This Neo-Japanese Private Dining Concept in Cubao Serves the Chef's Best 'Food Memories'

American food writer Barbara Costikyan, in a piece called "Charles Wysocki's Americana Cookbook" for New York Magazine back in 1984, once wrote: "In the childhood memories of every good cook, there's a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot, and a mom.”

All-world chef Jorge Mendez thinks of food the exact same way. This thought is applied to his new private dining concept in Cubao. Modan, through its 10-course neo-Japanese menu, takes diners through the memories and flavors of the chef's life. Each dish is as carefully prepared as the act of remembering that binds each element.

"Every food, you have a food memory na kapag nakain mo parang ito 'yung luto ng mom ko... Ito [naman] 'yung kinakain ng daughter ko, for example. For the muscato, ['yan], my son loves grapes," he explains. The chef's mom got him into cooking, basically, and look how far he's come.

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p>pUnder Mendez's portfolio is the multi-branch ramen, maki bar Ohayo, cloud kitchens like Eats Chow Chew and Byrd Tubs, and, now, Modan. His latest concept is deeply personal (it only hosts up to 12 guests per night, too), with references to old mentors, friends, family, and the ideas the informed his taste. For this one, the 30-year-old chef opted to go neo- or progressive Japanese, if you will. That, too, comes with quite the anecdote.>p"When I was a kid that (Japanese food) was the first cuisine I knew of. My mom lived and worked there. Suddenly, she has to go back to the Philippines to take care of us. My dad doesn't want her to be in Japan because if you're working in Japan, you're treated like, or they think, you're a 'japayuki,'" he says.>p"Pero my mom wasn't like that. She worked as an entertainer, singer talaga with a band. I want Japanese cuisine to be the reason madala ko siya [back to Japan]. Seven years of hard work building [toward this]." All those years he spent training in culinary school, Japan, New York, Singapore, and the like have led to this, in many respects.>pALSO READ:>pThe Best New Seafood Restaurant in Boracay Is Worth the Five-Year Wait>pWhat We Can Expect From Chef Miko Aspiras' Newest Pastry Playgrounds>pIt's all intentional, too, such as the case with Modan's menu. We can say it's a retrospect of sorts of the young chef's life. Mendez thinks of the whole shebang as neo-Japanese because of the mix of Japanese tradition and modern technique (see: the Modan, modern wordplay). But of all things, these dishes frame flavor over memories, in plates both large and small. Eating, as we may surmise, is as much about the memory as it is about the actual taste.>p

The crab-stuffed Takoyaki, for instance, is a nod to his wife, who is, you guessed it, a big Takoyaki fan. Made with blue crab meat and a sweet corn mousse, it's part of the appetizer portion of the course; it is as sweet and delicate as it sounds. Then there's the Chuutoro Toast, which tucks tuna and scallion in between two warm pieces of bread, which is supposedly an ode to his first job, where he got to make tuna his own.

That raspberry-colored thing, on the other hand, is the Gyu Kakuni Korokke (those buns are actually wasabi-infused beets). Here we get shredded Wagyu short ribs bathed in sweet-tart apple tsukemono. It's experimental in the way it juxtaposes the meat and the sweetness of the other elements. This one is a way to express gratitude to the Hapag chefs who encouraged him.

The Debasaki and the Gyu Kakuni Korokke.

The Amaebi and the Chuutoro Toast.

A Margarita Forés-inspired dish also comes with the menu. Mendez made the Amaebi for her, as his time with Forés served as his introduction to it. The chef made use of shrimp drenched in lemon zest and a peppery sauce, complemented with Tosaka and strips of jicama. The dish that follows is the savory Debasaki, which is meant to honor a similar dish from the past that didn't yield ideal results (the chef said his friends had "failed" with it). For this thing, we get a juicy Japanese chicken wing stuffed with lumpfish caviar rice. Of course, the chef just had to add the rich shoyu-treated egg yolk on top.

The Gindara and the Nabe. Dear Lord.

The standout Gindara, on the other hand, is a tribute to Chef Josh Boutwood, who is best known for his aging and fermenting techniques. We get a gindara that's aged to achieve a fuller more moist character. It's seared and comes with miso bisque and negi.

But the real showstopper might just be the Nabe. This giant clay pot is prepared in honor of that famous fine-dining spot, Den, in Japan, where Mendez learned to make the dish. Here, we get a generous filling of soy rice adorned with chunks of Wagyu short ribs, negi, and unagi slices. It's served in a communal fashion. Pardon my French but it's a fucking delight.

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>pFor the dessert course, which is dedicated to the chef's daughter, it would be a crime not to mention this wonderful melt-in-your-mouth experiment where Mendez takes Hokkaido milk and a crisp sheet of dairy. He adds in some kuromitsu cream and ikura (yes, fish roe) because why the hell not? It just makes sense.>pThe menu has a whole lot more to offer for guests who choose to book the joint. But more than the dishes, the chef, we reckon, wants us to remember more who we feast with when we come here. Of course, that's not to say we shouldn't enjoy the food while we're at it, aye? We definitely will, that's for sure.>pModan is located at Unit 3 Level 1 Escalades East Tower, 20th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City, and is open from 6:00 p.m. onwards, from Friday to Sunday. Its 10-course set menu is available for P4,500.
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