The Roofdeck Kitchen by Baguio Mountain Man: A Rustic Celebration of Cultural Gastronomy and Family

When we arrived at the roofdeck of Chef Chavi and Millie Romawac, it was like walking into an extension of our home. Everything we saw and heard made us feel welcome: a crackling fire pit, warm and soothing; a trampoline the kids instantly ran to and started hanging out in;  and of course, the dinner table beautifully set up by the cozy fire. There was thoughtfulness in how things were arranged. All of our names were written on place cards, there were handwritten notes that enveloped the cutlery, and in the middle, the custom menu displayed the night’s dishes named after us – the guests in this rustic private dinner.

Simply looking around and listening to the dinner party playlist was already the holiday we needed. Ms. Millie was busy with the salad and charcuterie welcome. Chef Chavi circled the terrace, making sure the kids were preoccupied and happy before making his way to the stoves. Everyone else, on the other hand, was sparking up a conversation.

The spice racks, shelves, and the open fire kitchen were hints of a special night, assuring us that it’s perfectly all right to let your guard down and be vulnerable to the sights, sounds, aromas, and tastes of the night’s cookout featuring the best of Cordilleran slow cooked traditional meals.

The Mountain Man’s Signature Dishes: Where Gastronomy Meets Art

We started off with a welcome charcuterie board with some grapes, nuts, crackers, and fruit sticks drizzled with chocolate to begin the night’s “roof-popping.” Soon after, the full-course meal made its way onto our plates. Each dish is prepared intricately. What’s great is you get to watch how each dish is prepared, so you appreciate the food experience more.

Many of the ingredients have had early preparations, especially the key ingredients that give the dishes flavor, like Chef’s garlic confit that needs hours in a pot over a slow to medium fire. The art of cooking is never rushed. It’s the elements of time and technique that develop distinct flavors naturally, and the best-tasting results can only be achieved with the freshest local ingredients – slow cooking at its finest.

The first course, Luscious Liezls, is the warm Mountain Man welcome. The dish is made of kinuday (smoked meat) from Dontogan that was grilled on focaccia and topped with Mountain Man grilled bell pepper spread, onion jam, apple segments, alfalfa, and tungsuy (watercress). Surprisingly, this was a hit among the kids. It’s one of their many unforgettable “firsts” of the night’s dinner service.

The second course, Pilipinas Popcorn, described as “a tribute to the priceless gems of Pilipinas Popcorn,” are mushroom cups made of plump and dainty shrooms harvested from a family-owned farm. These are a delight to bite into, mellow and earthy, with a creamy stuffing of mushrooms bits, tungsuy (watercress), Mt. Province sabeng (fermented fresh water crabs, rice and corn), kesong puti, and other cheeses.

The third is “Kaye, Kathlyn, and Kheila,” which is a bright mix of Baguio greens, fruits nuts, cheese & the mild saltiness of paddas dressing made of Ifugao fermented fish.

A Song of the Gong: Chef Chavi Romawac’s Welcome 

Before the main courses, Chef Chavi welcomes everyone with the melodies of the traditional gong. As he circles the dining table, he welcomes and blesses the gathering of family and friends. He then tells us that The Roofdeck Kitchen is all about creating a space that people can share as one through Cordillera-inspired dishes. He wants the food to be more accessible for others to understand and experience what Cordilleran dishes are.

“With a little innovation,” Chef Chavi says, “we create things. We are trying to continue the tradition of preservation: smoking, fermentation, and more. All the dishes here are either from Bauko or made from artisanal products in Baguio. My job is to harness all these ingredients and create something out of them. So, welcome! Mayat nga nagsinnangu tayu. Mangan Taku!” (It’s good to have gathered today. Let’s eat!)

And eat to our heart’s delight, we did!

The Mains from the Roofdeck Open Fire Kitchen

The Mains from the Roofdeck Open Fire make up the signature spread of slow food dishes featuring Mountain Man favorites.

The spread begins with “Moe Baguio Chicken Rice, Please, which is their take on Asian chicken rice counterparts, inspired by the highland favorite, Pinikpikan. Taking a sip of the broth is as comforting as your grandmother’s chicken soup on days when you’re tired or when the Baguio cold Ber Weather strikes.

Next up is the Highland Harvest. A tasty vegetable course of flowering pechay with sabeng from Bauko, Mt. Province.

A favored dish is “Cristina’s Kiangan-Inspired Hinanglag,” a slow food of pork with garlic adapting a traditional Cordilleran preservation method. With jaws clenched, Chef Chavi would pay special attention to keeping a constant rhythm in mixing the pork with a ladle in a kawali (a Filipino-style frying pan). He was carefully frying the pork in its own oil to make it brown and a bit crispy on the outside but juicy and a rich umami flavor on the inside.  The garlic confit is added, still with constant stirring and mixing. Each mouthful of this slow-fried pork with mashed garlic on top is nothing short of divine. It’s a gourmand’s dream come true.

Another Roofdeck Kitchen favorite is “Lena & Sam’s Birthday Mountain Clambake,” a Mountain Man signature made of a festive mix of crabs, shrimps, clams, oysters, and corn coblets steamed on a bed of watercress and hot Cordillera river stones. With the serious preparations involving getting those river stones to the right high-heat temperature, creating that bed of watercress, and putting the seafood one by one in strategic spots, so cooking is even, that dish was a show-stopper and a feast for the senses. Sweetened by the heat and steam of the corn and the seafood’s own juices, the result is luscious bites of uncomplicated, natural seafood flavors. Of course, you’d need a tad bit of lemon to strike that balance. 

Along with this dish was a “Fiona and Sam Special”, a dish for our shrimp-challenged fellows. Again, the thoughtfulness here is much appreciated. This dish is made of fresh Bangus from neighboring lowlands steamed in a packet of foil. After being steamed, the delicate fish is flavored lightly with aromatics and some sea salt.

To end the meal, a special dessert was created with the youngest guest of the night in mind – “Exciting Eliana”- cucumber ice cream with tomato honey whiskey glaze, sun-dried tomato candy segments, and mint. This was a sweet way to the meal for kids and adults alike.

As I look back at that special night with friends and family over that sumptuous dinner, I remember what I read from the book “Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture.” On one of the pages, Doreen Gamboa Fernandez writes, “In the act of cooking, we make statements about ourselves — about our understanding of relationships between ingredients; about our perception of taste and appropriateness. In the act of eating, we ingest the environment, but we do not stop at that, for we Filipinos make eating the occasion for ritual — and ritual the occasion for eating. We build ceremony around it; we create celebration.”

Indeed, this is what The Roofdeck Kitchen by Mountain Man represents and is a true example of. Here, gastronomy as an art and as a cultural memory is celebrated. With his travels across the Cordilleras, Chef Chavi and his family wish nothing else but to share the best local food culture of the Cordilleras.

In one dinner, you’d understand that the passion for a community’s traditional home-cooked and slow-food dishes are what created this place. Mountain Man’s dishes are served on a unique canvas – The Roofdeck Kitchen’s dinner tables that are fondly called “Lakay” and “Baket.” Like a community or a family preparing for a feast, Chef Chavi, Ms. Millie, and their team make their preparations days, even weeks, before. Everyone is involved in the cooking process; each has a role to play.

Such a place will always feel familiar, like your hometown or “ili,” as it is called in these parts. Everyone at the table becomes part of the community. So to someone who has truly experienced that sense of community, the words “kinship,” “family,” and the Iloco word, “kabagis” would all be apt as synonymous terms to Kailian.

The Roofdeck Kitchen by Baguio Mountain Man, Chef Chavi Romawac, is where gastronomy meets art. Anyone around who shares a seat at his table feels like kailians who’ve become part of the culinary heritage and community.

If you want to book your private dinner with your friends and family, send a message on Baguio Mountain Man’s Facebook or Instagram page.