For most chefs, a career cooking in royal kitchens, international hotels, TV competitions, and one of New York’s busiest restaurants would already feel like destiny fulfilled. But for Chef Frances Tariga, fate or tadhana was never something meant to be waited for. It was always something she had to create with her own two hands.
After decades abroad, the accomplished chef first returned to Manila with Incanta, the immersive cave bar and restaurant in Quezon City. Now, she’s preparing to open Manila’s very own Tadhana at the Levanto Building in busy Makati. Like its older NYC-based sibling, it will also be a tasting menu experience rooted in Filipino identity, memory, and reinvention. This time, however, Tariga will use the techniques and experience she developed over 25 years working around the world to cook up an even more intimate and personal experience by intentionally choosing to reconnect with the flavors, stories, and dishes that shaped her upbringing.
Hungry for a homecoming
Born and raised in Sampaloc, Manila, Tariga’s culinary journey began immediately after culinary school, taking her from Dubai’s luxury hospitality scene to becoming a private chef for a royal family. She would later move to New York, where she cooked for ambassadors and dignitaries at venues like the Waldorf Astoria, The Plaza, and the United Nations. Along the way, she competed on shows like Top Chef, Chopped, and Beat Bobby Flay, while also helping shape vegan dining programs and modern Asian restaurants across the city.
Yet despite all of her accomplishments, Tariga says opening Tadhana in Manila always felt inevitable. “My dream was really to open a fine dining restaurant and champion local ingredients,” she explains. “Most Filipinos leave the country to find opportunities. I wanted to come back.”
But returning home also means taking on a new kind of challenge. After navigating New York’s intense and competitive dining scene, Tariga now faces the challenge of elevating middle-class Filipino food and proving that it belongs alongside the world’s most respected fine dining cuisines.
Fine and familiar
At Tadhana Makati, Tariga does this by embracing the dishes and flavors she grew up with. Instead of distancing herself from karinderya staples, ihaw-ihaw, pickled vegetables, and everyday comfort food, she places these often overlooked favorites front and center.
“I want to champion middle-class cuisine,” she says. “That’s what I grew up eating. That’s what I love.”
This is immediately evident the moment guests experience Tadhana for themselves. The menu balances refinement with familiarity, as every course is intentional yet never disconnected from the Filipino flavors Tariga continually returns to. Some dishes, in particular, capture that balance especially well.
Tinapay, for example, is a simple but elevated reference to the country’s love for bread. It’s a laminated tinigib cornbread served warm with a tangy dalandan sherry marmalade on the side. The bread was light and flaky with a golden outer layer and a soft, airy interior—making it feel closer to a croissant or laminated pastry than traditional bread. Although amazing on its own, the dalandan sherry marmalade, with its bright citrus sharpness, serves as the perfect complement by using both sweetness and acidity to cut through the buttery layers.
Another standout was their take on the classic sinigang sa bayabas. With tender slices of maya-maya, a fragrant guava and batwan foam broth, and a generous dusting of kangkong powder, this course was a gentler, more delicate take on the sour Filipino soup. The broth carried a clean mellow acidity that opened up slowly rather than immediately to give each ingredient enough time to shine. The guava was fragrant and subtly sweet, while the batwan was sharp and tart. Together, they created a light, foamy broth that paired beautifully with the fish’s delicate texture and natural sweetness. Meanwhile, the kangkong powder added an earthy, vegetal depth that further grounded the dish in the familiar flavors of traditional sinigang despite the refined presentation.
But for Tariga, it’s their inihaw at gulay that best encapsulates Tadhana’s philosophy—because despite the seemingly simple framework of meat paired with vegetables, the dish showcases how Filipino flavors can be elevated through technique, balance, and restraint. The star of the plate was a fatty, glistening slab of iberico secreto that practically melts in your mouth. It’s juicy, charred just right, and a perfect partner for the bright, slightly acidic pickled pakbet that provides balance and freshness without overpowering the meat’s natural richness.
Celebrating bold Filipino flavors
Despite elevating ‘middle-class food’ to the heights of fine dining, Tariga and Tadhana are careful to ensure that innovation never comes at the expense of identity. While the NYC branch adapted Filipino flavors for a broader American audience, the upcoming Makati outpost feels freer and more unapologetic. Here, Tariga fully embraces endemic ingredients, local memories, and the boldness of Filipino flavor without needing to soften them for unfamiliar palates.
That same philosophy is evident even for the menu’s closing quartet of desserts. For Tariga, every ingredient and dish, no matter how humble, deserves the same level of care and respect. “Even chicken skin deserves the same reverence as wagyu,” she says.
The petit four arrived playfully in a grass-covered picnic box that hinged open like some sort of culinary treasure chest. Inside it was a sweet and bright mango choux au craquelin, a maja blanca-inspired bite that contrasted a silky mousse with crunchy feuilletine, a decadent reinterpretation of turon built on banana sponge, langka, and sable cookie, and finally, a delicate mazapan with both pili and praline for a rich, nutty finish.
In her own hands
In many ways, it’s that balance between familiarity and reinvention that makes Tadhana feel like a personal full-circle moment. Because after decades abroad refining her craft, Tariga has returned home not to replicate Western fine dining standards, but to redefine what Filipino fine dining can look like when done on its own terms.
Perhaps that’s why the cozy, playful restaurant is named the way it is. Tadhana, the Filipino word for “destiny,” feels less like a reference to fate and more like a reflection of Tariga’s journey. Not destiny as something prewritten, but something earned through risk, resilience, and the courage to come home and tell her story exactly as it is.
Tadhana is located at Levanto Building, 389 Jupiter St., Makati City.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chef Frances Tariga is a Manila-born chef who built her career working in Dubai, New York, and other international culinary hubs. She has worked as a private chef a royal family, cooked for United Nations ambassadors, competed on shows like Top Chef and Beat Bobby Flay, and won Morimoto’s Sushi Master competition.
Tadhana Makati is located at 389 Jupiter Street, Makati City, Philippines.
Tadhana serves a Filipino tasting menu inspired by traditional and middle-class Filipino cuisine. The restaurant combines global fine dining techniques with familiar local flavors like sinigang, pakbet, ihaw-ihaw, and Filipino desserts.
While both restaurants share the same Filipino-inspired tasting menu concept, Tadhana Makati is described by Chef Frances Tariga as more personal and unapologetically Filipino. The Manila version leans heavily into endemic ingredients, local memories, and bolder flavors tailored for a Filipino audience.
“Tadhana” is the Filipino word for “destiny.” For Chef Frances Tariga, the restaurant represents a destiny shaped through years of hard work, resilience, and returning home to tell her story through food.
