PRESS RELEASE
PR-056-2023
3 April 2023, Singapore – H.E. Medardo G. Macaraig, Ambassador of the Philippines in Singapore, joined the Awarding Ceremony of the prestigious Asia’s Best 50 Restaurant held in Resorts World Sentosa on 28 March 2023, where two (2) Filipino restaurants in Makati made it to the list and a Filipina Chef bagged the pinnacle award of Best Female Chef 2023.
Joining for the first time on the ranks at Top 48 is Metiz Restaurant in Makati headed by half-French, half-Filipino chef, Chef Stephan Duhesme. Opened in 2019, Metiz is a showcase to all things Filipino, and is known for fermenting its produce and using lesser-known, all local ingredients on its menu. The name comes from the French ‘mestizo’, a term that refers to people of mixed Filipino and foreign ancestry, reflecting the chef’s own heritage and the meeting of influences in his native cuisine.
Another restaurant which made it among the Top 50 list is Toyo Eatery, which also won two awards: Best Restaurant in the Philippines 2023, and the prestigious Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award 2023. This Makati restaurant, a consistent awardee for four (4) consecutive years since its debut in 2019, is by couple chefs Jordy and May Navarra, sources its ingredients locally, and fosters the cultural heritage of the Philippines through its relationships with local farmers and artisans. The restaurant removed beef from its menus in 2022, and half of its dishes are now vegetarian or vegan.
Singapore-based Filipina Chef Johanne Siy of Lolla becomes the second Filipina chef to bag the Asia’s Best Female Chef award, following Margarita Forès who won the same premier accolade in 2016. Chef Johanne, however, is no rookie in award-giving bodies as she was the recipient of Singapore’s World Gourmet Awards’ Female Chef of the Year in 2021. Born in Dagupan City, Philippines, Chef Johanne was a corporate executive before venturing into the culinary industry. She shares her dream of having this award category abolished, signaling a close in gender gap in this industry.
Launched in 2013 in Singapore, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants celebrates gastronomy across the region to provide diners around the globe with local insight and culinary recommendations. Now on its 10th year, it has quickly grown to become the premier gastronomic ranking in the region, with its awards events marking the greatest annual gathering of chefs, restaurateurs, media and food industry VIPs. (END)
