Grace Park in One Rockwell

Grace Park in One Rockwell is the new restaurant of Gaita Fores touting a farm to table and back to basics concept. Gaita Fores is the brainchild behind super popular Cibo and Lusso. The concept really appeals to me, since its having better quality ingredients that are in season as well as giving farmers more earnings. The restaurant is named after the home of her paternal grandmother in Caloocan.

The interiors at Grace Park is pretty interesting, it exudes a rustic /industrial look using seemingly recycled materials. Exposed piping and wooden planks mixed, steel beams, unfinished concrete and beautifully texture bricks come together to complete the look.

This corner table is the best seat in the house for me, with wonderful lighting as well as an interesting backdrop.

I went up to the loft/ 2nd floor to busybody and saw this unfinished seating area that was also very nice with its alcove like feel.

We had wanted to try the Baked Cracklings but they were out of stock so we settled on the Mushroom Field with Asiago (P280). A rectangular aluminum container filed with a mix of different mushrooms fried with a light batter. An Asiago cheese dip is served on the side. Irene and I found it a bit oily and under seasoned, not helped by the milky cheese dip. A request for salt made the mushrooms better.

While waiting for our main dishes to arrive, we noticed our table ornament was a herb plant. A quick look at other tables yields different varieties.

Irene ordered the Organic Porkchop (P520). A piece of nicely cooked pork chop surrounded by greens and corn, as well as a container of what we assumed was pork drippings (not sure). The pork was tender, cooked perfectly, we guess in their hearth oven. The pork is sweet and flavorful but a dip in the accompanied sauce catapults the taste.  The greens were well seasoned but I have to give props for the really sweet corn.

I picked the Muscovado Beef Belly (P510) after Irene pointed it out. I’m not usually a fan of beef belly since I don’t really like the fat but muscovado in dishes really appeals to me. The beef belly is a pretty generous portion that can maybe serve 2 lighter appetites. The muscovado adds a light, subtle sweetness that enhances instead of overpowering the beautiful and flavorful beef. They’ve seen fit to add an extra dose of the glaze as you’ll be dipping every piece away like I did. This is so far my favorite beef belly dish ever.

Grace Park’s interiors are beautiful, the concept is worthwhile and the food is pretty good, so I suggest you guys give it a try. Reservation is a must as the place filled up pretty fast but you’ll have to excuse the slow service as most new places experience. We only sampled a couple of dishes on the menu and I’ll definitely be back for more.

Grace Park

Ground Level One Rockwell

Rockwell Drive, Rockwell Center

Makati

Telephone no.: 843-7275

Grace Park on Facebook

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