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BGC eats: Flour Pot's comfort food tells stories of Filipino farmers

Article (news)

Karen Flores

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779358922801Entrance (Jay Jallorina).jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Flour Pot is Chef Rhea Sycip&#x27;s first solo restaurant. Jay Jallorina/Handout</span></span></span></div><p>Everything about Flour Pot, one of the newest restaurants in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, is designed to uplift you — the butter yellow exterior and floor to ceiling windows, the warm yet contemporary dining area with baking-themed decor, and the beautifully plated dishes.</p><p>The overall feel is elegant yet approachable, reflecting its owner, Chef Rhea Sycip. Flour Pot is her full-circle moment — after nearly two decades of experience across restaurants, hospitality, and the academe, she finally gets to bloom on her own.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779359214961Dining (Jay Jallorina) 1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Spot the rolling pin decor and whisk-shaped lights. Jay Jallorina/Handout</span></span></span></div><p>&quot;It&#x27;s something I&#x27;ve been wanting to do for the longest time,&quot; said Sycip, who believes her patience has paid off after years of learning and growing as a chef. </p><p>&quot;I think everyone knows that I make cakes and desserts, so this will be the other side of me,&quot; she added. </p><p>Flour Pot actually started as an online cake business, best known for Sycip&#x27;s signature rum cake and strawberry donuts. Naturally, both items are available in her newly launched full-service bistro, along with a slew of other pastries and sweet treats that range from light to decadent. </p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17794149148281.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Chef Rhea Sycip with her signature desserts, including the strawberry donuts. Handout</span></span></span></div><p>The rest of the menu, as Sycip would call it, is all about &quot;ultimate comfort food.&quot; Some are drawn from her childhood favorites, while others are recreations of dishes she has learned from her travels. </p><p>But all of these are held together by a common thread: Filipino farmers and producers.</p><p>One of Sycip&#x27;s sources of vegetables is an initiative called Greens for Good, which allows her to get top-quality produce while also encouraging young farmers to keep planting. &quot;We get purple kale that doesn&#x27;t come very often nowadays, and the tomatoes are super sweet,&quot; the chef shared.</p><p>Flour Pot also uses tomatoes from Benguet, burratina (a smaller-sized burratta cheese) from Negros, duck meat from Tarlac, and bignay (a native wild cherry) from Cavite.</p><p>And all those are just for the salads. &quot;Our food tells the stories of the farmers who grow it. Supporting them by sourcing locally is one of the most meaningful parts of what we do,&quot; Sycip said.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177935985327720260422_124915.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Smoked Duck Salad (P590). Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177935987483720260422_124942.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Burratina Panzanella (P980). Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span>Sycip is generally opposed to canned vegetables, but she makes an exception with Tosen, a company that works with Filipino farmers. </div><p>Beyond her advocacy, the canned tomatoes actually work well with Flour Pot&#x27;s dishes such as the Pomodoro and Basil pasta, giving it a natural sweetness. &quot;We didn&#x27;t add anything, we just cook it properly and simmer it down,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;They (Tosen) started off with a rescue buy,&quot; the chef recalled. &quot;What they do is they collect all of the tomatoes and then they can it locally in Bulacan.&quot; </p><p>&quot;They&#x27;re helping the local farmers because this actually costs... maybe three to five times more expensive because canning is cheaper in China. If you do it locally, it&#x27;s more expensive. But we work with them because these are proudly local tomatoes,&quot; she explained.</p><p>Sycip adds her twist to vongole with the Clams and Kiniing Pasta, which supports the alternative livelihood of farmers in Mountain Province during the rainy season. With the risk of typhoons destroying crops, they turn to smoking meat.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s like guanciale,&quot; she said, comparing kiniing to the well-loved Italian cured pork. &quot;I mix it into the pasta and then I dry it also and crumble it.&quot; </p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177935994360020260422_131335.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Clams and Kiniing Pasta (P750). Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177935996525920260422_131026.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Pomodoro and Basil (P475), which is made with local canned tomatoes. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177936054446420260422_122530.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Flour Pot&#x27;s Steak and Eggs (P1,450) uses chimichurri made from local organic carrot tops for minimal waste. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177936122356620260422_124158.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">The Calamaretti (P700) is cooked like gambas but with baby squid instead of shrimp, and served with toast. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17794150458882.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Ulang from ethical seafood supplier Mindanaw is the star of the Shrimp and Ikura Pasta (P850, left), while the Mediterranean Toast (P595) uses local whipped ricotta and honey. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News </span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17794151604683.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Chicken and Biscuits (P750, left), which uses pure buttermilk from Batangas, and the sweet, Asian-style Sticky Ribs (P1,350) made with organic pork. Both dishes include grits made of bigas mais from Negros. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>It&#x27;s easy to see Sycip&#x27;s passion for sustainability and Filipino farmers and at one point, she even apologized if her enthusiasm seems to be spilling over. The veteran chef is certainly in the right direction — this is the same idea echoed in last year&#x27;s <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2025/12/11/terra-madre-asia-pacific-2025-to-push-filipino-food-forward-we-need-to-empower-our-farmers-2032">Terra Madre Asia Pacific slow food festival</a> in Bacolod, and the <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2026/4/28/michelin-awarded-chefs-gather-in-manila-for-spanish-culinary-showcase-1918">first edition of Spain Fusion in Manila</a> back in April. </p><p>Through Flour Pot, Sycip serves as a champion for producers of local ingredients, telling their stories to wider palates. </p><div><em>Flour Pot is located at Units 3 and 4, Verve Tower, 27th Street corner 7th Avenue in BGC, Taguig. For more details, visit @flourpotph on Instagram.</em></div>

<p>Everything about Flour Pot, one of the newest restaurants in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, is designed to uplift you — the butter yellow exterior and floor to ceiling windows, the warm yet contemporary dining area with baking-themed decor, and the beautifully plated dishes.</p>

Everything about Flour Pot, one of the newest restaurants in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, is designed to uplift you — the butter yellow exterior and floor to ceiling windows, the warm yet contemporary dining area with baking-themed decor, and the beautifully plated dishes.