Despite my recent consistent praise for the burgeoning dining scene in Quezon City—biased for sure, as I live in the city—I still have to admit that dining in the south, Makati to be exact, remains as exciting and invigorating as ever.

Case in point, Restaurant Idalia in Salcedo Village. Despite being an established neighborhood favorite, and despite my years of living and working in Makati in my younger days, I had only recently discovered this gem of a restaurant.

My first exposure came through the now-concluded Idalia x Ola collaboration, a five-course tasting menu that explored horchata beyond its role as a standalone beverage. Rather than treating the drink as an accompaniment, Chef Kevin David's food and Ola's modern interpretations of horchata were given equal footing, with each course thoughtfully paired to create a complete dining experience. We began with focaccia, whipped brown butter, and smoked honey alongside a traditional horchata de chufa, followed by a tostada of octopus and scallops paired with butter beer horchata. Coffee-cured salmon came with a white lychee horchata, mushroom risotto with a black peach horchata, before the meal concluded with a strawberry horchata affogato. The dinner celebrated craftsmanship, seasonality, and the meeting point of culinary tradition and contemporary café culture.

That evening offered my first real glimpse into Idalia's cooking. Earlier this month, upon the invitation of my friend Ferdi Salvador, I finally experienced the restaurant's residency at the Chef's Table in Balmori Suites. Like all good things, however, it won't be around for long. The limited engagement runs only until July 31, making the coming days the last opportunity to experience what is essentially an entirely different side of the restaurant.

The Balmori menu wastes no time introducing Chef David's style. We started with warm sourdough focaccia, served with whipped anchovy butter and hummus, before moving to tender calamari with basil aioli, hijo lettuce, and a silky soft-poached egg that tied the dish together. A plate of New Zealand mussels simmered in white wine and house nduja followed, each course showing the kitchen's confidence in balancing bold flavors with restraint. The rigatoni, tossed with anchovy, black garlic, and brown butter, was among the evening's highlights, delivering deep umami without overwhelming the palate.

The larger plates continued that momentum. The now-signature whole fried chicken, served with hot honey and rich chicken fat gravy, proved why "KFC," short for Kevin's Fried Chicken, has become one of the residency's signature dishes, especially for those willing to add a caviar supplement. Equally memorable were the halibut en papillote with shiitake, bok choy, and dashi, and the Iberico pork glazed with plum and paired with cauliflower purée and cabbage. Dessert offered a fitting finale, from bread pudding with burnt honey cream and coconut anglaise to a panna cotta layered with jackfruit, coconut, and ube.

Chef David, whose résumé includes Jean-Georges at The Mark and Barbuto in New York, has built Idalia around a free-form philosophy that draws from technique rather than any single cuisine. Open-fire cooking, fermentation, and seasonality anchor the menu, resulting in dishes that feel personal instead of confined by geography.

The Balmori residency also offers a different setting for Idalia's cooking. The Chef's Table provides a more intimate backdrop while maintaining the restaurant's relaxed yet polished style of service, making this one of Makati's most compelling dining experiences of the moment. When the residency ends on July 31, so will this menu, giving diners just one final window to experience a chapter of Idalia that is unlikely to be repeated in the same form.