April brought us to Marc Aubry's Sagana Épicerie and Bistro in Bonifacio Global City, the latest in his series of French restaurants. Starting with L'Olivier, followed by Je Suis Gourmand and then Champetre, Marc has proven to be the most enduring bastion of traditional French cooking in Manila.

Sagana is the Filipino word for “bountiful” and it is the first time he moves away from a French name. The idea is to have produce as fresh as possible from close-by partner farmers and other purveyors of local ingredients. Make no mistake while some ingredients may be local the French flair is still front and centre in the dishes.

The menu started with a new dish for him, an excellent veal sweetbreads and walnut terrine. This was followed by a poached farm egg on brioche crouton with smoked bacon and red wine sauce.

As this was a BYOB event, at our table, we paired both starters with Champagne. Jean Vesselle Prestige NV to start, followed by Taittinger Brut Rose NV. Both worked very well with the first two dishes. We also had a successful pairing with a Gustave Lorentz Riesling from Alsace for the terrine.

The main course was roasted magret of duck with caramelized shallots and garlic sauce served on a truffled potato galette. We paired this with a robust Domaine de Longue Toque Hommage, a Gabriel Meffre Gigondas 2010. The Hommage version of this wine is made only in the greatest vintages and while we should have probably decanted this wine it did stand up to the hearty duck dish.

The dinner ended with a coffee and coconut parfait with dark chocolate sauce. Instead of trying to match this with wine, we instead had a Cognac Tesseron No. 90 which did an excellent job of cutting through the richness of the dessert.

Jay Labrador
Vice-Échanson