Opening Soon: A Kakigori Spot by Toyo Eatery and Tokyo's Florilège

(SPOT.ph) It might not be entirely obvious at first glance, but there are subtle ways that Filipino and Japanese cuisines intersect—like in the existence in both of desserts that revolve around shaved ice. One upcoming spot looks to be playing on that intersection: AzukiToyo, an upcoming kakigori place by two celebrated dining establishments: Tokyo’s Florilège, and Manila’s own Toyo Eatery.

Slated to open in the first half of July at Makati’s Karrivin Plaza, at the space formerly occupied by Panaderya Toyo, is AzukiToyo, which specializes in kakigori—the iced dessert of Japanese origin, comprised of shaved ice lent personality by a range of syrups and toppings.

The soon-to-open spot is a collaboration between Toyo Eatery and Florilège, the celebrated restaurant from Tokyo known for their French-Japanese tasting menus and philosophy centered on sustainability. Helmed by Chef Hiroyasu Kawate, Florilège is currently 36th on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, 17th on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, and a holder of two MICHELIN stars and one MICHELIN Green Star.

It was in 2019, during a collaboration dinner between Florilège and Toyo Eatery in Japan, that Toyo’s Chef Jordy Navarra and Kawate had a conversation on the traditional art of making halo-halo by hand, where ice is scraped manually using an ice shaver. A couple of months later, Kawate gifted Jordy a professional kakigori machine, which led to deeper conversations on the topic. (This same machine was what was used to churn out the exclusive kakigori at Inatô during Toyo’s ninth birthday celebration in March—yup, the one with the flavors of lychee, roselle, and coconut!)

Florilège was already doing kakigori-centered pop-ups at the time, leading to the opening of standalone kakigori-focused counter in Tokyo in 2022: Azuki to Kouri, headed by the restaurant’s former pastry chef Miho Horio. And with that came the idea for a new collaboration—one that marries the spirit of Azuki to Kouri, and the distinctive approach of Toyo Eatery. AzukiToyo is the sweet sum—more-than-sum, really—of this equation.

On the interiors front, the design for their space was done by One Zero Design Studio in collaboration with Studio Ong (who also worked on that of Iai and Inatô). Perhaps its defining, most striking feature is the criss cross-esque pattern on the wall, taking after what’s called binakael—the traditional weaving pattern originally from Northern Luzon.

Toyo Eatery is on a roll, to say the least—this is yet another addition to the multi-awarded restaurant’s growing list of accomplishments this 2025. Just last week, they came to the spotlight as one of the places visited by Phil and Monica Rosenthal for the buzzed-about Filipino food episode of Somebody Feed Phil. Earlier this month, Navarra held a one-night feast in collaboration with Chef Johanne Siy of Lolla in Singapore and local bacon snack purveyor Baken. And back in February, Toyo was bestowed the 2025 Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, where they’re also listed at 42nd this year.