Food is like a story, packed with twists and nuances, and triggers emotions. Celebrated Pinoy chef Ariel Manuel is quite a storyteller. If he’s an auteur, then his films are European art-house — familiar but distinctly sophisticated.

At his newly opened posh restaurant called Sintá, located in Tagaytay, one of chef Ariel’s masterpieces is the very French dish — the Rack of Lamb (a sheep’s rib cage). It’s a cut that is perpendicular to the spine and is French-trimmed.

On the plate are carefully piled “lamb lollipops”— each chop is a single, juicy, tender loin of lamb attached to a slender rib bone. The full, robust, pastoral flavor of lamb meat is seasoned with the crunchy sweet-savory herbes de Provence — a fragrant blend of dried herbs and spices.

The divine pinkish lamb sits atop a creamy and slightly caramel-tinged bitter risotto made from melted roquefort (blue cheese crafted from sheep’s milk) and 40-clove garlic. Suddenly, you are in the south of France, enjoying this divine meal with your French paramour who is about to propose to you.

When we visited Sintá for lunch, it was a bright, fogless afternoon. The Taal lake and the volcano are in full, pristine view. The elegant hotel-like multi-level restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, with a mezzanine, a deck, garden and a wine cellar, is structured in a way that it would be effortless to see Taal. It feels like Sintá owns Taal. Sintá is Taal’s lover.

The fine-dining restaurant is generally minimalist — dominated by cream colors and furnished with a blend of rustic, wood, terracotta, with a smattering of subtle, modern artwork by Filipino artists (including Leeroy New’s sculpture of an inverted Taal bolted into the ceiling of the main dining hall). It’s like a celebrity’s swanky but cozy summer vacation home, and chef Ariel is your dad indulging your taste for European and Mediterranean cuisine.

For those who avoid alcoholic drinks such as myself, they have a selection of mocktails. I had the Cucumber Spritz (cucumber, lemon, elderflower and tonic water), which I sipped at the high-top table in their tropical-vibe outdoor cocktail area overlooking a postcard-perfect Taal lake, with dense greenery in the foreground.

Finally, we sat down for our feast, an access to chef Ariel’s sought-after food festival.

A sequence of dishes

First, prepared table-side, is our succulent appetizer of angus beef tartare (with a mellow side of apple kimchi). Not a fan of raw beef, but I happily had a couple of spoonfuls.

Then we were served a bowl of his playful concoction — the Crab and Popcorn Chowder soup, which the chef likened to munching on popcorn while watching a film — the snack a mere footnote as the movie is the main event.

I admit I am not fond of slurping a velouté of buttered popcorn along with pieces of soggy popcorn. But the rich, buttery, semi-crunchy softshell crab fritter is the soup’s main event -— the opening film. The melt-in-your mouth crab meat on the side is also quite competitive.

Soon, a sequence of dishes was served, but I will just highlight the unforgettable ones — those that continue to haunt me in my dreams.

As a fan of seafood and salad, I was stupefied by

Sintá‘s selection of these. First off, the Warm Spinach — a verdant plate crowded with large, crunchy Chinese spinach called polonchay, with chunks of warm and perfectly crisped bacon and barbecued chicken, exalted with garlic and soy vinaigrette dressing. The addition of sauteed fresh shiitake and button mushrooms added a dreamy complexity to the salad. Every bite of the smoky, crispy, salty, nutty, pungent, slightly acidic, woody salad made my heart pound with so much joy.

The Chilean Sea Bass is another five-star for me. Fished from the deep cold waters of the southern ocean, this luxurious and sought-after buttery, lean and flaky icefish is baked with caramelized unagi (freshwater eel) crust swimming in truffle, ginger and green onion sauce. It comes with a rectangle of baked potato terrine -- decadent scalloped potatoes that I could eat all day.

Until THE DAILY TRIBUNE’s visit to Sintá, I never tried chef Ariel’s legendary Baked Oyster, which apparently made him a god in the Malate area since the heyday of Lolo Dad’s (which closed in 2014). Now I understand. I almost wept with joy at the first bite.

His signature — and life-changing — mollusk treat is a big, fat and super-fresh baked Hokkaido oyster on a half shell with a rich, crunchy buttery seared foie gras atop the cheese gratin. This cheesy oceanic delight infused with the luxurious French liver delicacy is even deepened and intensified by a blanket of chardonnay cream reduction and soba (buckwheat) noodle. It sent my taste buds into a frenzy.

By the time the three kinds of dessert arrived, I was already full. But as soon as I tried a tiny piece of Dessert Number 1, my goodness. Suddenly, my stomach expanded for more room for sweets. Am I in heaven’s kitchen?

The first dessert served was Souffle, a melty, fluffy, bouncy cappuccino meringue pried open by the waiter to drizzle the insides with smooth vanilla crème anglaise (custard sauce).

Dessert Number 2 is Crème Brulee — custard cream covered in banana glaze with an intriguing side of vanilla ice cream drenched in olive oil and peppered with rock salt — the way the Italians love their gelato. By this time, I was already weeping inside.

Then, the third French dessert came called Declension. This mille-feuille sweet delight alternates between crumbly-crispy puff pastry and mango wrapped in mascarpone cheese. Sublime combination. As if it’s not sweet torture enough, the entire thing is covered in a golden, delicate, sticky web of caramelized candy. As a bonus, on the side is a scoop of fruity and tarty berry and balsamic ice cream that evoke perfect summer days.

The thing is, we eat when we’re hungry. And when we go out of our way to try a new restaurant, we hope to be satisfied -— as dining should not be complicated. Food has to taste great, period. Especially when it’s as expensive as the ones in Sintá’s fine-dining menu, as more or less you will spend P6,000 per person to experience a full-course meal.

Sometimes our taste buds are on the hunt for unique, creative twists to existing beloved (sinisinta) dishes. Chef Ariel does just that with most of his heartfelt, superb creations. This is why at Sintá, the food is the destination, and the Taal view is just the backdrop.