La Regalade presents Luis de Terry

Luis de Terry

When I met Juan Carlos de Terry, I was blown away by his knowledge on things gourmet. We had a long discussion on truffles where he did the talking and I did the listening. I told him that I had eaten at Lu, where his son Luis de Terry is owner/chef.

"How is it doing?" he asked skeptically. I relayed that it was doing well. "Really..." was his equally skeptical reply.

If you have a father like Juan Carlos de Terry who is not only a real gourmand but a real gourmet, my first inclination would be to definitely NOT follow in his footsteps because expectations would be so high and comparisons too easy. But Luis de Terry is a brave man who has decided that of course he can cook! His conviction in his own capacities as chef has paid off and judging by his creations as guest chef of La Regalade for the month of December, he would make his father proud.

La Regalade is a French bistro on Pasay Road that capitalizes on the cooking of Michelin-starred chef Alain Raye. When he is there, his menu is really hearty and flavorful. I am especially a fan of his escargot, which I described in my first review of La Regalade in 2008 like this:

"Take their buttered and baked escargot. A layer of bread crust covers the snails underneath, exposing only one, and provides a delicate crunch as you bite into the softness of the mollusk. Amazing texture! And the Emmenthal and the butter dissolve any earthy aftertaste of snails, making it a very civilized treat."

To my mind it was the best escargot in Manila. Until Luis de Terry created this French Moroccan version:

And I dared to shout to Bubot Quicho, one of the owners of La Regalade present for the sampling of Luis' treats, "This is better than Alain Raye's!"

Then every dish that followed seemed to get better and better - Luis was on a roll. With the escargot, it was immediately impressive because of its uniqueness. It was a little spicy, so the earthy taste of the snails was upstaged.  Yet it did not lose the hearty appeal that is Regalade's signature. It was awesome. 

Pumpkin Soup

Other items on the menu are also recommendable, like this soup, which my mother was impressed with because of its aroma. Or the lamb, which was notably missing the "anggo" characteristic of  lambs (making it appealing to those who are opposed to gamey flavors) thanks to a three-pronged process that involves steaming the lamb then bathing it in vinegar and honey then roasting it with his secret rub.

Lamb, Couscous

But for me, the highlight of Luis de Terry's French Moroccan menu is this Pigeon Bisteeya (here's a recipe by Emeril just for reference; don't know if it works though!) Luis described it as a pigeon baklava probably because its layers of phyllo are sweet. You can also really detect the butter and just underneath the six layers of phyllo dough, clinging for their lives are delicately chopped almonds.

Bisteeya

The phyllo dought crumbles then melts in your mouth. Luis later shared that this is an especially hard dish to create because the phyllo is so delicate. Then the pigeon is shredded so it is also bereft of "anggo" but still so flavorful you will not miss that it is pigeon. To my mind, this dish successfully elevated Luis de Terry to another wrung of excellence in the culinary world. I wanted to stand up and applaud after consuming this.

Muhallabia

Luis capped the dinner with this Muhallabia. It's like maja blanca ... but with allabia (if you didn't get that, don't! haha.) It's ground rice (so fine and soft!) and with pistachios and almonds. And if I heard right, Luis might have also used rose water. 

In 2008, I predicted that La Regalade would be just an of-the-moment restaurant and would fizzle out with its novelty. True enough, there have been days when I would eat at La Regalade for lunch with nobody nobody but me in the entire space. But thanks to guest chefs like Luis and the efforts of Ginny Banaag (of La Regalade) to keep the creativity going, it looks like La Regalade may just be in for the long haul after all.

At least for this December we have Luis de Terry's French Moroccan menu to look forward to. When you make your reservation, ask when Luis will be in the kitchen. You are guaranteed an excellent meal.

Santé!

LA REGALADE.
820 Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City. 750 2104 or 750 2105.
Wheelchair accessible. Major credit cards accepted.
No reservations required but recommended. After-ten menu available on weekends.
Closed on Mondays.
www.laregalademanila.com.

Mother was impressed by the soup and the kitchen's efficiency at delivering the dishes at a good pace.

2nd fr left: Melo Esguerra, Carla Sibal, Bubot Quicho. Melo's quote for the night: "Only men move me."