by Homerun Nievera |
Chef Bruce Lim — The Boss of Kitchens — opens a unique style of a restaurant, serving comfort food for the city’s business set.
Rustique Restaurant, a collaboration with businessman Tony Boy Cojuangco, serves comfort food from both Filipino and international faves — tweaked The Boss way, of course.
Right in the heart of Makati’s central business district (820 Arnaiz Avenue), Rustique Kitchen, carries a relaxing ambience that sets the tone for home made cooking. Something that is always needed in a business district that oozes of corporate straight-jackets.
The vision for the restaurant was inspired by Tony Boy as he wanted to elevate common indigenous stuff—from danggit to kesong puti—into core ingredients for several French-inspired dishes. At the Rustique Kitchen, continental cuisine meets Pinoy flair. The resulting experience for the taste buds is an explosion of flavors worth the visit.
“We’re serving comfort food,” he explains. “We don’t want to intimidate our customers. We’d like to make them feel right at home,” says Chef Bruce.
By sampling a few items on the lunch menu, you instantly discover how he pulls this off.
Try their lamb rack, Grilled USDA rib eye steak or duck Confit with Kalabasa cream sauce, perfect to cap a busy day at work. They open for lunch at 11pm and dinner at 6pm.
“We make sure we serve your food fast enough so you can be back to the office by 1pm,” guarantees Michelle Lim, Rustique Kitchen’s marketing chief and Chef Bruce’s real-life Boss.
The extensive menu carries carefully selected choices of soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta dishes, main courses and desserts.
Chef Bruce Lim, a well-celebrated Chef in Asia, is the Filipino-Chinese American chef of Asian Food Channel. He trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London. It is no wonder why you will see the excitement of foodfinders and foodies who want to get a taste of this new concept in comfort food.
“We have free parking in front and at the basement of the building for our guests,” adds Michelle.
This adds convenience to Makati’s business folks who love to mix business with dining pleasure.
When you’re there, make sure to savor the crunch of bagnet in your Ilocos Corn Chowder, or get high on pasta with clams sautéed in shallots and aromatics, simmered in lambanog and white wine.
For dessert, how about warm buko pie in a goblet?
Seek your comfort level in the homey ambience of Chef Bruce Lim’s Rustique Kitchen, at the ground floor of the Leelin Building 2 along Pasay Road.
The restaurant is open daily from 11am to 3pm for lunch and 6pm to 10pm for dinner.
PHOTO CREDITS:
Featured topmost photo: Chef Bruce, and the power business couple of Gretchen and Tony Boy Cojuangco. Credit: Interksyon’s Rafael Zulueta
Food pics (Credit: DudeForFood.blogspot.com)
