How a star chef drinks beer

Guests can now try a San Miguel Premium Beers pairing dinner at Boutwood’s Ember

BACK in the days when ad agencies were laser-focused on coming up with just the right tag line for their customers, they would have stumbled over themselves to hire chef Josh Boutwood if they had heard the one-liners he spouted about San Miguel over a special beer pairing dinner on March 25.

San Miguel Premium Beers held a pairing at the chef’s Michelin-selected restaurant Ember on March 25. Ember is one of the outlets under Mr. Boutwood, whose restaurants were very well-represented at the Michelin Guide for Manila, Cebu, and its environs launch last year: his restaurant Helm was the country’s first two-starred restaurant under the guide. Calling him a star chef, then, was no stretch.

BEER PAIRINGS
The meal started with Smoked Shrimps with a side of Garlic Aioli and Lemon, paired with San Miguel Cerveza Blanca. Smoked over applewood, one could smell the shrimps from a foot away. By themselves, they were robust and bold, with a hint of natural sweetness in their flesh. Cerveza Blanca served to emphasize this sweetness, providing a contrast to the otherwise smoke-forward flavors while the beer’s own wheaty notes were expressed further.

The next dish, a Baked Chicken Thigh Fillet with Sage Butter with Cauliflower Puree, was served with San Miguel Premium All-Malt. The beer’s maltiness added the suggestion of crispness in the chicken’s skin, bringing out a cleanliness in both the chicken and its pairing. Next came Marinated Grilled Pork Skewers with Jaew Sauce, Cilantro Mint Salad, and Lime Wedge, matched with San Miguel Super Dry. The strong flavors of spices and herbs brought out the beer’s complexity and fragrance.

The meal ended with a Walnut Date Cake, served with San Miguel Cerveza Negra. The cake was creamy and rich, and the cocoa notes in Cerveza Negra complement the burnt sugar notes in the cake. All the other elements in the cake and beer combined, and somehow, the beer began to taste like a glass of milk served before bed (albeit with a little snap).

FAVORITE BEER
One got an idea that Mr. Boutwood liked beer from his reaction last year after his restaurants were honored at the Michelin awards. He said then: “I can’t wait to leave, go to my restaurant, celebrate, open a bottle of champagne, and drink a shitload of beer, and just really have a nice night with my team.”

During the San Miguel pairing dinner, we asked how he liked his beer: “I’m a true purist,” he said.

“My favorite San Miguel beer is the original San Miguel Pale Pilsen,” he said, though after the release of San Miguel’s Cerveza Blanca wheat beer in 2024 in the Philippines, he has had a hankering for it. “That’s really become my go-to beer. It’s a lot more mature; it’s a lot more rounded. It has a lot more nuances,” he said.

“It’s less of the beer (for) ‘I’m going on a night out.’ It’s more of a beer to enjoy the night out,” he said, then joked about San Miguel paying him royalties for the great tagline.

What food does beer best go with? “Anything. Beer goes with everything. There’s not a thing in the world that beer doesn’t go with. It sounds like I’m endorsing them. But the selection of beers that San Miguel has can go with practically anything that’s going to be on the table.

“There’s a beer for every time and every moment,” he said. “There’s another slogan,” he joked.

These pairings of San Miguel Premium Beers with the intimate dishes at Ember by Josh Boutwood are available starting March 27. — Joseph L. Garcia