A Surprising Place to Get the "It" Cuisine

Would you trust an Irish chef to dish out convincing Filipino cuisine at a white tablecloth restaurant in Alexandria? Well, you should. Restaurant Eve’s Cathal Armstrong is more than fired up about his family-style tasting menu being offered this month.

“They say cook for yourself first, and I’m enjoying it all,” Cathal tells us. We snapped him putting the finishing touches on kinilaw—the Filipino version of ceviche where the acidic component is added immediately before consumption. Filipino food is making a run at being the next big thing, appearing on just about every list of 2015 food trends. What’s the connection with Restaurant Eve? Cathal’s wife Meshelle is Filipino. “I’ve seen her family cook; it’s all about eating; if guests come to your home, the amount of food you put out indicates status,” he says.

If that’s the case, we’re all aristocrats at Restaurant Eve. In addition to Cathal’s takes on Filipino classics, the menu is diversified by Thai dishes inspired by the chef’s October 2014 trip to Thailand—including a seafood coconut curry. Restaurant Eve’s guiding principles of seasonality and high-end products remain intact during the one-month experiment: “I’m taking peasant-style dishes and using ingredients most people don’t have access to.” For example, a Filipino BBQ dish utilizes prime pork belly from a local farm, and the accompanying rice is topped adorably with a quail egg. The $60 per person dinner is offered nightly with optional drink pairings.