Smith & Wollensky is Now in the Philippines
One of the legendary steakhouse authorities in American dining culture is the famous Smith & Wollensky. In pop culture, it has been referenced as the must-have steak for fictional magazine editor Miranda Priestly in the cult fashion-centric film “The Devil Wears Prada.” It is also the go-to steakhouse of entrepreneur Warren Buffet for when he closes huge business deals.
But long before that, Smith & Wollensky had been known for serving only the best USDA prime beef and the finest local seafood, paired with a pioneering selection of sumptuous wines from California since its establishment in New York in 1977. Its USDA prime dry-aged beef has made Smith & Wollensky “a steakhouse to end all arguments.”
John Hardyment, chairman of Granville Restaurants Philippines, Inc. (GRPI)
and Bayshore Pacific Restaurants, Inc. (BPRI), the man who’s brought Smith & Wollensky in Asia, shared why it is about time Smith & Wollensky opens its doors on the Philippine shore. Definitely not new in the food and beverage business, his company has been operating a number of restaurants in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China for 35 years. In 1992, Hardyment brought the popular American chain of restaurants TGIFriday’s in Taiwan, and has grown since.
“I arrived in Asia 47 years ago and I've been involved in the food and beverage business for about 35 years. Recently, we decided to come to the Philippines where we're very excited to be opening one of our new Smith & Wollenksy's in Manila here in BGC at The Finance Center, one of the best buildings in the city,” the Canadian national shared in a press statement.
“Our company is based in Taiwan, where I also live. And the Philippines is very close, and I've been coming here for many years. I love the country, love the people, and over the last few years, I've noticed a huge advance in the dining scene in Manila. The number of restaurants has grown, and the quality of the restaurants has definitely grown. And it's grown with the economy too, as the people here have become more affluent. We thought it was time to come to Manila, and we're very excited.”
Bayshore Pacific has been licensed to bring Smith & Wollensky in Asia, starting in Taiwan in 2019. Due to the pandemic, the plans of Asian expansion of Smith & Wollensky have slowed down. Now, their team has finally opened the famous premium American steakhouse in the Philippines, which is also the first in Southeast Asia. Bayshore plans to also launch some locations in Japan and China in 2026.
Smith & Wollensky: The Classic American Steakhouse
Kim Dinsmoore, U.S. Executive VP of Operations and International Development, who’s in charge of international expansion and working with all Smith & Wollensky’s new international licensees, makes sure that the Filipinos get to experience the classic, traditional Smith & Wollensky hospitality and culinary treat.
Kim Dinsmoore, U.S. Executive VP of Operations and International Development
Kim explained why the dry-aged steak is at the heart of Smith & Wollensky, detailing how their steakhouse has full control of its steak’s topnotch quality.
“Dry-aged beef is really the best you can do (among steaks), especially USDA prime grade beef, which is the best of all the USDA-graded beef. We dry-age it for 28 days here at Smith & Wollensky. We do it ourselves. We have an aging room in all of our restaurants. We have our own butchers. So we really, truly control the quality of the product from selecting the best.”
“With some great partners like Double R Ranch Northwest Beef and Snake River Farms, which we brought into the mix somewhat recently about six years ago, we got to introduce American Wagyu, which is an even higher level elevated experience when it comes to beef. And then to be able to dry that ourselves, butcher it ourselves, and then cook it on our grill– we truly make sure you’re having the best steak. We just truly control the quality that is delivered on that plate, that not every steakhouse can do. And I believe that’s the heart of it all here at Smith & Wollensky.”
Kim also takes pride in their wine selection.
“When you have the best steak, you have to have a beautiful glass of wine or a bottle or two to go with it. And American Cabernet is hands down the perfect pair for that big, bold, nice amount of steak. A good bottle of Screaming Eagle as well with the steak is a great dining experience too. We always have some great French wines as well.”
“We have a lot of international travelers that visit us in our location in Manhattan, New York, the beaches of Miami, or the Chicago downtown, and these tourists come and they really just enjoy the experience. So being able to bring it here and bring the Filipinos that taste of America, that taste of the service that goes with that, we’re excited to be able to do that. And then adapting a little bit with some localized flavors, because for every market we look forward to bringing small pieces of the local culture in as well, that’s also exciting.”
Filipino Flavors Exclusive at Smith & Wollensky BGC
While Smith & Wollensky stays true to its 48 years of classic US hospitality and premium American-style steak in its menu, the team has made sure they’re able to incorporate some localized elements for its first-ever Philippine location.
Chef Cale Jackson, the Culinary Director for Asia for Smith & Wollensky America’s Steakhouse, shared how they integrated the Pinoy palate into their menu plan for their Philippine restaurant.
Chef Cale Jackson
“Well, we know that we're in different markets, and we make sure to integrate what people like locally. One thing we did is we added these special rice dishes to our Philippine menu. Now, it's something we don't do at Smith & Wollensky, but we felt we had to adapt. When we were here touring the Philippines, we noticed that Filipinos really love to have rice with their meals. So myself and my culinary team created three really unique, fantastic, and tasty rice dishes that go very well with our awesome steaks.”
Chef Cale and his team developed three distinctly Pinoy rice dishes with a little flair, made specially for the Filipino gourmands: the Bone Marrow Rice, Spanish Rice, and the Foei Gras Rice.
Chef Cale described the three rice dishes added to the Filipino menu of Smith & Wollensky.
“The Bone Marrow Rice is a version of Cajun dirty rice, and it’s served with a bone marrow, with the bone marrow toppings inside still. And some of you can scrape them off and mix them in with the rice, and it’s kind of spicy, and it gives a really nice taste,” Chef Cale said.
“Another one that we developed specially for Filipinos is our Spanish Rice made with chorizo. It’s got a little bit of the flavors of having a Paella, but not quite, but somewhat similar and with the ingredients and flavors, a little bit of a Spanish accent.
“And then we have our really decadent Foie Gras Rice, where we have very, very special Japanese rice with foie gras, a seared foie gras lobe on top, and the mix with our very special sauce, which is very rich and very decadent.
Another amazing culinary delight Chef Cale and his team developed is the Smith & Wollensky Wagyu Beef Sisig.
“We have a great bar menu because people go into the bar, and sometimes they've already had dinner or they haven't had dinner, but they want to have a little late-night snack. So we have kind of a tapas menu, where it's got bar snacks, and we wanted to have some local flavors on it,” Chef Cale said.
“So, I asked my two Filipino local chefs to create some dishes that would appeal to the locals but have a more steakhouse, upscale feel to them. So we decided to do a Lingua Wagyu Beef Tongue Sisig. It's really tasty. It's made of chunks of wagyu tongue, and we stir-fry them very quickly. And we've made a special sauce, kind of an umami-flavored sauce, which kind of brings all the flavors together. There's also some of our stir-fried dry-aged beef chunks in there as well. So we get more flavor and more richness in our Sisig, then it's topped with the crispy shiitake mushrooms and a sous vide egg.”
The famous super huge Signature Smith & Wollensky Chocolate Cake also got its Filipino version.
“We have this Signature Chocolate Cake here that's famous to all of the Smith & Walensky international locations. And it's like our signature dessert here. It's very important to our operations here, because everybody loves our chocolate cake. When I came to the Philippines, I knew that the Philippines is a big manufacturer of cocoa and has very high quality cocoa. So I mandated my executive chef and my chefs to use the local cocoa to make our chocolate cake. Smith & Wollensky's famous chocolate cake recipe for 47 years is for the first time getting a localized one, and it is one here in Manila that uses 100% Philippine cocoa,” Chef stated with passion.
Filipino Sensibilities
Aside from the Pinoy flavors in its menu, the pioneer Smith & Wollensky location in the Philippines also works with the best artists in the Filipino culture.
Premiere Filipino fashion designer Rajo Laurel did the tailoring of the uniforms of the Smith & Wollensky BGC service staff, while artist Jed Yabut took care of the restaurant’s design interiors, highlighting Filipino artistry from restaurant lamps, to chandeliers to wall art pieces.
During the soft launch event, Smith & Wollensky brought some American culture and music with the live performance of Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Bobby West.
Grammy-nominated Jazz pianist Bobby West
“What I notice when I come here to the Philippines, it’s much like Taiwan where I live, and much like Hong Kong where we operate. The people here in the Philippines, like others in Asia, love to have family and friends over and share food. And I think that's what Smith & Wollensky does best. Everybody says, the portions are huge, and that’s because they’re American size.”
John Hardyment, chairman of Granville Restaurants Philippines, Inc. (GRPI)
and Bayshore Pacific Restaurants, Inc. (BPRI)
“But that’s what makes our dishes perfect for sharing. So we see a lot of big groups, a lot of families, a lot of businesses, getting together for a good meal. There’s nothing better than a really great steak, a nice glass of wine, and some wonderful service to really have a great evening. And I think every Filipino friend of mine loves all of that. So we’re delivering it,“ Hardyment concluded.
Smith & Wollensky is now in its soft launch in the Philippines. You may book via reservations@swmnl.com. The grand launch is on July 8.
Smith & Wollensky Philippines is located at 2/F of The Finance Centre Building, located at 26th Street, cor. 9th Ave, Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City.
About Smith & Wollensky
Smith & Wollensky was founded in 1977 by Alan Stillman, a charming, successful, New York-based restaurateur who had previously founded the now world-famous TGI Friday’s.
Stillman employed an eclectic mix of young locals and those newly arrived, many of whom had left their homes to seek fame and fortune in America. No strangers to hard work, together they set about building strong foundations based on service and hospitality that would eventually create numerous personal and unique American success stories. Aside from its famous dry age beef, many believe that Smith & Wollensky was key to putting new American wines on the map. Today, Smith & Wollensky is a collection of iconic steakhouses in select American cities and well-traveled global destinations.