The Adobros come home

After years of refining their craft abroad, The Adobros — Melbourne-based Filipino chefs Michael Pastrana and Morris Danzen Catanghal — are being given a warm welcome home by a local culinary great.

Known for their modern interpretations of Filipino cuisine through immersive supper clubs in Australia, the pair has returned to Manila for a special collaboration with chef Roland Laudico at Guevarra’s by Laudico that runs until 21 June. Together, they’ve created new dishes for the third installment of Taste the Philippines: A Global Culinary Journey, a buffet series celebrating Filipino flavors from around the world.

Originally an accountant, chef Michael hails from Lucena City, Quezon and works at Melbourne’s Fable Rooftop Bar. Chef Morris is from Bulacan and worked in Italy for eight years before setting up shop down under at Buono Italian restaurant.

“It started with a beer,” chef Morris said, when asked how they became “bros” and business partners. The pair ended up having more than one beer, as you tend to do, but they also had a fateful conversation about how their backgrounds, experiences, and visions aligned, leading to the creation of the Adobros.

Their partnership with chef Lau is also a meaningful one forged through shared commitment and dedication to championing Filipino food. Laudico first met The Adobros in Melbourne in 2024, and the trio quickly sparked into life a collaboration in Manila.

“This partnership marries time-honored Filipino recipes with contemporary ingredients and techniques,” chef Lau said. “By incorporating local produce and cooking styles, we want to create dishes that are both rooted in tradition yet modern.”

That same spirit can be found in the dishes themselves — plates that, like The Adobros, are unmistakably and deliciously Filipino but layered with techniques and ideas shaped from years of cooking abroad. This month-long collaboration transforms the already vibrant buffet at Guevarra’s into a showcase of how our food doesn’t need “elevating” or enhancing, to borrow some buzzwords, but how Pinoy cuisine can continue to thrive when influenced and complemented by foreign ingredients and techniques.

Set inside a beautifully restored 1920s-era heritage house, Guevarra’s is known for its warm, homey charm. It’s the kind of place where birthdays, baptisms, and reunions are remembered not just for the company, but for the food.

The Adobros’ contributions feel right at home here, alongside classics-with-a-twist like their incredibly crispy bacon bagnet, paired with spiced vinegar that cuts through the glorious fattiness, and beside masterfully executed Pinoy salu-salo staples like a traditional and tripe-heavy Kare-kare.

Take, for instance, the Adobro-developed Tinola sa Gata. In place of the traditional chicken soup, diners are served juicy, well-seasoned chicken meatballs simmered in a thick coconut milk sauce. It’s hearty, familiar, and just as satisfying over a bowl of steaming rice — but it also feels like something new.

Then there’s the Lamb Adobo, a nod to their current playground in Australia, where lamb is practically a national favorite. Here, the chefs take the deeply savory flavors of adobo and pair them with tender lamb — bridging cultures and using the marinade of soy sauce and vinegar to temper any gaminess or lansa.

One of the most exciting bites from the buffet — and one that disappeared quickly both times I visited Guevarra’s in the past week — was their Chicken Afritada Croquettes. Deep-fried to golden perfection, the croquettes are filled with a rich tomato-based afritada filling and subtly spiced with harissa. A velvety pea purée on the side provides the perfect creamy, green, counterbalance. I do love my Afritada — and Menudo, and Caldereta — heavy on the veggies.

But the standout dish — and the one that had me returning to the buffet line the following late afternoon during Guevarra’s Maagang Salu-Salo flight — was the Adobong Pusit Valenciana. Imagine a Paella — complete with toasty bottom — that, like the lamb, is enhanced without being overpowered by adobo’s signature soy-and-vinegar harmony. Each bite was a burst of umami with just enough acidity to keep things bright.

This collab isn’t the first time the pair has been recognized as ambassadors for Filipino food. In July 2024, Pastrana and Catanghal held a supper club for the Philippine Consulate General in Melbourne, serving a menu that included their signature adobo dessert and “Crystal Sisig” with wagyu and chimichurri.

This Guevarra's project is also part of the Adobros’ busy homecoming run through the Roots to Revolution tour under IFEX Philippines. The chefs participated in a series of special events and pop-ups across Metro Manila throughout May. Highlights included partnerships with content creator Abi Marquez, the Mabrewhay Festival with Engkanto, and a dinner with "Adobo Queen" Nancy Reyes Lumen.

For these bros, who’ve spent the past few years turning Melbourne dining rooms into stages for Filipino storytelling through their supper clubs, this partnership is more than a few dishes folded into a buffet. It’s a reconnection for chefs Michael and Morris with their roots and a celebration of everything they’ve achieved by shining the spotlight on FIlipino cuisine in Australia.