THE HEAT IS ON Chef Charles Montañez cooks his dishes upon a live wood fire

Many say that food is memory. This is true. But food is also a close encounter with the unknown. You can’t get closer to anything unfamiliar than when you put it in your mouth. Remember the very first time you took a sip of wine, or your first taste of bagoong.

With hope, we’re never too old to try something for the first time—or else our experiences will only be the past on repeat, recalled, rehashed, or regurgitated.
I’m not really sure I like the idea of elevating things that I like the way they are or the way I remember them, but I don’t think the second tasting menu at Alegria Manila by chef Charles Montañez is any attempt to elevate anything.

MEET THE CHEF Charles Montañez serves up quite the menu cementing his status as a Latin-Filipino fusion star

What it does to me is it reimagines—or reinvents—certain Filipino delicacies like the buro, the tapsilog, and the balut, but it turns them into something else. The balut, for instance, is but a fleeting impression in the chawanmushi served stylistically in half an egg shell with a sphere of yolk you’re supposed to scoop out of the shell and let pop in your mouth. There’s also tapa in the tapsilog, as another example, but it’s a jerky made out of carabeef. And then there is tortang talong as the main inspiration behind a dish of corn and chives bread topped with smoked eggplants, Oscietra caviar, and eggyolk drops.

FOR STARTERS Smoked Eggplant, inspired by tortang talong, served alongside Cassava and Prawn Satti, and Tanigue in Blood Cups

Also, many dishes in the 11-course menu are enriched with a Latin American—whether Mexican or Peruvian or Brazilian—style or technique or flavor or garnish, so many of them are in effect new inventions, albeit familiar or nostalgic or rife with inspirations drawn from Filipino memories or traditions.

Indeed, dining today is about experience, but every time we sit down, although a déjà vu might pop up now and then to surprise us, or something vaguely familiar might shake up our memory, it is often a new experience we are after.
That’s why, to be worthy of their toques, Charles—and maybe all other progressive chefs—waste no time exploring, discovering, inventing new ways to please our palates.

Charles, in his own words, has learned the hard way. “I have always chosen to take the long route and dive deep to experience it all first hand before being able to control our direction,” says the executive chef and COO of Grupo Alegria Inc. “I started from the ground up. I have worked in the dirtiest of the dirty kitchens. I have gone through hostility from both other people and from myself just to be pushed. Apart from heavy work, there were betrayals and mentally challenging experiences, as if the physical demands weren’t enough. It’s a dog-eat-dog world and it is what propels our progression.”

A CHILL SETTING Alegria Manila offers a homely setting that is sure to keep guests comfy throughout their dining experience

You can rest assured that no dish you eat at Alegria is something Charles just pulled out of a hat. “I have always allowed ideas to simmer long enough before I put it out, and it somehow works to our advantage,” he says. What you eat at Alegria is the product of a long process, or a process that is still ongoing, but as Charles puts it, “I am grateful for my journey and what I am still going through.” Oh and he’s only 27, so I guess we have much to look forward to from this soul-searching chef and experience curator.

Here are snippets of my brief conversation with Charles Montañez to let us know more about what we put in our mouths when we book a table at Alegria—for now.
What does this second menu at Alegria represent for you?

We are staying true to the “transcultural” movement. Coming from the first menu release, I had this impression at the back of my head that the mixing of seemingly distant cultures (Filipino and Latin), the many similarities between them notwithstanding, might be too daring for the market. But I believe we became even more undaunted with our approach to the second season. I learned balance while not sacrificing flavors and textures, as “tongue-feel” has always been an integral part of my philosophy in producing dishes. I’m definitely proud of our serving sequence and portions this time as I have never had any guest say the meal isn’t filling enough. I have always wanted to push for an impression that tasting menu restaurant concepts aren’t just a fad but, apart from experience, discovery, learning, you’d also find it really filling enough, which is the essence of eating. I am also quite excited as to how the current menu still leaves room for progression.

EGG-CELLENT TASTE The Chicken Sphere, chicken chawanmushi, and chicken flax tostada

Many say that this menu is a showcase of how you have matured as a chef. What’s your take on this observation?

I’d take it as something positive. It definitely fuels my motivation to find ways to grow further. I take maturing pretty seriously. My targets are pointed toward inspiring my team with all that we do for the sole reason of eventually being able to do more together and deliver things that could matter more in the future. We have a long way to go, but I think we’re walking in the right direction. It doesn’t matter if it’s slower than we expected. As long as the direction isn’t backward, I’d gladly enjoy every step of the way.

Which of the ingredients or techniques or combinations in this second menu are most special to you?

For techniques, I definitely love cooking on live wood fire, which makes 90 percent of our process in the menu. We try our best to apply this in at least one component for every dish. Apart from the flavor it produces, there is something about being able to handle live open fire and manipulate it to cook food with. It fascinates me deeply, seeing the burst of flames, how the sound of burning wood and coals lingers as it matches the sizzle of meats, seeing how the char form on the edges of the vegetables… Being able to feel all these is crucial as it gives me that ample amount of courage to serve people my food because it makes me proud somehow. Some of the ingredients worth checking out are the chicha de jora and tepache. Both are ferments of their own, the first one being a beer made out of corn (Peruvian) that we turned into a broth, along with prawn heads for our “Mami” or noodle dish. Tepache (Mexican) is a ferment out of pineapple peels and rinds that we use for our escabeche.

A TASTE OF THE SEA Fish moqueca, laing tetela, sibujing, dende oil

How did you tweak the Filipino references or inspirations to blend with your more Latin and other foreign inclinations?

For one, the mami dish is made with ubud or heart of palm noodles. The structure is Filipino, but I use ubud as a Brazilian approach. We have a goto or a beef porridge made with barley or adlai, served with smoked tripe to bring out the flavor of fire and to give it a bit of funk and a wagyu carpaccio dressed in burnt corn husk oil and bone marrow. We are also serving an Iberico pork dish that you have to cut through using our custom balisong, the Filipino butterfly knife. The dish comes with horchata, sabayon, and a salsa that is distinct to Vera Cruz, Mexico.

MUY BUENO A make-your-own taco platter experience delivers fiery flavors with its chicken barbacoa

Alegria Manila is at G/F Uptown Parade, Uptown Bonifacio, 9th Avenue corner 38th Street, Taguig City.