ILOILO -- Farm to Table, the progressive new restaurant by Iloilo chef superstar Pauline Gorriceta-Banusing, definitely feels at home in this area touted as a future commercial hub of this fast-developing Visayan city.

Despite not easily accessible, a bit far from the old city center, and looking very high-end with dark wood furnishings, high ceilings and artistic chandeliers, it was full when we recently visited for lunch on a weekday. The success is perhaps a testament to Gorriceta-Banusing’s seemingly golden touch when it comes to restaurant concepts in Iloilo.

“When I opened my first restaurant in Iloilo, 17 years ago, everyone told me that it would close down in a month, because there is no market. But then I proved them wrong,” Gorriceta-Banusing recalls.

After five restaurants (Al Dente Ristorante, Maki Japanese Resto, 101 Luna, Freska, and Rooftop Brewery), she wanted a concept that went back to the basics, but was still something new and exciting for Iloilo.

“Every body can claim we have the best kare-kare, or the best sinigang. But nobody can say that you live in the Visayas, you are blessed with an agricultural land, a marine culture that’s rich in seafood, with these kinds of rice, and animals that graze around! So I had to make use of what is around and make it the focus of the whole restaurant,” explained the chef of the restaurant’s concept.

From the name itself, Farm to Table, which is located at the Megaworld Complex, espouses the social movement. Its cuisine cannot be pegged into a specific type. First and foremost, the creation of dishes starts with the ingredients.

“The whole concept of Farm to Table is that you have to get it within the radius of your place. I had to source it from Panay [which] includes Bacolod, Antique, Roxas, but surprisingly, in Iloilo, there’s already suppliers,” the chef noted.

Take for example, oyster mushrooms sourced from Iloilo. These started the creation of the Veggie Tofu Scramble, a silken scramble of eggs and tofu punctuated with texture and earthiness by sautéed mushrooms, rounded off with some sweetness from seasonal vegetables. Hearty, comforting, simple and direct -- much like most of her dishes in the menu.

Her Nose to Tail Kare-kare is as good as it sounds, coming to the table in a skillet of bubbling peanut-sauce hiding morsels of tender beef pieces with glutinous bits, topped with steamed vegetables and a sprinkling of cashew nuts. Rich and best enjoyed with white rice, and dotted generously with bagoong from Balasan.

As per concept, the chef plays to the strength of her ingredients in dishes like her Tempura Soft Shell Crabs, battered and fried to crispy morsels of perfection. Soft, crunchy, and tasting of summer and the sea, the table quickly finished this basket of seafood, which was served with a truffle cream mayonnaise.

The Mangrove Jack, meanwhile, is a great introduction to the joys of the local managat fish, which is usually served in Iloilo restaurants grilled or in a soup. In Farm to Table, it is filleted and pan-seared.

White meat, tasting delicate and almost creamy, hardly needed the accompanying spinach cream sauce, although the sauce smeared onto the accompanying black rice was a great contrast not only of color, but of flavors -- nuttiness and cream.

All throughout the menu, Gorriceta-Banusing shows that she is not afraid to experiment with flavors and ingredients as well.

Dishes like the Coconut Fishballs employ ingredients like the sweetness of coconut milk to accent the natural taste of dalagang bukid. The same idea is used in her Pork Belly dish, where guava and calamansi help the sweet flavors of the pork sing. A must-try for guava lovers and lovers of sweetened pork dishes.

This author’s personal favorites among the entrées were: the Braised Beef Rib, local beef brisket stewed almost to an asado-like taste, thanks to muscovado sugar and balsamic vinegar; the Lamb Adobo, cooked with the usual adobo ingredients – black pepper, bay leaf, brown sugar (probably muscovado), and atsuete with little to no taste of vinegar, which made the lamb take on flavor without destroying its natural taste; and the Wild Pork Belly Strips, homemade bacon strips, deep fried and crispy, served in basket to be softened and tempered by a tuba (cane vinegar) dip.

Farm to Table’s menu is dependent on what’s in season and changes every month. But due to diners’ requests, Gorriceta-Banusing has opted to keep some of its bestsellers on the changing menu.

While most come for the food, afternoons and late nights can be spent enjoying Farm to Table’s coffee and beers.

Coffee and beer connoisseurs will find a haven in Farm to Table. Organic coffee is served with muscovado sugar and carabao’s milk.

Enjoy it with a sugar-free Old Fashioned Ube cake, made from scratch, not too sweet and not too heavy.

Craft beer aficionados, on the other hand, can choose from the biggest selection of local craft beers in Iloilo in the restaurant, available by the bottle, or on tap (Pedro Beer, Juan Brew, Sierra Madre, etc).

MORE THAN JUST FOOD

While the farm-to-table concept is hardly new, there’s something very authentic to this Iloilo version. It’s more believable.

Gorriceta-Banusing narrates how it’s not unusual for diners to see farmers delivering produce, and how she finds it imperative for the menu to indicate each featured ingredients’ origin.

When you ask for salt, they give you a “tultul” instead of regular salt, and you scrape away at this pink coconut salt from Guimaras for some added brine.

Each of these little nuances add to this restaurant’s authenticity, which gives eating here a whole new other facet to diners.

“There’s an advocacy, when they eat here they know that they’re helping local farmers,” said Gorriceta-Banusing.

So whether the lunch crowd that weekday afternoon was there for the food or to support the advocacy -- it truly matters not.

It’s apparent though, that Farm to Table is shaping up to be another culinary milestone, not only for Gorriceta-Banusing, but for Iloilo as well.