BGC restaurant goes for healthy and organic, tasty and filling

Most restaurant concepts are pretty straightforward: you go to one that serves the type of food you’re in the mood for. Often they focus on a specific regional cuisine (Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern), ingredient (chicken, pasta, steak), or even cooking style (grilled, fast food, fried). One restaurant in Bonifacio Global City, however, chucks all that and instead is more focused on providing livelihood for local farmers and indigenous communities.

Earth Kitchen, says co-owner Joseph Hizon, is more like an outreach program than an actual business. The restaurant located at High Street Central works with whatever their farmer-suppliers provide them, which means there’s no easy answer when asked what kind of food they serve.

“Our menu is not cuisine-specific,” says Hizon. “Healthy, local, sustainable—our concept revolves around those. I think the popular term to what we do is farm-to-table.”

The BGC restaurant, which opened in July this year, is actually Earth Kitchen’s second branch. The original along White Plains in Katipunan, Quezon City, opened in 2013. Hizon says the restaurat started out as a way to support the farmers of the Got Heart Foundation, which their partner Melissa Yeung-Yap established in 2007. “Earth Kitchen provided [the farmers] with a steady clientele,” Hizon explains.

While the motivation is admirable in itself, everyone knows restaurants live and die by their food. Working with the sustainable, organic ingredients, all sourced from local suppliers, the chefs—David Hizon and JR Trani—whip up an intriguing selection of menu items aimed to satisfy increasingly discriminating diners.

On a recent visit to the BGC branch, designed to look like a picnic at the park, complete with faux grass and repurposed wood, I started with Shrimp Spring Rolls (P220/regular, P325/large). Dipped in a peanut and lime-hoisin sauce, the appetizer was fresh, flavorful and light, and helped set the tone for the rest of the meal.

I had to try the Curried Squash (P190) as I always like a good pumpkin soup. The tangy, slightly spicy curry enhanced the traditional flavor profile of pumpkin, and while it was a bit heavier than I expected, I wasn’t complaining. I also sampled one of the most popular items on the menu, the Watermelon and Rocket Salad (P300). It was hard not to like the contrast of the cool, crisp greens (arugula, edible flowers) with the crunch of pili nuts. The addition of juicy watermelon slices and homemade kesong puti and generous balsamic vinaigrette dressing made for an interesting interplay of textures and flavors that all worked wonderfully together.

The Milanese Risotto (P640), with the addition of organic braised beef short rib, is a meal unto itself, as is the Beef Bulgogi (P210/2 pcs, P310/3 pcs). One bite into the soft-shell taco, with its boneless beef ribs, kimchi rice, salad greens and seaweeds, and I could understand why it has become one of the restaurant’s bestsellers.

By this time, I was already getting full, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to sample two main entrees. The Braised Bacon (P580) is perhaps best shared with a fellow pork-lover, but I’d be the last to judge if anyone orders it and finishes off the whole thing himself. The Beef Kebab (P410) meanwhile, offers a taste of the Mediterranean with its boneless beef ribs, tzatziki, grilled vegetables and Ifugao rice pilaf (which you can switch with three pieces of flour tortilla and organic mixed greens).

Somehow, despite the freewheeling nature of the food offerings at Earth Kitchen, everything works and the most essential mission—that the food tastes good—is achieved. In the end, the fact that diners are effectively supporting the mission of the Got Heart Foundation to help local farmers is a very big bonus to helping themselves with hearty, filling comfort food. — BM, GMA News

Earth Kitchen (0925-688-8951) is at High Street Central, 7th Avenue and 29th Street, Bonifacio Global City Taguig.