Wagyu Steak Frites in the City, Crispy Duck in the Country

The late Margarita Forés left behind a culinary legacy that may be hard to top. Cibo brought fine Italian classics closer to more Filipinos, Grace Park serves heirloom Filipino recipes, and her private catering service is the top choice for nearly every important social event in the city.

And of course, there’s Lusso, a gastro-bar that indulges cravings for something a little more special than your typical daily meal. There are currently three branches of Lusso: Greenbelt 3, Rockwell, and Podium Mall. Earlier in June, the restaurant unveiled a new offering mean to attract the meat-and-potatoes crowd.

Wagyu Steak Frites is a 300-gram Japanese Wagyu Striploin that comes with crisp French fries that can lay claim to being the best in the city. It comes with a choice between two classic house-made sauces: a L’Entrecôte-style Café de Paris and a rich béarnaise.

The steak can, of course, be served depending on diners’ preferred doneness, but Valery Jane Anthony, Lusso’s R&D chef, says medium is the sweet spot, where the meat is juicy and melts-in-the-mouth. Dip the portion into or drizzle either sauce and it takes you straight to steak heaven.

Other must-tries on the Lusso menu include the Cotechino Fritti Nuggets, which is breaded and friend Italian luncheon meat served with a Pommery honey mustard; the Burro e Alici, which is Spaghettini with French Butter and Anchovy; Margarita’s Signature Spinach Taglerini Di Marghi with asiago cheese, mushrooms, and parma ham; and a stunning but delicate 24-layer coconut mille-feuille with a side of coconut ice cream and an edible flower.

Anthony says Lusso continues to honor the culinary legacy of Margarita Forés by serving only the finest ingredients in a sophisticated but relaxed urban setting.

Mrs. Saldo’s was on Esquire’s Best Restaurants List of 2022, but the brains behind it—Chef Rhea Rizzo—has never stopped improving everything about it: the landscaped gardens, the dining spaces, and of course, the menu.

We visited again in 2025 and by then, Rizzo had expanded her little enterprise in the Cavite town of Silang to include a fully operational (and visually striking) lodging place, which she rents out to guests on AirBnB; a fully stocked, temperature-controlled above-ground cellar where she keeps her and her husband’s collection of fine wines; and an a la carte dining space where, according to her, she can be more playful with her menu and offer a consistent selection of comfort food gleaned from her years of toil in kitchens around the world.

“Mrs Saldo’s started out as a prix-fixe menu,” Rizzo says. “I remember we had an Asian-tasting menu, a South American, and Southeast Asian. We were changing it every day, and then we changed it weekly, and then monthly, and then two years after we introduced a la carte. So it’s a story of evolution.”

Today, Rizzo changes her tasting menu depending on what she wants to focus on. Currently, it’s cities, and she starts out with Bangkok, where she learned the basics of Thai cooking. The meal starts with “snacks” or plates of amuse bouche where the chef flexes her culinary techniques by packing strong flavors and textures in one bite. There’s Miang Khiam (grilled Iberico pork Secreto wrapped in betel leaf); Chicken Laarb (crispy chicken skin, papaya salad and laarb powder); Salmon Nahm Jim (coconut cream, nori crackers, mint and raw garlic); Thai Fried Chicken (chicken wing with nam tiao iew, bang-bang sauce, and sweet and spicy sauce); and Crying Tiger (grilled wagyu oyster blade, amazake-saba puree, Thai basil).

There’s a very real chance of getting full just with the starters, but the best is yet to come.

Kha Gai soup (ama ebi, nantua sauce, coconut soup) is served with homemade milk bun with curry garlic butter pandan.

The mains are served family style: Angus Beef Cheek (chocolate massaman curry sauce); Crispy Duck (pineapple red curry sauce); Fried cabbage with fish floss in nam makham sauce; and a Kaho Ka Moo (braised pork).

Chef chooses to serve a pre-dessert—Thai Milk Ice Cream in popsicle form—before the main dessert, which is a mango sticky rice with coconut and white chocolate ganache.

Afterwards, diners can choose to walk around the space, order coffee, or just sit quietly and contemplate the meal. What Chef Rhea Rizzo has built is a true oasis that offers a respite from tired city folk with creative, tasty, and ultimately satisfying food.

Mrs. Saldo’s is located at Lot 5664, Barangay Malabag, Silang, Cavite