Regina Troy Barrios

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Michelin Awards crab mentality

Kriza Palmero is the unassuming chef/owner of Pilya’s Kitchen at the Grid, Power Plant. When some snafu happened with her paperwork, she had to fly back from New York, where she was working as sous chef at Very Fresh Noodles at the Chelsea Market. And in 2021, with the encouragement of Charles Paw, she opened her Stall 11 at the Grid, specializing in ‘biang biang’ noodles. These are the broad, hand-pulled wheat noodles, chewy and like a Chinese version of ‘al dente’, that Pilya’s is known for. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17624154982311.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Kriza Palmero, chef and owner of Pile&#x27;s Kitchen at The Grid | Photo: Pilya&#x27;s Kitchen </div>Over the years, I’ve tried her Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, her Shrimp Dumplings, and the spicy Mapo Biang. It’s hearty, comfort food that’s Chinese in inspiration, but constantly given a twist, thanks to Kriza’s kitchen creativity. She even has a Fried Chicken Sandwich, served in a siopao bun, with Asian slaw and cucumbers. With Pilya, Kriza has done pop-up’s, but the Grid stall is her only permanent outlet. On Thursday, October 30, Pilya’s Kitchen was awarded a Bib Gourmand during the launch of the Michelin Guide Manila and Environs/Cebu 2026. In the Bib Gourmand category of ‘exceptional good food quality at great value’, I’m sure that along with the likes of Morning Sun Eatery, Pares Batchoy Food House, and La Pita, Pilya would be among the eating establishments that not many, even counting those in the food and dining media, would be all that familiar with. I say this with confidence because when Issa and I were leaving the Marriott Grand Ballroom, we saw Kriza quietly on her own, waiting for her ride home. We introduced ourselves to congratulate her, and she was clasping the Bib plaque like nothing on earth could prise it away from her, and I loved that! I’ve eaten at Pilya’s, but had not been aware she was the chef, or the sole owner.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17624156537752.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>The Michelin Bib Gourmand plaque on the Pilya’s Kitchen counter | Photo: Pilya&#x27;s Kitchen </div>Unlike the other high profile chefs who were still upstairs celebrating, and being surrounded by the adoring media and fans, I like to think Kriza was heading home to quietly share the award with her family, and to just let all this good fortune sink in. And I say good fortune, because I happened to be at the Grid Friday evening, and there was a long line at Pilya’s for dinner—something I saw on repeat on Monday evening.Kriza was there Monday, and we got to talking, I introduced her to some friends who were lined up, and she was all smiles recounting how she had the happy problem of having had to turn some people away during the weekend, if they were insisting on a particular menu item. She was still adjusting on food preparation for the day, given the welcome increase in customers.I preface with this Pilya’s anecdote, because it’s for the constantly striving, relatively unheralded, or marketing budget-conscious, food entrepreneurs like Kriza and the owners of Morning Sun and Aida’s Kitchen, that I’ll be forever grateful we now have the Michelin Guide. More than the culinary media darlings or established luminaries; this Guide has been a real godsend, a validation of the hard work they’ve put in over the years.I was so disappointed to read and hear about the wave of ‘negatrons’ who surfaced on social media on Friday; dissing, disparaging, and throwing shade on the Michelin Guide’s entry to our country. Crabs and sour grapes is what we should force feed these ‘negatrons’, as that’s all they know - to have a crab mentality and to sour-grape. If their favorite restaurant didn’t get cited, it was an automatic ‘Out with the Guide’!<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1762415984491MGC PH 26 - Event Space5.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>The Michelin Stars have landed—and so have the opinions.</div>I shook my head over those who even tried to justify the negativity by questioning why Michelin, and not a home-grown Food awards. Hey, no one is stopping you! Tatler, Spot, they all exist, and give awards. And if some pundit wants to write about honoring the local dining landscape via a Doreen Fernandez Awards, why not? I’d support that! But the global acceptance of Michelin is something we have to admit exists, and it’s good that Filipino restaurants now have this Guide. I know of many friends, and have spoken to foreigners, who unanimously say that when they visit a country with a Michelin Guide, they use it as a reference for where to dine. So why can’t the Philippines now be included among those countries that have such Guides?And that’s not to say it’s the be all and end all of references! I know I’m a regular at several eating establishments here, who did not make it to the Guide. That doesn’t matter to me, and I still will favor those restaurants. I’m not going to be dictated by the Guide alone, so why such a violent reaction from these ‘negatrons’? To think your liking this or that restaurant is now invalidated because it’s not included in the Guide, is your petty insecurity coming out. That’s not necessarily the Guide’s fault or failing.  Then there was the issue raised of what was spent to bring the Michelin Guide here, and if there’s a proper Return of Investment on the move made by the Department of Tourism. The jury is still out on that one, as it’s an increase in visitor arrivals in the years to come that will ultimately justify that. But me, I know that several eating establishments are more than happy with the Guide’s entry; plus I loved watching the camaraderie of Thursday evening, and how our F&amp;B community was united in celebration. Recognition from a globally accepted standard, for our local restaurant industry, is always a good thing in my books.

When the Michelin Guide finally landed in the Philippines, it didn’t just rate our restaurants—it revealed how our national pastime of tearing success apart remains alive and well.

When the Michelin Guide finally landed in the Philippines, it didn’t just rate our restaurants—it revealed how our national pastime of tearing success apart remains alive and well.

OPINION: In The Republic Of Crab Mentality, Michelin Was Always Going To Get Ripped Apart

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OPINION: In The Republic Of Crab Mentality, Michelin Was Always Going To Get Ripped Apart

Philiip Cu-Unjieng

Published November 05, 2025 04:05 PM PHT

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Updated November 06, 2025 04:03 PM PHT

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