There’s a new chef in town! Chef Ivan Fernandez of Tomatito Manila launches a new menu featuring sexy tapas with added oomph.
The tuna TNT has actually been on the menu for some time now. It is a slice of raw tuna on top of an air baguette, which is filled with sauce. The old version was filled with chipotle sauce, while chef Ivan has added his personal twist to change this to a bloody Mary sauce. Pop everything into your mouth for a bold but refreshing explosion!
The mini tacos de trufa y setas are crispy mini tacos with creamed shiitake mushrooms and pickled onions, topped with grated Manchego cheese and truffle oil.
The classic and bestselling dishes such as the bombas de jamon, salmon TNT and chipirones are still available. Bombas de jamon is a profiterole filled with cream cheese wrapped in a generous slice of jamon Iberico shoulder. It is finished with truffle oil and a pinch of paprika.
The salmon TNT is a roll of Balik smoked salmon topped with truffle and honey. Chipirones a la Andaluza is lightly floured fried baby squid with aioli.
There are two new paellas, but the more interesting flavor is the paella de Mole Mexicano. Mole is a traditional sauce used in Mexican cuisine containing chilies, a fruit, a nut and chocolate. In this case, chef Ivan used dark chocolate from Malagos in Davao for the mole.
The paella de mole Mexicano has chicken and rice cooked in the mole in a paellera and is topped with white Shimeji mushrooms. The second new paella is the paella del Chiringuito, also a seafood paella named after a hut or shack by the beach, often serving drinks and tapas. Paella del Chiringuito contains squid, clams, mussels and shrimps, topped with aioli and lemon wedges.
A new main item is the filete a la parilla, a 200-gram premium tenderloin steak with confit marble potatoes and mashed potatoes topped with charred asparagus.
For dessert, the two new items are the chocolate marquise and an apple liquid cheesecake. The chocolate marquise is a semi-frozen dark chocolate mousse with warm, salty caramel sauce and Bailey’s ice cream with a touch of orange.
The apple liquid cheesecake is a layered dessert in a glass with apple compote, a cheesecake mousse topped with cinnamon crumble.
Fernandez is a 31-year-old chef from Madrid and has been working in Shanghai for over nine years. He was recently the sous chef at El Willy and Tomatito in Shanghai prior to his reassignment in Manila. Chef Ivan intends to relive the Tomatito Spanish tradition in every plate with a playful vibe to suit the Filipino palate and encourage more interaction with the diners.
