Out with the old, in with the new. And, this time, the new is quite new indeed. After a quiet few weeks, the Peninsula Manila’s Old Manila is ready to showcase its new menu developed by the iconic 47-year-old restaurant’s new chef de cuisine.
At 32 years old, Chef Gaël Kubler is the right man for the job. Do not let his age fool you, nor his innocent boyish looks, as this native of Alsace has an extensive experience that many chefs his age would be envious of. He has trained under two three-star Michelin chefs over the course of his budding career, first under Marc Haeberlin at the L’Auberge de I’ll in Illhaeusern in Alsace, France in 2012; and then later, when he moved to The Ritz in London, he was mentored by Michael Nizzero.
In short, Chef Gaël knows his craft, as was evident in that dinner I enjoyed at Old Manila this week, where I was able to observe the young chef at work—both inside the kitchen, preparing the evening’s meals, and outside where he never got tired of entertaining and engaging with the restaurant’s guests.
Old Manila’s new menu, at first glance, reveals Chef Gaël’s classical culinary training. It is, as every dish demonstrates, very French—in the gastronomic sense of the word. At the same time, however, many of the ingredients are sourced locally (except, in the case of our dinner that evening, the duck breast, which was sourced from France).
“I will be sourcing ingredients from local suppliers who can assure me of the freshest vegetables from Tagaytay and Batangas, with others flown in daily from Mindanao,” the red-haired chef explains. “We also have suppliers for top-quality fish and seafood that are ethically and sustainably sourced, or responsibly farmed.”
Particularly interesting is the veal sweatbread appetizer, which Chef Gaël had to explain a bit to us at dinner. It is not, as most people think when they talk about sweatbread, made from liver. It is made from the thymus of a calf. As such, the meat of the sweatbread, when prepared properly, reveals a rather tender texture because of how the thymus is a part exposed to the calf’s drinking of milk. To say the least, it was an interesting dish, which is very popular among foreign visitors of Old Manila, the chef adds.
Other interesting dishes in the new menu are the ahi tuna carpaccio (calamansi gel, pickled mango, ginger oil, coconut dressing); tournedos rossini (black opal wagyu, duck foie gras, brioche, truffle mash); Atlantic turbot (prawns, oyster mushrooms, bok choi, potato, ginger, beurre blanc); crab and green pepper ravioli (bisque, peas, espuma, toasted peanuts); and desserts that complete the experience, like pear and hazelnut (spiced moscato, sponge, salted caramel), and banana and toffee (tuile, crémeux, rum raisin ice cream).
“My grandmother cooked with love and care every day. I still remember the smells and aromas of her kitchen,” Chef Gaël recalls. “My menu in Old Manila is also very simple."
Old Manila at the Peninsula Manila is open on Mondays to Fridays for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and on Mondays to Saturdays for dinner from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.