Casa Luisa Offers a Twist on Filipino Cuisine with French Flair
There are weekends, or even weekdays, when you want a tranquil escape from the stresses of Metro Manila and enjoy a hearty brunch, lunch or merienda. For those who want to take a break from the typical Tagaytay experience, we suggest going to Casa Luisa in San Pedro, Laguna, which is more or less a 30-minute drive from Makati.
Casa Luisa became popular over the pandemic for its French onion soup empanada. The chef behind these gourmet pies, Jen Gerodias, describes this venture as a happy accident. Working as a food business consultant, she happened to have a batch of French onion soup sitting in the fridge and some dough from her commissary. Instead of letting these go to waste, she turned the soup into an empanada filling, added some cheese, and served it during family lunch. The empanada became the star of their meal.
The vintage-style home was built by Chef Jen Gerodias' mother, Maria Luisa, after whom the place was named
She posted a snap of her flaky pastry on her Instagram and this unexpectedly sparked a wave of cravings. Flooded with inquiries and orders, the French-trained chef recognized an opportunity to open a bakery at Casa Luisa, offering her delightful empanadas to the public. Tapping into the expertise of their family driver, who used to work as a master panadero back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Gerodias and her team were able to produce as many as 700 empanadas in a day.
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Beyond the classic French Onion Soup, Gerodias now offers a mouthwatering variety of empanada variants, including Mango Sampaguita & Cheese, Chorizo Fundido, Pizza alla Diavola, 4-Mushroom Duxelles, Spinach Feta Bacon, Beef Rendang, and Mushroom Truffle Goat Cheese. These are encased in a light and flaky crust, just like a perfectly made croissant.
"It's dough, butter, dough, butter...and you have to work fast or you always have to have a freezer. It's like a labor of love," the chef reveals the secret behind this delightful texture. This meticulous layering process creates the melt-in-your-mouth crust that complements every flavor explosion within.
Casa Luisa's famous French Onion Soup Empanada
Step Back in Time
The vintage-style home was built in 2018 by Gerodias' mother, Maria Luisa, after whom the place was named. She envisioned it to be a welcoming retreat, a bakasyunan, where their extended family could gather and reconnect when they're in the Philippines. Many of them are already based abroad.
The matriarch’s creative flair is showcased within the vacation home’s walls, which feature intricate woodwork, antique furniture and décor, vibrant mosaic tilework, and dazzling chandeliers. “It’s a heritage house in a way because the materials and furniture used are from old houses,” the chef shared during our first meeting back in 2023. Family photographs scattered throughout add a touch of personal history, making Casa Luisa a space that feels intimately familiar.
Guests have the option to dine al fresco.
The fruit-bearing trees surrounding it—mango, balimbing (starfruit), rambutan, atis, cacao, suha (pomelo), kaffir lime, avocado, and coffee—contribute to the place’s idyllic charm.
Casa Luisa's transformation began when Gerodias' biggest fan, her lawyer uncle Tito Raul, started inviting clients and colleagues for private lunches at the house.
This unexpected demand allowed Gerodias—who trained under Michelin-starred Chef Guy Savoy (Le Chiberta, Las Vegas) and Chef Roland Passau (La Folie, San Francisco)—to showcase her culinary prowess.
Gerodias’ culinary magic soon spread by word of mouth, and her team quickly found themselves catering to family reunions, wedding showers, and team-building events. To meet this growing demand, they launched their "Open Table" offering, which allows solo diners, couples, and groups to reserve a seat for a delicious Sunday brunch or lunch.
Chef Jen Gerordias
A Taste of Home
During our recent visit, we were happy to find out that Casa Luisa now welcomes walk-in diners and operates six days a week for lunch and merienda (Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.). They also serve dinner, but strictly by reservations only. It's a development that we saw coming, considering the demand for an alternative dining destination within easy reach of Manila's hustle and bustle.
Our lunch kicked off with Casa Luisa's signature French Onion Soup Empanadita, served with a rich broth, complementing the savory flavors of the pastry. We also enjoyed a refreshing hibiscus calamansi iced tea.
Fresh Salad with Buratta and Prosciutto
Grilled chicken served with four types of condiments
A vibrant Green Salad with Kesong Puti followed, featuring a medley of crisp greens, sweet Lipa figs, and umami-rich prosciutto. Flaky house-made croutons added texture to the greens, while a creamy balsamic dressing tied all the flavors together.
Our next course was Casa Luisa's rising star, the Garlic Butter Palabok. This innovative take on the classic Filipino dish has quickly become a crowd-pleaser, rivaling even their famous empanadas. And we found out why, while helping ourselves to the flavorful rice noodle dish.
“For this one, we make crab stock out of the shells. That’s one thing that I learned from France, how to make a proper seafood stock. We cooked it with Pernot, an anise liquor, simmered it for an hour with a lot of aromatics,” she offers. “There’s no taba ng talangka on this one. It’s basically crab stock, annatto seeds, and French butter to make a sauce that’s rich, perfect for coating the rice noodles.”
The Garlic Butter Palabok is available for takeout at P1,800.
The palabok is topped with toasted tinapa, toasted garlic, chicharron, tobico, and sous vide egg. Giving the dish an herby, floral flavor is pancit-pancitan, which grows at the Casa Luisa garden.
The restaurant offers the palabok as part of its merienda cena menu (from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.), which also includes empanadas, lumpiang sariwa, scones, and fresh jams. Guests can also purchase the palabok for takeout at P1,800, which generously serves six to eight people.
With our appetites suitably whetted, the Red Snapper Fish Fumet Sinigang was presented to us.
The Red Snapper Fish Fumet Sinigang is served with grilled Korubuta cheeks and alamang.
“We use the red snapper bones to create a rich stock, so this is packed with collagen,” says Gerodias.
To achieve the ideal level of acidity, she combined kamias and ripe tomatoes, creating a base for the filleted fish and sinigang vegetables. And the best part? The dish is simmered tableside in a traditional clay stove and pot and served with grilled Kurobuta pork cheeks and alamang, adding a new layer of flavor that goes beyond the usual salty taste from fish sauce.
Casa Luisa’s Crispy Pork Sisig
A must-try for pork lovers is Casa Luisa’s Crispy Pork Sisig, which is a recipe passed on by Cora Galang, one of their beloved family employees. Gerodias says it’s a treasured dish that’s always present in their family gatherings.
Their Free-range Grilled Chicken Barbecue is an ode to Gerodias’ childhood in San Pedro. “As kids, tumatambay kami sa plaza ‘pag weekends, after going to church, and we’d just have a simple chicken barbecue,” she shares.
Free-range Grilled Chicken
Gerodias makes the simple barbecue dish extra special by serving it boneless and with a variety of condiments and side dishes made in-house such as burong mangga, atcharang ubod, banana ketchup, and tomato relish.
Putting a Filipino twist on the classic French dish, her beef bourguignon is served caldereta-style. “It's still braised beef in a rich, flavorful sauce. I incorporated red wine, a variety of herbs, and our special stock. I finished it off with some Quick Melt cheese. Ito yung sauce pa lang, ulam na,” she says.
Casa Luisa's Homemade Halo-Halo
As a sweet ending to our meal, we indulged in some Homemade Halo-halo. True to its name, nearly everything was house-made—from the kaong and nata de coco to the vibrantly colored gelatin, infused with pandan and hibiscus. Pinipig, langka, and rich ube halaya completed the mix. Making it extra special and creamy is the fact that it's served with carabao's milk shaved ice.
All the above-mentioned dishes can be ordered a la carte. So no need to be pressured about ordering a tasting menu. “You can drop by here in your casuals and just have some empanada and halo-halo,” she says smiling.
Gerodias is happy to announce the upcoming opening of their second floor as an event space, allowing them to accommodate up to 150 guests. And for an even more comfortable experience, the entire venue is now air-conditioned, making it ideal for formal gatherings.
