Approachable, sophisticated, and unpretentious. This ethos makes up Tandem, an intimate fine dining restaurant tucked away in the streets of Legazpi Village, Makati.

At the helm are chefs Alex Tan and Mikee Lopez—real-life-partners-turned business-partners who bring their shared vision to life through curated tasting menus and a dining experience that feels refined yet refreshingly down-to-earth. By challenging norms and moving from a purist culinary lens, the duo has been able to create a space where creativity leads and flavor follows.

“We loved the idea of being ‘eclectic’ because we ourselves aren’t masters of any single cuisine,” the chefs say.

“We like being a little whimsical with our cooking—combining ingredients that don’t typically go together or using unorthodox methods to create surprising, delicious combinations. It was our way of staying authentic to ourselves.”

Letting the food speak for itself

From the minimalist interiors and the low light to the seamless service and down to the carefully-plated dishes, Tandem was designed to be upscale yet inviting—with a warm hospitality that lets the flavors take center stage.

“You’re in a nice space, but you can be relaxed and know you’ll have a good time. A space to celebrate wins and milestones in life, or just to enjoy time with friends and family over delicious food and hospitable service,” Tan says about their vision for Tandem.

In fact, this unorthodox take on fine dining invites its own unique target market, who are described as “adventurous diners that like to try new things.”

“You’re in a nice space, but you can be relaxed and know you’ll have a good time. A space to celebrate wins and milestones in life, or just to enjoy time with friends and family over delicious food and hospitable service,” Alex Tan says about their vision for Tandem

“Unique spaces, creative and delicious food done with proper technique, unpretentious, and well worth the money,” Lopez chimes in. “Tandem is a place that cares more about its soul than the number of likes on social media.”

What’s more, with nothing holding them back, the menu has become a playing field where anything goes.

“Because we don’t do specific cuisines, we are sort of able to imagine anything under the sun. We take inspiration from everything—our travels, our childhood, our hobbies, music we listen to, things we notice in our environment,” the two explain. “Everything, from the magnificent to the mundane. Because our brand of eclecticism allows it. We aren’t restricted to a single cuisine, so we can literally do anything we want.”

Food as a medium for stories

Dining in Tandem means no two experiences are ever quite the same. Each visit brings something new to the table, as their tasting menu (and recently, their newly-released à la carte menu) is thematic.

“We think that people enjoy stories, and so our tasting menus always revolve around themes,” Tan explains. “We believe it is an effective way to communicate our stories and really allow us to describe ourselves using food as our medium.”

“It can honestly go either way,” Lopez says of the creative process. “Sometimes we think of the theme first, and then we find how to break those themes down into courses, and then we come up with dishes that we feel fit those courses—of course without feeling too ‘forced.’ Other times, there are certain dishes we want to try, and we build from there to create an appropriate theme.”

The chefs then reveal that the à la carte menu doesn’t deviate too far from the tasting menu since “there are a couple of dishes there from our previous menus that really carry a lot of significance” for the culinary duo.

“It can honestly go either way,” Mikee Lopez says of the creative process. “Sometimes we think of the theme first, and then we find how to break those themes down into courses, and then we come up with dishes that we feel fit those courses—of course without feeling too ‘forced’

Take for example their famous squid ink garganelli in anchovy butter. “It was a dish that made its debut in our second menu of ‘Emotions,’” Tan explains. “The emotion was fear, and it was a black pasta, covered in black lavash, presented on a black plate.”

“It was a dish that combined our personal fears, and was also a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic—a time when the entire world was afraid and where both of us started our very small pasta business,” Lopez says.

Fast forward to today, the chefs are proud of the way Tandem had turned out. While foremost known for their tasting menu, the à la carte dishes—now available every last week of the month—give guests a crash course on how “to understand who we are and what we do within a context of familiarity, rather than their having to try to digest our entire identity through a multi-course meal.”

“Sometimes, it’s nice to just eat what you find appealing rather than sit through an entire multi-course meal just to connect,” Tan adds. “We also know that à la carte is much more approachable, and at the end of the day, we just want to feed people our food. This allowed us to cast a greater net.”

Crafting a memorable dining experience

While letting the food shine through minimalist presentation, thoughtful plating, and responsibly-sourced ingredients is essential, Tan and Lopez believe that the heart of what they do in Tandem lies in how a guest feels all throughout.

“Understand that [the F&B industry] is a business of people,” Tan says simply. “Restaurants in this day and age cannot just focus on food. It must also focus on the entire customer experience. Everything, from the reservation experience, service, food, and post-meal interactions are areas that can affect a customer’s experience, which means all of these are opportunities to make sure guests are satisfied with spending their time and money.”

While letting the food shine through minimalist presentation, thoughtful plating, and responsibly-sourced ingredients is essential, Tan and Lopez believe that the heart of what they do in Tandem lies in how a guest feels all throughout

“For us, it’s just also understanding that customers are humans, too. They just want to have a good time and be treated like human beings,” he adds. “Choosing a restaurant can be risky, especially newer, ‘boutique’ kind of restaurants, and that’s something we understand and are extremely grateful for our guests to be taking that risk.”

This is why both Tan and Lopez make it a point to greet every single table and ask about their experiences. “And we are always genuine about it, which we feel is the game-changer here. We want to hear what we did wrong, we want to hear where we can improve, and we do take tangible steps into trying to fix those we think are worth fixing. Again, it’s about making people feel seen.”

Another strategy that works? Being hands-on. “Since we opened, we’ve always been in the restaurant,” Lopez adds. “Tasting everything during prep—before service, and even during service. We have the right people to help us keep that constant. As much as possible, everything is systemized, so that things remain constant.”

“A lot of guests have told us how surprised they were to have enjoyed their experience because they usually don’t really know what to expect when looking at our restaurant,” she says proudly. “For us, it’s always better to under promise and over deliver!”

Specialization vs. storytelling

More often than not, a restaurant specializes in a certain cuisine—with some contemporary ones opting to go fusion. And while tasting menus may be a common concept that many have also adopted, Tandem sets itself apart by infusing a more personal touch—rooted in the stories and memories that both Tan and Lopez associate with every dish.

“There are really only a handful of restaurants that do this sort of borderless cuisine,” both chefs reveal. “It is much more typical for restaurants to brand themselves as a specific kind of cuisine, which is understandable—it makes it easier to digest for guests who want a more straightforward dining experience, and there is nothing wrong with that. But for us, we also just like to have fun, to provide people with something a little different.”

“We also like to challenge the status quo,” Tan adds. “While other high-end restaurants might find the need to import more than half their inventory overseas in order for them to be more authentic, we don’t have that problem because we aren’t trying to chase authenticity.”

“It is much more typical for restaurants to brand themselves as a specific kind of cuisine, which is understandable—it makes it easier to digest for guests who want a more straightforward dining experience, and there is nothing wrong with that. But for us, we also just like to have fun, to provide people with something a little different”

And while both chefs believe there’s nothing wrong with importing and using ingredients from abroad, they prefer using what’s around them—saying that while it may not always be the best of the best, the secret lies in “utilizing the right techniques to make delicious dishes.”

“We love hearing from our guests comments like ‘I can’t believe this is just a cabbage’ or ‘I actually don’t eat onions so much, but I loved this onion dish’ because that just sort of speaks to our skill as cooks—to be able to turn common ingredients into something delicious and memorable,” he says proudly.

“It’s easy to make delicious things with the best ingredients imported around the world, but importing is both costly and environmentally unsustainable. And we like to be smart and responsible with how we affect the world around us.”

While both chefs believe there’s nothing wrong with importing and using ingredients from abroad, they prefer using what’s around them—saying that while it may not always be the best of the best, the secret lies in “utilizing the right techniques to make delicious dishes”

This is why the chefs use ingenious ways to maximize their ingredients. “We even use what typically would be considered waste, and turn those into other components of dishes, like potato cooking water turned into potato chips, excess bread trim turned into pasta dough.”

“We may not be so loud about our effort towards zero-waste, but it is something that we strive to do every single day, every single menu,” Lopez says.

A “world of flavors” in the heart of Makati

Stemming from their shared memories, experiences, and stories, Tandem’s menu is also built on the rich tapestry of flavors from around the world. “It’s really part of our brand to be very globally influenced,” Tan and Lopez share with a smile.

“There are also a lot of other smaller components that we draw from our own experiences growing up that are very local. They make an appearance here and there in our tasting and à la carte menu,” they add.

One such dish hits especially close to home. “Pyanggang is a Mindanaoan dish that we have in our à la carte menu, which draws from Alex’s parents who are from Zamboanga,” Lopez explains. “Specifically, his mom is from Jolo in the province of Sulu, which is a heavily Muslim area. Pyanggang originated from the Tausug people of Sulu, and is a dish that Alex’s mom introduced to him.”

“Tandem provides something extremely unique, and it sort of speaks to how globalization has affected the world these past few decades,” Tan supplies. “It’s really about understanding food science and merging flavors from different cuisines to create really special dishes”

“Tandem provides something extremely unique, and it sort of speaks to how globalization has affected the world these past few decades,” Tan supplies. “It’s really about understanding food science and merging flavors from different cuisines to create really special dishes.”

As for the location? Essential. From the very beginning, setting up shop in Greenbelt Hamilton—a key development by Megaworld Lifestyle Malls—would be a crucial part in building their shared vision for Tandem.

“We like the idea that they tend to build communities within their spaces,” the duo say. “They’ve shown their support through advertisements, promotions, and honestly just being present overall. The team has also been super easy to communicate with, which is something we truly appreciate. They also make us feel like our existence is unique and appreciated, and we’re not just any random tenant.”

Longevity and success secrets

Tandem may be a new forerunner in the F&B world but it has quickly made waves in the industry, all thanks to the chefs’ collective passion, strategy, and ingenuity.

When asked for their success secrets, Tan and Lopez both demur, “We honestly can’t say just one thing for certain. A lot of blessings, guests who love us and what we do, friends who have given us support, and just our dedication to make this restaurant work by any means we can.”

“This is our first restaurant, our baby. We have to make it work no matter what. But apart from our grit and hard work, we know we’ve also had a lot of support from our family and friends.”

But one thing’s for certain: the people behind Tandem are the heart of it all.

“When we say that hospitality is about making people feel seen, it’s not just the guests we are considering but our staff as well,” Lopez elaborates

“When we say that hospitality is about making people feel seen, it’s not just the guests we are considering but our staff as well,” she elaborates. “The industry has always been notorious for horrible labor practices, and we personally know what it feels like to be treated like a very expendable unit. So we do everything we can as a new restaurant to make sure to increase those standards for our employees.”

“We may not be making significant, industry-wide changes (yet), but at least we know in our little family at Tandem, our employees are treated much better than the average. Compensated higher than average, fed very well, very flexible with spontaneous days off, among other things, because we ourselves understand what it feels like to be treated very poorly.”

“We teach, we lead by example, we don’t shout, and our tempers are kept in check,” Lopez stresses. “At the end of the day, our employees are just human beings trying to make a living, learning whatever they can. It is just normal to treat them with dignity and respect.”

“We’re all about eclecticism and innovation,” the chefs emphasize. “But we also have to remember to stay true to ourselves, and to make sure that the story we tell and the food we serve are on par with each other”

That being said, Tan has one thing to say for aspirants who aim to get into the rewarding but challenging world that is the F&B industry. “Trust yourself, but get rid of any attitude. Be nice to people. Know what you want and how to get there. Do market research. Get a great marketing team, because social media is too important, whether or not you agree.”

“And don’t be a jerk. Be genuine—unless you are genuinely a jerk, then maybe try something else,” he laughs.

And above all, building a strong branding will help cement your place in the cutthroat industry. “We’re all about eclecticism and innovation,” the chefs emphasize. “But we also have to remember to stay true to ourselves, and to make sure that the story we tell and the food we serve are on par with each other.”

“We never want to be too gimmicky—selling a story with subpar food, or having really great food with no soul behind it. Being genuine is always something people appreciate,” they end.

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls’ World of Flavors celebrates the artistry, passion, and compelling stories of culinary visionaries and restaurateurs.