Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez Opens at The Westin Manila
The city's newest and possibly most authentic Spanish restaurant recently opened its doors at The Westin Manila. Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez is a new Spanish dining concept from multi-awarded celebrity chef Chele Gonzales that is named after and in honor of his hometown of Cantabria, located in the northern coast of Spain. The Hungry Kat was invited to the special media preview held last March 7, a day before it officially opened for dinner on March 8, 2024.
Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez is a new culinary venture in partnership with The Westin Manila which just recently celebrated its first anniversary. The restaurant is an ode to Chef Chele's childhood years and is a project that has been one year in the making. It's a place that Chef Chele can definitely be proud of as he shares his own Cantabria heritage with the rest of the world.
Cantabria is open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. You can find it on the hotel's topmost level, a more private and exclusive area with gorgeous views of the Ortigas central business district.
Plush sofas and elegant chairs give the place a sophisticated yet homey ambiance. The cozy interiors come decorated with beautiful Spanish tiles along with paintings and photos of the region. There's even a small metallic map of Cantabria adorning one of its walls.
Cantabria, in the words of Chef Chele, is an infinite landscape known for its unparalleled culinary treasures from its legendary ocean to a multitude of greeneries and mountains. Their menu takes guests to the shores of the Cantabria region, offering a taste of its bounty in delicate bites and indulgent delights.
Chef Chele Gonzales is proud to present the diversity of Spanish cuisine and to celebrate this region's ocean gems through heritage recipes from his childhood and early culinary beginnings. These are dishes he enjoyed at home prepared by his mother which he is now sharing with us. Together with chef de cuisine Ivan Saiz Sordo, Cantabria specializes in creative and sophisticated approach to seafood, as well as innovative tapas, comfort meats, and other traditional Spanish favorites.
Our evening started with some pintxos like the Wagyu and Inure Toast. These are made with wagyu tartare, salmon roe, and truffle yolk on top of a brioche toast. It's an immaculate burst of flavors with the tender wagyu just melting away with the egg yolk in one glorious bite.
The Toasta de Anchova y Berenjena is one of Chele's signature dishes using premium Cantabrian anchovy served with charred eggplant on a baguette toast. This gave guests a quick preview of the many Cantabrian seafood items the restaurant will be featuring.
There's also a bar area inside Cantabria with dedicated bartenders ready to prepare exquisite cocktails and bubbly beverages.
We had a taste of the Sangria Tinto as our welcome drink. This is a refreshing red wine sangria with fruity flavors.
The bartender also prepared a special cocktail for us called A Night in Santander, which is the capital of Cantabria. This comes with tequila in green tea and chili salt on the side. Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez offers a wide selection of beverages from sangria, cocktails, vino and more.
What Cantabria is really proud of are their sea produce. These imported seafood are on display at the counter for all the guests to see.
Chef Chele prepared a fantastic menu for us that evening to highlight some of his Spanish specialties using ingredients and cooking techniques from Cantabria
For our appetizers, first up was the Ostra De La Casa. These are plump and juicy oysters combined with sherry mignonette, green apple, and chives.
Next was the Tartlet De Viera, a scallop tartlet combined with white chocolate, caviar and celeriac puree. I was not sure if it was a starter or a dessert, because this had a unique combination of premium seafood and white chocolate. It was truly culinary genius on display because it all worked together and we all loved it.
These dishes were paired with the Torello Brut Reserve, a sparkling wine made using Penedes grapes from Spain.
We also tried some of the tapas on the menu. The Chili Crab Croquetas con Mayonesa De Lima comes with creamy chili crab croquettes with lime mayonnaise. The croquettes really tasted like Singaporean chili crab and we didn't even have to get our hands dirty.
The Ravioli de Carne Guisada con Espuma de Parmesano is a braised beef and porcini ravioli topped with parmesan espuma and basil oil. Chef Chele used to eat this dish as a child when his mother made these for him during Saturday lunches. These tapas were served with Menade Rueda Verdejo Blanco from Spain.
For our main course, the highlight of the evening was the Rodaballo a la Parrilla or Grilled Whole Wild Turbot. The wild turbot is a flat fish that is native to European waters and is highly valued and classified as a fine dining fish. Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez is one of the very few places where you can find this gem on the menu. Our portions of the Grilled Wild Turbot were served with house salad and potatoes on the side.
The next main course was the Arroz Negro de Viera Y Chipiron. This comes with black ink creamy rice topped with grilled scallops, baby squid and herb aioli. It's similar to a paella negra but the creaminess of the rice is more like a risotto which I really liked. The big pieces of scallops were also a delicious addition.
Meatlovers don't have to worry because there's also the Presa Iberico con Patata Y Mojos. This is a grilled pork iberico steak served with fried marble potatoes plus green and red mojos sauces. The pork was so tender and flavorful, as if I was eating at one of the country's best steakhouses.
To make this course even more spectacular, it was served with a glass of Les Cousins L'Inconscient from Catalonia, Spain.
For dessert, Chef Chele presented probably the most delicious cake I have ever tasted. The Sobao Pasiego is a Cantabria delicacy cake served with cheese ice cream and berries coulis. The fluffy cake was just heavenly and went so well with the ice cream and mixed berries.
We ended our exquisite dinner with the Toffe, Cacao, Avellana Y Cafe. This is a chocolate sponge cake with caramel mousse and caramelized hazelnut topped with ice cream. We would like to thank Chef Chele Gonzalez for hosting and preparing our lovely dinner in Cantabria at The Westin Manila. This is definitely the most authentic Spanish restaurant you can find in Metro Manila because Chef Chele has crafted the entire menu from his heart.
Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez
Roof Level, The Westin Manila, San Miguel Avenue corner Lourdes Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig
(0962) 533-7957
www.facebook.com/westinmanilahotel
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