KINILAW with coconut milk, dried mango and sea grapes. Toyo Eatery is the Filipino culinary world’s darling. Husband-and-wife team, Jordy and May Navarra, created a space that has engendered so much buzz–totally warranted–both here and abroad. This means everyone wants to work with them, which leads us to Salu-Salo, a partnership with the popular restaurant, Nespresso and The Peninsula Manila. Over the next few months, some of Asia’s best chefs will be cooking at Toyo in pop-up, four-hand dinners that will guarantee showcases of stunning food.

BANANA inipit, cassava, chocolate with patis and a white chocolate petit four. So far, Toyo’s guests have included the chefs at The Peninsula Manila and the team from Bali’s Locavore, number 22 on this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. I grabbed myself a seat for the third guest, chef Ivan Brehm of Nouri from Singapore, which garnered its first Michelin star less than a year after it opened.

In July, I had a meal at Nouri because it was hyped up by so many publications and food writers, applauding its approach to fine dining. While the food was brilliant (the way Brehm cooks seafood is impeccable), it was really the service that made the meal. I had such a good experience that I knew I needed a seat at the table.

The meal started with a perfect negroni infused with Nespresso coffee and a one-bite tomato meringue that melted instantly once it hit the tongue.

GRILLED dorado with mangoes and homemade bagoong. A bread course was more than your average roll and butter; the butter was grassy and smooth, and it was accompanied by a concentrated broth that was instantly warming. A satiny ginger flan topped with nuggets of chicken and malunggay stole the show, but the seafood courses were unsurprisingly brilliant. The first was a take on kinilaw, with thick slices of tanigue arranged in a rose-like pattern and topped with a sliver of dried mango that lent an unpredictable hint of sweetness. Coconut milk was poured tableside, making it rich and smooth.

A take on black pepper crab woke up the senses, with the sweet crab sitting on top of a dark, concentrated mound of black pepper paste packed with smoke and heat. Tiny fried kamote and chicharon added pops of texture.

The last seafood dish was a little underwhelming in taste, which is acceptable since it is a pop-up, but the way the dorado was cooked was perfect-silky, bordering on rare, but sumptuous.

Brehm’s famous Lady Gray dessert also made an appearance; an intimidating black dome appears in front of you, but within the burnt orange is an almost-perfect dish. It is filled with bitter orange marmalade and layers of sponge, praline, hazelnut, mousse and ice cream that make for an interesting spoonful.

A take on Singaporean black pepper crab with kamote and chicharon. This impressive dinner shows just how worth it these four-hand dinners can be and the next few collaborations only get more exciting. Up next is Suhring, a Michelin-starred, German-inspired restaurant from Bangkok run by twins Thomas and Mathias, and Mume from Taiwan, currently number 43 on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

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