A FLATTERY OF flavors

This new restaurant will sweep you off your feet with a culinary experience designed to flatter without a hint of deception

- LAURD SALEN

Bolero, the new dining spot at the Fort in Bonifacio Global City, beckons you with a name that might raise an eyebrow or two. In Filipino slang, a "bolero" is a flatterer, someone smooth with words, but Bolero is both the epitome and the antithesis of the term.

As you approach its establishment, your attention is immediately drawn to the prominent red streak on its signage-a striking detail that, as one of the owners would later reveal to MEGA, boldly proclaims that they are more than mere words; they are not boleros, as the experience and food they serve is as enticing as it promises.

The trio behind Bolero, Felipe Diaz de Miranda, Luis de Isasa, and Fernando Alcalá, all hail from Spain. Their connection is as intriguing as their culinary venture.

Felipe and Luis's friendship sparked in 2017, when both foreigners found a connection in Manila. But it wasn't after five years later that the idea of Bolero would be conceived. As fate would have it, Felipe met Fernando at the latter's wedding in May 2022, a chance encounter that would set the stage for Bolero's creation.

"It was like love at first sight," Fernando jokingly says. "We have the same stupid humor and the same stupid jokes. People were like, 'Why is the groom with a guy nobody knew?"" Ten drinks deep into their newfound camaraderie, they decided to give Manila a different culinary experience-one that can offer high-quality food with a twist of playfulness.

PLAYFUL AND FUN

The name Bolero was chosen playfully, embodying the spirit of the owners. "It's because we're all boleros," Luis jokes.