From UAE sheikha's chef to Manhattan restaurateur, Filipina Frances Tariga has big dreams for Pinoy cuisine

Now the sole owner of Tadhana, the chef credits her time in the Emirates with helping her serve fusion dishes with flair

Frances Tariga started her professional culinary career in the UAE. Photo: Tadhana

When asked to imagine a multi-course degustation restaurant, it is mostly European cuisines that instinctively fit the bill for chefs, many of whom train in French culinary basics. However, Filipina chef Frances Tariga wants to shatter norms, putting almost-controversial modern twists to the foods she grew up eating in the Philippines.

“We're just known for kamayan [eating with hands], you know. We're just known for lumpia and adobo, but that's not the whole truth,” Tariga tells The National from her New York restaurant Tadhana, its name inspired by the Filipino word for destiny.

Wagyu bulalo and penoy custard

Tariga says people from the Philippines have a tendency to be attached to their traditional ways of cooking a dish, which is exactly what she challenges in her intimate 24-seater restaurant in Manhattan's eclectic Lower East Side. “Right now, everyone's using modernist technique. Why can't we for Filipino food? We have all the skills for it. I love using different techniques, but still sticking to the concept guideline that is faithful to Filipino flavours,” she says.

“Tadhana is about showcasing what Filipino food is, but also, more importantly, what it can be,” Tariga adds.

Her New York restaurant, which has made headlines in American publications such as The New York Times and Bon Appetit, currently serves a 13-course tasting menu. The dishes are peak fusion, with Tariga combining Filipino techniques and ingredients with international flair.

Her version of penoy (undeveloped duck eggs, a famous street food in the Philippines), for example, is in custard form, served with mushroom veloute and caviar.

Also on the menu is a seafood ceviche that is Tariga's ode to kinilaw, a preparation method native to the Philippines involving vinegar or acidic fruits. Typically made with beef, the chef's version of Filipino kaldereta uses koji duck breast, while her bulalo has Wagyu.

For dessert, an innovative one-bite halo halo (crushed ice dessert) is on the cards, as well as maja blanca (corn coconut pudding) elevated with white chocolate and coconut mascarpone.

“As a Filipino, you need to be open-minded when you eat at Tadhana,” says the chef. “This is my manifestation of what I want to do with our cuisine. When you have the skills and you know the flavours that remind you of home really well, you can elevate it.”

Tariga admits her ultimate goal is a Michelin star. If Tadhana gets the coveted star, it would become only the second Filipino restaurant in the world recognised by the Michelin Guide, and the first Filipino tasting restaurant at that.

“I know a star is just a star, but it would mean a lot to us just because Filipino food has always been on the back seat,” says Tariga who previously headed a Filipino-Japanese omakase restaurant, Trust Bae in New York, which was booked for an entire year at one point.

Made in Dubai

After attending culinary school in the Philippines, the Manila-born chef moved to Dubai in 2003, “as an attempt to turn my life around”. One of her first few jobs was as a prep cook at Burj Al Arab, with a salary of Dh700.

“I was literally at the bottom of the food chain,” she says. Her move was still one of the best decisions she's ever made, because “there were a lot of jobs for female chefs at the time”, recalls Tariga.

After this stint, she became the private chef for a sheikha from the Umm Al Quwain ruling family, followed by the executive chef position of the Abu Dhabi Ladies Club in the capital. She's done corporate gigs as well as opening up the first few branches of restaurant chain PF Chang's in Dubai.

Her culinary journey from the UAE to the US began when she was called for an “interview at a dodgy location in Ajman”.

“I thought it was scam, but suddenly I was meeting the wife of a UAE diplomat, being interviewed and doing tastings for a job as the private chef of Ahmed Abdulrahman Al Jarman, who was the ambassador of the UAE to the United Nations,” says Tariga. Just 10 days later, she got her diplomat's visa to the US and flew permanently to New York with the ambassador.

“I would cook Arabic food for him often, but when he dined out and tried something that he liked, he'd tell me to recreate it,” the chef recalls. Tariga continued in this role for three years, even serving Al Jarman's successor, Lana Nusseibeh.

The chef says she values her Dubai experience deeply, and views the UAE as a crucial aspect of her culinary journey. Asked if she has plans to come back and perhaps set up a restaurant in the Emirates, she responds with a resounding “yes”.

“Something I learnt while working in the UAE is grit, especially because I started from the bottom. You just have to keep dreaming,” says Tariga, who's the sole owner of her New York eatery. “All roads lead to 'tadhana',” she concludes, describing her own success as a result of destiny – one she hopes includes circling back to the UAE.