Match Point

There’s no name at the door, just a crimson seal impressed with a conspicuous “M”. At Masseto, wines of all stripes find their perfect match in the sublime cuisine of Chef Tippi Tambunting.

In the restaurant biz, the name of the game is always the number of covers and turnovers you make for the day. Therefore, it is always refreshing to stumble onto a restaurant that genuinely wants you to sit down, take your time, enjoy your company and, of course, eat well.

This is the credo of Masseto.

Housed in a nameless, numberless, and modern-looking building in Salcedo Village, Maseeto looks a bit daunting and alienating from the outside. They don’t even have a sign, just a glass door that almost dares you to enter: Once inside, though, you find yourself in an intimate space (quite tasetefully designed by Maja Olivares) that immediately engulfs you in its warmth. Some people have paid it one of the best compliments a restaurant can get: it doesn’t feel like you’re in the middle of Makati. All the better to indulge in its reason for being: sipping some of the best, reasonably priced wines available.

The owners have packed 300 types, from 20 varietals of 20 wine growing regions from all over the world, and housed them in a floor-to-ceiling, temperature-controlled wine rack that lines the restaurant’s back wall. These gentlemen are certified oenophiles, as they are also the owners of Premium Wine Exchange. If your thinking to get sloshed, this is the place to do it in dignified style. Of course, it would be best to do so on a full stomach, so do yourself a favor and chow down on some of Chef Tippi Tambunting’s riffs on classic continental dishes before hitting up the vino.

Tambunting’s menu is meant to be a collection of straightforward and simple dishes done with excellence. There is nothing in it to baffle you. No name that you cant pronounce. No foams. No complicated sauces. No architectural plating. Just solid, bright flavors coaxed out from high quality ingredients – all meant to complement your drinking state of mind.

Bacalao, or salt cod, is usually baked with onions, peppers and potatoes (well, in my house anyway). In Masseto, you’ll find them fried into fritters and served with a nice garlicky aioli. Who doesn’t like classy fried foods while indulging, eh? Portobellos are diced, sautéed and topped with an egg, then baked in an oven – allowing the tender mushrooms to sing out its flavors and mix with the oozing, silky yolk of the egg. It’s a great example of letting your ingredients’ true flavors stand out, and truly one that espouses their food philosophy of simplicity. Crab cakes were well done: a crispy well-balanced dish which sits atop a rather tasty sauce of roasted red peppers.

The most surprising plate was an appetizer tripe and lamb sausage braised in a slightly sweet and rich tomato sauce and topped with a nicely browned bone marrow crust. Around these parts, when you mention tripe, it usually means it’s in a pot of callos. It’s great move on the part of Tambunting to venture beyond that and explore other ways to serve tripe.

Pork belly, which really should be nominated as the Philippines’ national cut of pork, makes an appearance after being braised until tender and topped with house-made sauerkraut, crispy onions, and a sauce of its own juices. This is rich, sultry dish with a Germanic spin – perfect fortification before a night of debauchery (not that I condone this, of course).

A crispy duck leg topped with a balsamic reduction was just that; the skin audibly crackling as you cut into it. Beside it were tender potatoes, which I could swear was cooked in the duck’s fat. Ayayay. No tofu and alfalfa sprouts here (although in fairness to them, they do have salads on the menu), then again, who wants to eat tofu with a glass of Bordeaux?

Tambunting thinks that her dessert prowess isn’t yet up to snuff, but I think she’s wrong. Her Pavlova, a delicate meringue-based dessert topped with strawberries and homemade vanilla ice cream, is killer! She definitely put her time in the kitchen perfecting its great texture. A chocolate hazelnut tart was sinfully rich and will be sure to please the rabid cacao hounds.

Masseto is peaceful, elegant aosis to help ease pressures of the day. Prepare to have your derriere glued to their chairs for a few hours.

Rogue February 2010