When eating out becomes a way of life that is no longer limited to the upper echelon of society, restaurants, fastfood and other eating places now find themselves in a vast opportunity to grab the largest possible share of the stomach.
If the eating establishment is serious about this, then it will also seriously rethink ways to keep customers coming back for more. For example, how do you deal with an already perfect dish (at least in my book) such as a chicken inasal? It has been everywhere and has existed as an afternoon-til-midnight delight of the laidback Negrense streets for a very long time.
Sarsa Kitchen + Bar has found a way to give a twist to Ilonggo dishes like chicken inasal and beef kansi (broth), chicken skin and crispy dilis, from the way they are cooked and visually presented on the table, to the way the establishment has been purposely situated. I mean, who would expect to find comfort food such as these dishes in between two foreign restaurants in Bonifacio Global City?
Sarsa Kitchen + Bar Boni High
fried eggplant
Chef Jayps
One gets a big surprise to find that a chicken inasal blends just as well with Sarsa’s signature sauce, that a fried eggplant can be garnished with white cheese, crispy sardines and pinakurat vinegar, that a squash can become sweet roasted and topped with tofu, and that a fried tilapia fish can be topped with mango sauce? These are just examples of how these everyday dishes can be elevated to a notch higher to ignite the palate even more, through the creative touches of the people behind the kitchen, spearheaded by celebrity chef and owner JP Anglo, better known as Chef Jayps in the Master Chef Pinoy Edition TV show.
A hands-on chef, some diners like myself may find themselves bumping into him and catching up with him for a few Ilonggo conversations.
