Friday, September 23, 2016

Love at First Bite: Providore

The huge Providore signage intrigued me for months. It really made me excited because it has been quite a while since a new restaurant graced SM Aura. And the foodie in me jumped for joy when Chef Kalel and Mela of Raintree Restaurant posted that Providore will open this week. And true to their post, it did open today at 6 pm! 

Hello, Providore! 
This casual dining restaurant is the newest concept of Raintree Restaurant, the same group behind spectacular restaurants such as Chelsea, Simple Lang, Kabila, Stella, Izakaya Sensu and Chotto Matte. And just like its sister restaurants, this one was designed to impress. 
The first thing that caught my eye was the lovely wall of products from local retailers such as Nipa Brew, Manila Eat Up, Traydor and Casa Carmela. I really like that Providore decided to partner with these shops and carry its products. It made it a lot easier for foodies who are not fond of shopping online or driving around for a bottle of hot sauce. With this, we get to save more time for eating! (I spotted a few customers considering some of the goods displayed as Christmas gifts. I might do that too.)
It was their first day when I dropped by and a handful of items were not available then. Thankfully, the kitchen had ingredients to whip a Decadent Bone Marrow Burger (PHP450). I decided to get that sinful bun of meat and pair it with a refreshing glass of Kombucha Lime Iced Tea (PHP120). I struggled choosing my dessert as I was alone when I visited. All of the desserts seem to be good for sharing so I settled with what sounded to be the smallest sweet treat they have and decided to end my meal with a plate of Housemade Leche Flan (PHP95). 

Service was quite fast as I was not even done taking photos of the merchandise when my ginormous burger arrived. 
I was greeted by a good 1.5" U.S. beef burger with bacon marmalade jam and wild arugula sandwiched by a soft buttered brioche with spiced fries and oven-roasted bone marrow on the side. 
I took a bite of the burger without the bone marrow and it tasted like your usual burger. The patty itself was the type that breaks into pieces making it hard for me to get a forkful. It was also a bit dry but figured that I just needed to put more of the jam to address that concern. 
After three or four bites, I decided to add some bone marrow and took a big bite. It was at that moment when I went to burger heaven. The burger became average to amazing! It was a harmonious marriage of flavors! 
My tastebuds had a gastronomical orgasm and it has been a while since I experienced that. Screw cholesterol! It was one of the best burgers I've had to date. Thank you, Bone Marrow Burger and Providore. 
The fries were slightly soggy already when I ate it. I can't put the blame on Providore though as I took my sweet time in taking photos and I also waited for my drink to arrive which took more than 20 minutes. Nonetheless, I liked that it was the spiced barbecue seasoned type of fries. Then again, I'd be happy too if the fries were just your plain ol deep fried cuts
My drink was pretty good too! It did an awesome job in quenching my thirst especially after munching on the flavorful burger and fries. 
It somehow reminded me of the Cha Cha Chia drink available in Stella. This one though was a simpler version of it as it didn't have passionfruit syrup. 
Last served was my leche flan topped with macapuno and ube glaze. It was an interesting take on the classic flan. It added the trending purple ingredient. I really enjoyed the first half of the flan. I loved its soft and creamy texture and the contrast with the chewy macapuno bits. However, as I try to finish my plate, the dessert started to overwhelm me with its strong sweet taste. I slowed down and eventually had to stop after hitting three-fourths of the dish. 
While struggling with my dessert, Chef Kalel spotted me on a date with myself and gave me a complimentary cookie as a treat for supporting their grand opening. 
And as I continue my battle with my flan and now a chocolate chip cookie, Andrej of Raintree spotted me and went to my table for a quick chat. It was then when I found out that they are planning to have some sort of bar or beer station at the back of the restaurant. I got excited with this as there doesn't seem to be a lot of beer places in SM Aura. While chatting, I also shared with him my thoughts on the desserts and he pulled Chef Alvin for it. I was quite impressed with how Chef Alvin took my comments. He was very open and quickly thought of a solution to it. Bravo! 
Overall, it was a great dinner! I would definitely visit again to try the other dishes! 

P.S. All breads are on 50% off starting 7pm, daily! Bread lovers, you know the drill! 

Providore is located at Ground Floor, SM Aura Premier, McKinley Parkway, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. 

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