Chef Francis Tolentino’s newest seasonal tasting menu “Elements” explores how fire, air, water, and earth can transform a dish into a vibrant and expressive gastronomic medley.
The elements that surround us can seem so ubiquitous, it’s easy to take them for granted. But fire, water, air, and earth are the things that keep us alive, moving the world and lending it its richness. This is the concept that lies at the heart of “Elements,” the latest seasonal tasting menu of Chef Francis Tolentino’s Taupe Dining. Making use of nature’s bounty through modern culinary methods like dry-aging, fermentation, smoking, and freezing, the menu showcases the unique textures, flavors, and combinations born from these complex interactions—further pushing the idea of cooking as alchemy.
Now on its third seasonal cycle, Elements is Taupe’s most conceptually refined offering to date. While the techniques used to create and serve each dish have inherent flair, they’re less bold statements than they are tools for adding depth and clarity to each course. The result is a roster of dishes that honor local culinary traditions with a deep respect for their ingredients and processes.
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First Courses Offer A Refreshing Start
Diners may choose between two menu options: a 10-course tasting menu and an 8-course tasting menu, with the latter excluding the Dry-Aged Duck and Pinoy Petit Fours. This gives you some flexibility when it comes to options, though if you’re looking to dive deeper into the menu’s concept, 10 courses would be the way to go (as you won’t want to miss the excluded dishes in the 8-course menu).
The 10-course option begins with a line-up of refreshing dishes that do a great job of whetting the appetite through light bursts of flavor and intriguing textures. The amuse bouche was a strong start: the Guyabano Cloud (a sweet potato tart with guyabano espuma), true to its name, practically melted in my mouth with a pleasantly tart explosion; meanwhile, the Prawn Butter Brioche was an umami-packed, seafood lover’s dream in the form of a lemongrass brioche filled with fresh local river prawn custard butter.
A frozen treat came next, but not the sweet kind you’d expect. The Blue Crab Ice Cream Sandwich turned savory into a dessert delight with blue crab ice cream and a spread of mango gel, wedged between two crunchy chicken skin biscuits then lined with ossetra caviar and cold smoked salmon roe.
The Wet-aged Hamachi was a personal favorite, the flavors of the fresh cubes of fish made more apparent through pieces of fresh longan and avocado purée, then served ceviche-style with a heap of calamansi snow (shaved ice).
This was followed by a Wintermelon Salad, a wonderfully mellow yet engaging prelude to the more indulgent main courses. Wintermelon (locally referred to as kundol) is cut into spaghetti-thin slices, which are brined in yuzu before being mixed with kaong (the soft, immature seeds of the sugar palm tree), fragrant pear, peach granita, onion butter, and salmon roe infused in gin. The latter two ingredients tied everything together, offering a punch of flavor to the otherwise lighter components.
Main Courses Become A Progressively Indulgent Experience
The main courses have a gravitas to them, growing progressively indulgent as you move further into the menu. Starting everything off is another showstopper on my list of favorites, the Hokkaido Scallops and Corn. Tender scallops are cured with kombu (a type of Japanese kelp), then smoked, bringing out all their rich liquor; they’re then placed on a creamy bed of Japanese corn cappuccino, which lends a light sweetness that’s layered with punchy shrimp head fat.
The Smoked Iberico Skewers made an entrance while served on a bed of smoking charcoal. Made up of the “pluma” (a part beneath the ribs of the Iberico pig), it’s cured, smoked, and roasted, resulting in tender and succulent chunks of meat. Fermented pear salsa and mushroom mouse cut through the richness, while a sugar cane skewer (flavored with lime, honey, and pandan) adds a touch of sweetness and fun, encouraging diners to bite into it in order to release its juices.
A break, of course, was in order before proceeding to the rest of the main courses. Not one to be outdone, the 24K Magic palate cleanser is what the name suggests: a flurry of edible gold dust in lime pandan syrup, poured over fermented guava soft gel, in all its shining, shimmering, splendidly fruity glory.
The Dry-aged Duck can’t be missed, with its slivers of duck featuring a deep flavor (thanks to the dry-aging and grilling). Try it alone first to appreciate it in its most basic form, before pairing it with the coconut ash sauce (a semi-sweet, heady concoction) and smoked truffle sauce. Don’t forget to take a bite out of the side of braised duck meat quenelle wrapped in a queso de bola veil.
Last but certainly not least in the main courses is the A5 Wagyu Balbacua, which ends the savory fare with velvety slices of wagyu tucked beneath a black squid ink pasta blanket, laid atop an earthy kadyos (pigeon pea) purée, and drizzled with a beef tendons demi sauce that ties everything together.
Desserts Are A Sweet Taste of Comfort
The menu’s desserts also showcase the many ways in which elements and techniques come together to create a web of captivating flavor combinations. Those with a sweet tooth will take pleasure in the Burnt Brazo, a passion fruit and calamansi surprise beneath a layer of Italian meringue that’s burnt with binchōtan (a Japanese hardwood charcoal known for its long burning, intense yet even heat distribution, minimal smoke) right before your very eyes. This creates a nuanced mix of tart, marshmallowy, smoky flavor that keeps your tastebuds on their toes.
The last two desserts also happen to be my personal favorites. The Chocolate & Pistachio Entremet is a lesson in balance: a layer of spongecake topped with soft pistachio butter, black sesame dark chocolate, and tuile that’s satisfyingly chocolatey without being cloyingly sweet.
Then there’s the Pinoy Petit Fours, an assemblage of Filipino merienda favorites in bite-size forms and fresh twists. Start off with the Turon, a creamy take on the carmelized treat made up of smoked banana mousse enshrouded in a crisp banana cylinder, topped with ossetra caviar. Then move onto the Bibingka, a cold iteration of the eponymous cake that captures its essence in one bite with salted egg semifreddo and coconut custard. The Hopia evokes the spirit of the beloved pastry, with red and green mung bean ganache that’s not too sweet, laid between pinipig tuile that adds a nice crunch. Fans of anything rice cake will enjoy the Karyoka, fried glutinous rice and purple yam with rosehip compote.
Beverages: The Taupe Accompaniments
To enhance the experience, Taupe offers curated beverage pairings tailored to complement the menu’s progression. Guests may choose from a Standard Wine Pairing with four pours, a Premium Wine Pairing with five, a Cocktail Pairing featuring four craft cocktails, or a Zero-Proof Pairing.
While I tried the Cocktail Pairing’s first drink, Juventud (a tropical and floral mix that was a welcoming start to the meal), I opted to try the Zero-Proof Pairing menu—which to my mind, finds its strength in the way drinks were designed with just as much thought and complexity as those in the regular cocktail menu. I never felt like I missed out, and the menu offered a memorable line-up of mocktails that went well with each wave of courses.
Some standouts include the Dramangi Fruit Fizz (red dragon fruit, ripe mango, ginger, ginger shrubs, dalandan, sampaguita bayleaf, seltzer), and because I can’t resist a good Thai tea concoction, the Chock-Not Latte (strawberry and cardamom oleo, milk, vanilla Thai tea, and a dollop of local peanut butter spread across the glass’s rim).
Taupe Dining’s third and newest seasonal menu does justice to its title, not so much proving but rather cementing an important fact about good cuisine: that, like the elements, it’s a kinetic and dynamic part of our lives that can be as enriching as it is essential.
Taupe Dining is located at the ground floor of The Maridien Tower 2, 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City. Operating hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 6 PM to 11 PM. For more information and bookings, visit www.taupedining.com.
Photos courtesy of Taupe Dining (unless specified).
