Tourné, Slow Food, and Chef Sandralyn Hataway

Update 6/6/2012: This restaurant is now closed 🙁

The Tourné restaurant concept by a balikbayan Le Cordon Bleu Dallas chef whose passion is to serve modern good food using the local produce in the Philippines is interesting and admirable. 

Chef Sandra’s concept is similar with Chef Tatung’s Private Dining and Chef Sau’s Le Bistro Vert. 

She aims to revive the Slow Food movement in Manila (which is barely alive) using fresh and local ingredients. This is a refreshing contrast to the opening of international (fast) food franchises using “flown in” ingredients. 

Will she succeed? Let me share with you why we think she will … 

Chef Sandralyn Hataway’s Tourne was inspired by Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Philosophy embodied in this quote:

“When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook simply & the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is.” – Alice Waters

The restaurant was named after one of the most difficult cuts in French cuisine called Tourne, cut like a football with a heptagonal shape.  (see photo: Dessert Comes First | Turned On To Tourné)

In a way, opening a concept like Tourne in Manila is indeed very challenging.

The ambiance is clean and refreshing. Although I think the concept is out of place in a location known for bars.  A quaint house,  a standalone building, or a location with low rental might have been a better location.   

Tourné Menu 
(Changes every two weeks)
Starters and Salads 
Sandwiches and Main Courses
Chef Must Try Specials 
Our Green Friendly Plate (Vegetarian) and Desserts
Beverage Menu 1 and Menu 2
Wine Selection 

 

We love their complimentary appetizers —  ★ Soyami Chips with Salsa!  This is our favorite healthy chip in Mercato Centrale.

 ★ Our Four-Cheese Pizza (P218 +10% service charge). kesong puti, queso de bola, mozzarella and Malagos farm blue goat’s cheese and braised shitake mushroom. 

We like their quesadilla-like pizza, with soft thin crust and a good combination of cheese, mushroom and herb. 

Tip: There is a gourmet cheese in Mercato Centrale that we love that can make this into a 5-cheese pizza. It is goat cheese with cashew and truffle oil sold by Gawad Kalinga Social Entrepreneurs. 

Baby Bok Choy Salad (P228 +10% service charge). Fresh field’s Baby bok choy, red butternet lettuce, shitake mushroom Coconut soy and sesame dressing, crispy chow mien noodles. 

The serving sizes are small (good for one person). I feel it is expensive at P250 but I like the fresh taste of the Bok Choy with the ying yang taste of the dressing and the crispy texture of the noodle. I’ll just enjoy the thought that a big part of the price goes to our local natural farmers.  

It is a nice place to chit chat with your friends when you have reunions. 

Tip: The seats near the windows are the best because of the natural lighting and the service people can readily see you 🙂 

★ Dulong Pasta (P308 +10% service charge) in home made marinara sauce, pappardelle fresh pasta, and tourned carrots. 

The dulong pasta was surprisingly good — not too salty as we were expecting it to be, with the soft taste of fresh pasta.  

Tip: Since Tourné is trying to maintain the highlest level of freshness of their ingredients, inventory is kept to a minimum. Hence, expect some of the items may not be available.  This dulong pasta usually comes with fresh spaghetti but it was out of stock and replaced with the fat fettucinne pasta. 

★ Batangas Beef Tenderloin Kebab (P478 + 10% service charge) with Chimichurri, Grilled red onion, Bell peppers, Eggplant, Okra and Tomato Stew in Fried Saba Ring, and Moroccan inspired rice. 

Wow, I didn’t realize that Batangas beef could be this tasty and soft. Also, we love their signature emulsified chimichuri!

The different herb combination was just perfect for the beef and the sweet roasted onions and peppers. The fried saba ring was cute and we were hoping that the carrot would be tourned (since it was the name of the resto). 

  
French Press Coffee Tourne Blend (P90 +10% service charge). 

I like their freshly roasted signature coffee blend by Roaster Juan. It was not too strong and perfectly matched with the dessert. 

  
Chocolate Mint and Macapuno Ganache Torte (P128 +10% service charge). Chocolate Cake infused with fresh mint Macapuno filling covered in chocolate ganache. 

It looked good outside but the cake was dry and the fresh mint macapuno did not make an impression. 

★ Ormoc Pineapple Cloud Cake (P98 +10% service charge). Moist pound cake with Brunoise of Fresh organic pineapple and Chantilly cream. 

We love this signature Tourne dessert using Ormoc Pineapples. The sweet pineapple goes well with the cream with a hint of vanilla, and the light pound cake. 

Tip: Ormoc Pineapples are available every weekend in Mercato Centrale 🙂 

Overall the food is happy and Chef Sandra was able to bring out the best from the local ingredients.

However, it is also expensive – you have to budget about P800/person. 

Tourne by Chef Sandralyn Hataway
The Fort Strip, 7th Avenue corner 26th St,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig 
Telephone: +632 668-1781
Mobile: +63 917 827-5685
Operating Hours: 11am-3pm, 6pm-10pm Daily
Facebook: Tourne by Chef Sandralyn
Twitter:  @ChefSJHTourne

Related Blog Posts by the lovely Manila food bloggers:

• Dessert Comes First | Turned On To Tourné
• Shoot First, Eat Later | Dinner at Tourné by Chef Sandralyn Hataway
• Jin Loves to Eat | Tourné by Chef Sandralyn ♥
• Frannywanny | Tourne by Chef Sandralyn Hataway at The Fort Strip

Live an Awesome Life,

 
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Call or Text Me: +63917 5683-627 (LOVE-OAP)
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Full Disclosure: We paid for our meals and we are not connected in any way with the owners of this establishment.

★ Happily recommended if they are available 🙂

P.S. Welcome Chef Sandralyn Hataway to the Manila Food Scene 🙂 Thanks to Sous Chef Andre  for sharing with us his story and the story of Tourné.