Two Michelin Guide Selected restaurants are joining forces for a limited culinary collaboration that brings together Spanish and Peruvian-Japanese cuisines in a series of tasting menus at Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez.

Titled “Entre Costas y Sierras” (Between Cliffs and Tides), the collaboration pairs Cantabria with DIP Nikkei for a three-day dining experience scheduled from March 24 to 26. The event takes place at Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez in The Westin Manila, with DIP Nikkei chef de cuisine Rodrigo Serrano traveling to Manila for the collaboration.

Both restaurants were recognized as Michelin Guide Selected establishments during the guide’s inaugural year in the Philippines, highlighting their distinct culinary approaches. Cantabria focuses on contemporary Spanish cuisine inspired by the northern Spanish region known for its seafood, produce, and mountain landscapes, while DIP Nikkei showcases Nikkei cuisine, which blends Peruvian ingredients with Japanese techniques.

“Of course, our main base is Peruvian flavors and ingredients with Japanese technique, but we’ve also started incorporating local produce and other contemporary techniques as well, since Nikkei cuisine is not just a ‘fusion’ of Peruvian and Japanese food to me,” Rodrigo said. “I think Nikkei is more of an ‘evolution.’ It continues to expand and evolve in conversation with the times.”

Chef Chele Gonzalez, creative culinary director and consultant of Cantabria, said collaborations allow chefs to explore ideas beyond their usual kitchens.

“I really believe that collaborations play a significant role in the growth and the success of any restaurant,” he said. “This is an exceptional opportunity for everyone—for diners to encounter something unique, a curated degustation that blends different cultures and styles, and for us chefs to get out of our comfort zones, to share experiences and learnings from our respective culinary journeys. It’s the culmination of our bests.”

The menus draw inspiration from the natural landscapes that influence both cuisines, from coastal seafood traditions to ingredients associated with mountainous regions.

“Chef Rodrigo Serrano and I come from different parts of the world,” said Cantabria chef de cuisine Álvaro Romero Abreu-raya. “But for this collaboration, we turned to what we shared with each other, the nexus of our cuisines, and we found that it is the sea and the mountains—costas y sierras.”

He added that the dishes will highlight seafood prepared using different culinary techniques.

“It will be a lot of seafood prepared through different techniques. There will be ceviches, tiraditos, escabeche, also a lot of intense yet refreshing and balanced flavors that showcase the best of both Cantabrian and Nikkei cuisines.”

The collaboration will be offered in two formats. A six-course degustation menu will be served for dinner at P4,900+ per person, while a more casual three-course menu priced at P2,500+ per person will be available for lunch.

Among the dishes featured in the menus are Paella de Arroz Negro Acevichado, made with black rice, scallops, crispy baby squid, cilantro air and leche de tigre emulsion, and Caballa Batashoyu y Ajiverde, a Spanish mackerel dish served with kimchi marinara sauce, herb oil and micro salad.

The six-course tasting menu also includes El Pato y La Tierra, a duck and truffle paella with crispy chicharrón skin, coconut and Andean herbs with citrus essence, as well as Fuego Silente, grilled Wagyu picanha with garlic and quinoa crumble and broccolini in burnt miso.

Rodrigo noted that the collaboration reflects the shared history between Spanish and Peruvian cuisines.

“Peruvian cuisine has roots in Spanish cuisine,” he said. “So, there are similar flavors, but since we are also incorporating different techniques that we both have learned from our experiences, so I think it will be interesting and exciting for everyone. This collaboration is a blend of our identities—Álvaro Romero Abreu-raya as a Spanish chef, and me as a Peruvian chef.”

Both chefs trace their culinary beginnings to early experiences in their family kitchens. Romero Abreu-raya recalls spending afternoons in his grandmother’s kitchen learning traditional Spanish cooking, while Serrano began experimenting with Peruvian recipes at home while waiting for his busy parents to return from work.

Despite these early influences, both initially pursued different career paths before eventually committing to professional cooking. Romero Abreu-raya once considered becoming a lawyer, while Serrano nearly pursued a career in medicine.

Reservations are required for the limited-run dining event.