How Tausug Chef Miggy Moreno Brought Mindanao to Boracay

Just a couple of weeks after Chef Miggy Moreno was onstage receiving a coveted Bib Gourmand recognition from the Michelin Guide for his restaurant Palm Grill in Quezon City, he was in Station Zero in Boracay enjoying the cool November breeze as he prepped for a special two-night culinary showcase at Crimson Resort & Spa.

Officials of the luxury resort say they invited Moreno after reading about his story on Esquire Philippines earlier this year. While many other chefs and restaurants honored in the inaugural edition of the Michelin Guide in the country share similar stories and backgrounds, Moreno’s is a bit different as he was born in Jolo, Sulu and grew up in Zamboanga City.

“I've always been proud of the cuisines from where I come from,” he told Esquire then. “So, I thought of putting up a restaurant here in Metro Manila to champion the best of those cuisines and introduce them to people who have never traveled to those areas.”

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Palm Grill opened in 2017, but it was only nine years later when their efforts were finally rewarded with the prestigious Michelin citation. Some diners would even walk out after hearing the explanation of the menu. Others associated Mindanao strictly with danger, or dismissed Tausug food as “Muslim food,” as though identity somehow precluded enjoyment. “Food has no religion,” he said emphatically. “It’s meant to be enjoyed by everyone.”

“It has been the biggest struggle,” Moreno said. “Filipinos are creatures of habit. They hesitate to try things they’re not familiar with. (But the) recognition validated all those years of work.” Suddenly, people who once hesitated were calling for reservations and families came in apologizing for discovering the restaurant “late,” telling the chef that his signature Pianggang Manok alone was worth the journey.

“We have always been ready,” he insisted. “It was just a matter of time.”

At the first evening of the Crimson dinner, the brief was clear: Latin America and Spain through a Mindanaoan lens, as envisioned by Mosaic Modern Asian Bistro’s Chef Nickolai Stoyanov. Moreno said he instantly knew what he wanted to do.

“My cuisine covers the ZAMBASULTA region,” he explained, referring to Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, which were areas whose foodways carry centuries of Spanish influence layered atop pre-colonial Tausug traditions. “So it's highly influenced by Spanish culture.” 

His contributions to the menu that night revolved around three core Mindanaoan flavor profiles: spicy, sweet, and sour. Diners tasted sambal with a fiery kick, a sweet and briny sauce elevating the Amor del Mar seafood course, and a bright, tangy note crowning the arroz and lengua — dishes he also serves at Palm Grill and his other restaurant, Cabel Filipino Heritage Restaurant in San Miguel, Manila, which is a stone’s throw away from Malacañang. “These flavors are heavily tasted in the region,” he said. “They tell our story.”

Of course, Chef Nick was no slouch either; Mosaic, which he oversees, was also recently recognized as “Best Restaurant” at the Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence 2026. His contributions to the four-hands dinner included a Scallop Ceviche, Wagyu Flat Iron Steak with Asparagus Spears and Braised Morels and Aji Verde Sauce, and a Pomegranate Mousse from the resort’s Pastry Sous Chef Josephine Doromol.

On the second night at the beachfront Azure Restaurant, Moreno was freer to flex his creative muscles as the brief was “unmistakably Filipino.” This time he went deep into Tausug cooking, serving his excellent Pianggang Manok, which is chicken blackened with charred coconut meat; a version of his mother’s ensaladang Palôman; turmeric rice fragrant with ginger; and his much-requested ceviche, cured not in vinegar but in sugar and salt, “like a Swedish gravlax,” finished with calamansi, lemon, and lime. Topped with a green mango chutney, it was a dish that bridged continents while remaining firmly rooted in his beloved Mindanao.

“’Never rush flavor,’ my grandmother, mother and elders used to say,” Moreno said. This was the reason why he flew to Boracay days early to begin simmering sauces and slow-cooking dishes like the lengua for four hours. “Haste makes waste,” he recalled being told as a child. “Taking the time—that’s how beauty comes out.”

To understand Moreno’s passion, one must understand the culinary map of the Philippines, and how Mindanao has long been treated as an afterthought. What the chef is doing is raising the profile of the food from the region and ensuring that it’s talked about in the same enthusiasm and even reverence as those from other corners of the country.

“That’s why flavors like burnt coconut, pre-colonial cooking methods, you won’t find them elsewhere,” he said.

For Moreno, cooking is cultural preservation. His grandfather was a doctor who founded the Sulu Public Hospital while his grandmother was an educator and historian who established the Sulu Museum and Library. “They taught us that everything in life is borrowed,” he said. “You give back.”

He says he frequently returns to Zamboanga, Sulu, Sarangani, and Cotabato to learn, document, source ingredients, and support local farmers and fisherfolk. Palm Grill’s signature spice mix “Pamaka,” for instance, is produced in a small commissary in Zamboanga and flown to Manila. The restaurant’s crabs come from the waters around Tawi-Tawi.

“It’s my way of keeping trade alive,” he said. It is also his way of protecting culinary heritage, including ingredients and techniques passed down through generations of Tausug families.

During our conversation, Moreno mentioned how he and his longtime partner Nelson Canlas have collaborated on writing and publishing children’s books about Tausug culture, ensuring that his Mindanaoan identity is taught early and not erased. Titles like Si Migoy, Ang Batang Tausug, and Ang Kwento ni Putli Mandi have reached book fairs in Bologna and Frankfurt and have been read to children in remote elementary schools.

“I want the work I do to transcend the tables of my restaurants,” he said. “Start young. Start with stories.”

With the Philippines set to host the 26th UN Tourism World Forum on Gastronomy, Moreno sees a turning point. “It will open many doors,” he said. Like Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, he believes the Philippines can become a destination not just for beaches, but for bold, distinctive cuisine.

And if the dinners at Crimson Boracay were any indication, that future begins with chefs like Moreno, who carry the stories of islands, ancestors, and spices burnt over coconut husk, and place them proudly at the center of the Filipino table.