Asia’s Best Restaurant Gaggan to pop up in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Just last March, Gaggan Anand’s eponymous restaurant in Bangkok was crowned the No. 1 restaurant in Asia by the 2015 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. It was awarded the #10 Best Restaurant in the World in London last June at the 2015 World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

On Oct. 6, 50 lucky patrons will get to experience Gaggan’s progressive Indian cuisine in Manila, at a collaboration dinner with Gallery Vask’s executive chef and partner J. Luis “Chele” Gonzalez. While Anand says he will be bringing some of his restaurants’ signature dishes to Manila, diners are in for an evening of surprises as he plans to create “experimental dishes” with Gonzalez, completely on Filipino produce.

The event is organized by Cross Cultures, an events platform founded by journalist Cheryl Tiu that promotes the exchange of cultures through food. “Apart from his restaurant being the best in Asia and No. 10 in the world, it’s admirable how Gaggan is shining the light on his native Indian cuisine, more specifically the street food of his hometown in Kolkata — and that it can be had not just as comfort food, but also as fine food,” Tiu says on the reason behind this collaboration. “This is the same thing that Chele is doing with Filipino cuisine at Gallery Vask. Both Indian and Filipino cuisines are not necessarily top of mind whenever people think of Asian cuisine, so it’s great that these two chefs are advocating them onto the world stage. Plus, Gaggan is Indian but his restaurant is in Thailand; Chele is Spanish but he lives in the Philippines, so there’s a lot of other cultures and influences that are going to come together in this dinner, from both chefs to their teams to the diners. It’s going to be really exciting.”

The dinner will be paired with Champagnes from Veuve Clicquot, the official Champagne partner of the World’s 50 Best and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Guests can expect to begin with Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label NV, before progressing to the Vintage Blanc 2004 and Vintage Rose 2004.

There will be a press conference and cooking demo the day before on October 5 at the Gaggenau showroom. Anand is the brand’s culinary ambassador. It will be a sneak peek of the dishes to expect at his new restaurant.

This will be the chef’s first time to visit the Philippines. “I am looking forward to coming to learn how to make adobo and learn the food culture from my Pinoy friends,” he says. “I am also excited to visit the fresh markets as I heard many good things about the seafood produce in the Philippines.”

Gonzalez says of Anand, “I’m very excited to work with one of the best chefs in the world and the best chef in Asia. It is very interesting how he elevates Indian cuisine because somehow, it’s what we do in Gallery Vask with Philippine produce. Our cuisines have a lot of things in common but at the same time are very different so it is a chance to learn a lot from each other. I am looking forward to collaborating with another disciple from El Bulli.”

The event is in partnership with Gaggenau, Scavolini, Thai Airways, Breville, Veuve Clicquot, San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, and their dedicated digital magazine, Finedininglovers.com.

The Oct. 6 (Tuesday) collaboration dinner between Gaggan and Gallery Vask is priced at P7,900+ service charge, inclusive of Champagne. For reservations, email crossculturesbycheryltiu@gmail.com.