Regina Troy Barrios

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Josh Boutwood at Juniper

<p>On the night we had dinner at <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food/2025/3/28/new-restaurant-josh-boutwoods-juniper-is-a-refreshing-concept-inspired-by-gandt-1558" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Juniper</strong></a>, <a href="https://www.joshboutwood.net/about" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Josh Boutwood</a>—executive chef for <a href="https://www.bistro.com.ph" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Bistro Group</a> and the man behind <a href="https://www.instagram.com/helmmnl/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Helm</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thetestkitchenmnl/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Test Kitchen</a>, and now <a href="https://www.instagram.com/junipermnl/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Juniper</a>—was performing one of his favorite tricks: being everywhere at once. Upstairs, he was overseeing a 150-person dinner where the food kept pace with the kind of champagne people brag about. Downstairs, at Juniper—his new restaurant devoted to his love of gin and his boyish sense of play—he was plating dishes and slipping into conversations at our table as if double duty were his natural state.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758509535632Workbench Thumbnail2.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Chef and host-in-chief Josh Boutwood, welcoming Metro to Juniper | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><p>It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him pull off this high-wire act. Months earlier, he staged a dinner across three luxury townhouses, with staff cooking in each one while he darted between them to oversee, plate, and—ever the performer—explain the courses to guests. The high-concept menu was inspired by architecture and interior design, with dishes named after New Manila, Marikina, and Taguig. “I did 40,000 steps that day going to three different houses,” he laughs.</p><p>This is the Boutwood paradox: a man spread impossibly thin, yet entirely present. Lately, though, the edges have softened. “I’ve got older. My resting heart rate is lower,” he told me later, almost pleased at the confession. The chef who once ran on adrenaline has started to savor a steadier rhythm. He talks about finding his people, a trusted team that lets him step away knowing the room won’t collapse without him. He talks about letting go.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17585097043952.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Boutwood&#x27;s new restaurant, Juniper, is where gin, wit, and dinner all get billing | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><p>The surest sign of that shift is Juniper, which feels less like a restaurant and more like a living room he decorated on a whim. It’s anchored in the joy of gin, the ritual of cocktails, and a menu that refuses to be pinned down. Boutwood raids his own back catalog—recipes from his teenage years, the meals that nudged his career forward—and serves them with the ease of someone who no longer needs to prove a thing. The sense of fun spills into the room itself, where Lego figurines, Funko Pops, and portraits of dogs don’t just fit—they belong.</p><p>You could see it play out at the table. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlk4ImO_U2I4AtjVAYH99-s-aNmuIscpr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EIC On The Move </a>host <strong>Raul Manzano</strong>, still flushed from the fine champagne at the dinner Josh was running upstairs, settled in as though that detour had only been an opening act. Josh, shuttling between events, had already shaken out a round of personalized gin and tonics so that by the time <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlk4ImO_U2I614aLNbUO5AruGJ22_3vMW" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Metro Home</em></a><em></em> co-host Stephanie Kienle and sister Jessica Kienle arrived—after fighting through gridlocked EDSA and scaling a pedestrian overpass in their heels—everyone else was already halfway through the kind of cocktails you didn’t know you wanted until they were in your hand. The sisters, flawless as ever, apologized for being late. “Totally worth the traffic,” they said, toasting with their cocktails, before the meal had even properly started.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758509772052JAR_6077a.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">The Metro table, where cocktails are poured and laughter overflows | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17585195432146.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Metro’s dinner cast: Raul Manzano, Jessica and Stephanie Kienle, and Metro head Chris Lopez | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><p>We started with the sourdough and whipped butter, the Boutwood classic that shows up across his restaurants like a signature. It’s a familiar opening riff, the kind of bread that makes you wonder if you should cancel the rest of dinner and just ask for more butter. Then came <strong>Tapioca and Cheddar Fritters</strong> with spiced tomato sauce and a dusting of Pecorino Romano—Josh’s wry take on mac and cheese. Instead of the elbow pasta you’d expect, there are sago pearls that snap under the teeth, bound by cheddar and finished with that sharp, salty snow of pecorino. Playful, unexpected, and somehow exactly right.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758518759410JAR_5883a.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Gooey, chewy tapioca and cheddar fritters | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><p>A dish of<strong> wild mushrooms</strong>, stewed down with <strong>white wine and Gruyère</strong>, was a reminder of how Josh can ground you with flavor. It had just the kind of earthy, nutty umami that makes restraint feel indulgent. An <strong>agnolotti with ricotta and parsley</strong> floated in next, pillowy little pockets that didn’t shout so much as sigh—food from a chef who no longer seems to be cooking on adrenaline.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758519001772E.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"> Boutwood torches wild mushrooms, gruyère, wine into a smoky indulgence | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17585190107314.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">The chef&#x27;s hand is in every detail, including this ricotta-parsley agnolotti | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><p>The steak was as excellent as expected, but it was the pork chop that stole the night. Cooked sous-vide until blush-pink at the core, brushed with mustard and a mysterious “M1” sauce, it was the dish that made people stop mid-conversation and look at their plates as if they’d missed a trick. Finally, we had a roasted chicken with gremolata and chickpeas—domestic yet celebratory, the kind of dish that gathers people around the table with ease.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758519191712JAR_5980a.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">The pork chop that stole the show | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17585192675615.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Roast chicken —comfort turned into art | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div><p>The dinner unfolded with a sense of ease. Playful touches and familiar comforts threaded through the courses, the kind of meal that invites conversation as much as admiration. By dessert, we were leaning back, laughing, savoring every bite. Josh had slipped away again, likely to check on his other event upstairs. Yet he had already set in motion an evening that felt effortless—because Josh made it so.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1758519308012JAR_5909a.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">After a night of flavors and laughter, the Metro team savors the glow | Photo: Jar Concengco</span></span></span></div>

<p>An evening at Juniper reveals Josh Boutwood’s rare gift: orchestrating chaos with effortless charm, turning cocktails, comfort food, and playful surprises into a dinner that feels both masterful and utterly relaxed.</p>

An evening at Juniper reveals Josh Boutwood’s rare gift: orchestrating chaos with effortless charm, turning cocktails, comfort food, and playful surprises into a dinner that feels both masterful and utterly relaxed.

How Josh Boutwood Ran Two Dinners At Once And Made It Look Easy

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How Josh Boutwood Ran Two Dinners At Once And Made It Look Easy

Troy Barrios

Published Sep 08, 2025 02:05 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 22, 2025 02:01 PM PHT

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josh boutwood

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the bistro group

best new restaurants manila 2025

manila fine dining

jessica and stephanie kienle

raul manzano

pork chop juniper

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