlined Side of Chefs Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar