MANILA -- Milan’s acclaimed chef Davide Oldani of D’O fame expands his culinary empire outside Italy with the opening of his first international restaurant in Manila.

The 50-seat FOO’D by Chef Davide Oldani, which opened last Saturday at Shangri-La at The Fort in Taguig, is the latest restaurant venture of Foodee Global Concepts, the same company that brought Food Hall by Todd English and Tim Ho Wan to the Philippines.

“This has been almost a year in the making,” Eric Dee of Foodee Global Concepts told reporters.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect as Oldani seems to be finally warming up to the idea of exploring new business opportunities. It was way back in 2003 when he opened D’O in his hometown of Cornaredo, near Milan. The one-Michelin star restaurant has been dubbed by the Wall Street Journal as “Italy’s most elusive reservation,” with bookings of up to eight months in advance.

Last year, he opened the more casual David Oldani Café at Milan’s Malpensa Airport and now, Oldani has gone international with FOO’D (pronounced as fu-do), which still follows the chef’s distinctive “Cucina Pop” style, which marries quality with accessibility.

Besides Manila, FOO'D will also open in Singapore.

It is this culinary philosophy that attracted Dee to Oldani. “The intention of Foodee Global Concepts is to give affordable luxury,” Dee said.

“Tim Ho Wan is the most reasonably priced Michelin-star restaurant in the world. And D’O is the most reasonable Michelin-star restaurant in Europe,” he pointed out.

That pricing strategy was carried over to Manila. Despite its reputation, diners can spend as low as P800 for a three-course meal (starter, main course and dessert) and P1,200 for a four-course meal (plus either soup, pasta or Odani’s signature risotto Milanese).

“What we are is very accessible fine dining,” Dee continued, noting that at that price range, FOO’D can definitely eat into the casual dining market.

“But then everything is upgradeable,” he quipped, “so you can end up spending P3,000 for a four-course meal.”

At the moment, FOO’D has a limited offering of only 18 dishes, which Dee noted is in keeping with current food trends of having lean menus that “go for quality over quantity.”

Despite the small selection, the menu includes Oldani’s signature creations like his onion tart, Cipolla Caramelata, with its subtle plays in textures and flavors. This country dish was turned into a gorgeous starter with the whole onion topped with aged Grana Padano cheese ice cream with a warm Grana Padano cheese sauce.

The Iberico pork ribs main course similarly looks deceivingly humble. But the sous vide meat turned out to be amazingly tender with the porcini mushroom sauce providing a deep rich flavor with a fine dusting of breadcrumbs and muscovado adding a hint of sweetness.

Oldani’s modern take on the classic chocolate mousse follows the same pattern with heightened intense flavors, using rich dark chocolate on a bed of cacao crumble, dried raspberry and Maldon salt and topped with chocolate gelato.

Dee announced that Oldani will attend the restaurant's grand opening in mid-January.