At Aurora, plates are designed to be shared — a reminder that meals are more nourishing when enjoyed together around the table.
The newest venture from veteran chef duo Quenee Vilar and Nicco Santos is a partnership with Atty. Nilo Divina, a seasoned corporate and banking lawyer, and founder and managing partner of Divina Law. The restaurant is named after Divina’s mother, Aurora, whose homecooked meals “brought everyone together.”
“We pegged it similar to what Divina Law is, that their office and Aurora would somehow connect. Very respectable and proper. Not too corporate, but enough where you can have a proper meeting with a proper food. It’s not a fine dining restaurant, but you would feel as though you are dining in one,” Vilar told DAILY TRIBUNE.
Many are familiar with Santos and Vilar’s stint at Your Local and Hey Handsome. The two also worked for Elephant Grounds, with Santos as the culinary director and Vilar as the R&D chef.
“We had to part ways because we wanted to do our own thing. We did Sambar and now this,” she said.
Come the global pandemic, Santos and Vilar eventually found their way to Aurora.
“We were looking for a space to open our restaurant when Atty. Nilo and the DivinaLaw team approached us. They were aiming for excellence, and so were we. You know, why not come together,” she said.
The brick-and-mortar space, located on the ground floor of the Pacific Star Building, boasts an upbeat dining area, an outdoor patio accented with lush greenery, a full wall display of wine, a private dining room and a bar. It was designed by Denice Yuson and Mike Chan, the husband and wife tandem of C+Y Studio.
“For the menu, what we do is substact and add. If we feel that a dish is not working, we take it out. Or, if it’s not a crowd favorite or not good enough for others, we remove it. Then we add another. We want to make sure that every dish is memorable, every dish is good enough for the menu,” Vilar said.
Aurora offers two menus for lunch and dinner. The lunch menu, available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., caters to corporate clientele. For dinner, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Aurora features small plates meant for sharing.
“We had to respect the essence of Rendang. The sides -- that’s where we experimented. If we don’t pay attention to its roots, not merely the basics but the proper Rendang dish, it’s not gonna be good enough. You couldn’t call it Rendang if you’re going to change it. For the others, like Salmon Donburi, it’s our own take. The Tsukune, it’s a minced chicken meatball, we enhance it with tare-glaze and grain rice. You know the food but we have our own take to it. It’s not experimental, nor is it too far ahead of its time. When you read the menu, you’re still familiar and you know what you’re going to eat,” she said.
Atty. Divina loves Hamachi (Indonesian-style marinated and grilled hamachi collar with peanut sauce and grilled lime) and steak. Aurora also bakes its own bread to serve guests while waiting for their food.
“So far, our number one is the Salmon Donburi. Actually, one of our bestsellers, surprisingly, is also our steaks. If you ask Atty. Nilo, I think we make the perfect steak,” Vilar said.
Vilar also emphasizes their strong partnerships with their suppliers. She said, “We highlight our suppliers so that they can be proud that we are working with them. They give us the best meat. They provide us with the best ingredients. We serve and I know we ‘serve.’
“When we opened, we were Café Aurora. But now, it’s just Aurora after a year. When you think of café, you would think of pastas and coffee. It’s always comfort food. Aurora is not really a café. It’s a proper restaurant. We don’t want to limit like that -- we were boxed in and we didn’t want that. That’s why we changed our name to maybe at least give a connotation to everyone that we are a proper restaurant,” Vilar said.
The menu will continue to evolve, she said. People prefer snacks for dinner, like small plates to be able to taste more.
Aurora sources its vegetables locally while flowers are procured from Luntian Farms. “We tap a lot of farms, too. Like for our Hamachi, we go with our importers from Japan. Our oysters are from Japan. It’s delicious. When they gave it to us, we couldn’t really resist not to get it,” Vilar said.
Chef’s recommendations include the duck (Indo-style fried french duck leg, sambal tummies, sambar match and tamarind ketjap), bbq beef (grilled slow-cooked beef short ribs, mixed herbs, Thai chili, garlic chips and ginger flower) and salmon (cured salmon, peanut butter, mentaiko ponzu, sesame leaf tempura and ikura).
In just a year, Aurora has engaged in international collaborations: Singapore’s Coconut Club, Peach Blossoms (one of the 50 Best Restaurants in Asia) and Hapag. Aurora was also named the Best New Restaurant in Tatler Philippines' Tatler Dining Guide 2024. It also secured a spot in Tatler Dining 20, an exclusive recognition given to the top 20 restaurants all over the Philippines.
“We’re always aiming for excellence,” Vilar said.
