Regina Troy Barrios

Josh Boutwood’s New Menu at Helm, Single Ingredient, Opens Up Endless Possibilities

Article (news)

How far can you take a single ingredient? That is the question Josh Boutwood asks with Single Ingredient, his new tasting menu at <a href="https://guide.michelin.com/ph/en/metro-manila/makati-city_2329358/restaurant/helm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Helm, the Philippines’ only two-Michelin-starred restaurant</a>. It takes ingredients we think we’re already familiar with and invites us to take a closer look.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786589747751in service.7.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Single Ingredient began with Boutwood&#x27;s search for simplicity | Photo: Dre Ferrer </div>The Tuna course juxtaposes lean akami and fatty otoro, the two cuts playing against each other. Pumpkin appears as custard, ferment, seed and skin. Cod is paired with cauliflower and bacalao, its skin turned into a savory snow. Lamb becomes a terrine of belly and loin, roasted tenderloin and a jus made from its bones, with mole and watercress adding spice and freshness.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786591301976Tuna.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Tuna | Photo: EAT Public Relations </div>It sounds straightforward enough until the dishes arrive. Then it becomes clear that Boutwood is not really interested in cooking one ingredient several ways. He is interested in taking each ingredient apart and finding its most delicious possibilities.The Pumpkin course is the clearest example. There is pumpkin custard, diced pumpkin, seed oil, lacto-fermented pumpkin, roasted seeds and an XO made from the pumpkin skin, with sourdough crumbs for crunch. The skin, which would ordinarily be discarded, becomes something deeply savory; fermentation gives the pumpkin a gentle tang; the seeds provide texture.It’s very clever. More importantly, it’s delicious.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786590315991Pumpkin.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Pumpkin | Photo: EAT Public Relations </div>That matters because fine dining can become so preoccupied with ideas that one forgets the food still has to taste good. At Helm, it’s the thinking behind each dish that makes the eating more pleasurable. You begin to wonder why we have never expected quite so much from pumpkin.“This menu came from the search for simplicity,” Boutwood says. “It’s really an ode to the ingredients I enjoy working with and eating.”I think there is something deliciously ironic about the name Single Ingredient: the closer Boutwood looks at an ingredient, the less simple it becomes.Take the Cod. The fish is rolled into a roulade and delicately steamed, then served with confit bacalao, or salted cod, and white cauliflower purée. A kombu-dashi sauce and dill oil bring brightness, while pickled kohlrabi adds acidity. Beside it is a tapioca cracker for crunch, and the cod skin is dried and turned into a powder. The fish isn&#x27;t simply prepared in several ways; its different parts become different sources of flavor, texture and character.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786590489873Cod.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Cod | Photo: EAT Public Relations </div>The same treatment extends to the Wagyu. The Japanese A5 striploin from Miyagi is glazed with aged miso for a smoky, savory depth, then paired with sunchoke purée cooked in wagyu fat and a fermented root vegetable paste. A sauce made from beef bones and marrow adds another layer of richness, while beef-tendon chicharon, chive emulsion, micro-sorrel and red beets bring texture, freshness and color.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786590530252wagyu, tendon, marrow.3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Wagyu | Photo: EAT Public Relations </div>I like how the expensive ingredients are subjected to the same restless curiosity as the humble ones. The pumpkin gets the same close attention as the A5 Wagyu. Single Ingredient doesn&#x27;t assume that the most luxurious ingredients will be the most interesting—or the most delicious.The rest of the menu keeps playing with the idea. The American Lobster is poached at precisely 59.5°C, then served with roasted carrot purée, dashi and a sabayon made from crab fat, with pickled Granny Smith apple and onion for acidity. Tarragon oil brings the familiar herbal note of a classic lobster pairing—a nice reminder that even in a menu devoted to discovery, Boutwood isn’t chasing novelty for its own sake; he has no qualms about using a tried-and-tested combination when it works.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786590605778Lobster.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>American Lobster | Photo: EAT Public Relations </div>Lamb gets the same forensic treatment. The belly and loin become a terrine; the tenderloin is roasted; the bones become a jus. A mole made with tablea and chilies brings chocolate and spice, while watercress, wasabi and caramelized onion cut through the richness.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786590621673LAMB _ lamb watercress onion.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Lamb | Photo: EAT Public Relations </div>By dessert, Boutwood is having a little fun with the premise. “Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate” turns out to be chocolate six or seven ways: sauce, biscuit, flourless cake, ice cream, espuma and a white-and-dark chocolate veil. Layer upon layer of chocolate—enough to make even a perfectly sensible adult feel like a kid on Christmas morning.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786590646334CHOCOLATE _ chocolate chocolate chocolate.2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate | Photo: EAT Public Relations </div>Dinner at Helm is a pleasure not just because of the food, but because of the care that goes into everything around it. The courses arrive at a comfortable pace; a fallen napkin is whisked away before you even bend to pick it up; the little spiels about the dishes may interrupt the dinner conversation, but never feel intrusive. Someone remembers that you want hot water, not cold. You are taken care of without ever feeling fussed over, which may be the nicest luxury of all.Single Ingredient is a real pleasure. Boutwood’s driving curiosity and the care and discipline of the entire Helm team make the whole thing work. And all you have to do is sit down and enjoy dinner.<div>Helm is at 3/F The Shops at Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati Avenue, Makati; open Tuesday–Sunday. For reservations, call +63 915 90 98 647 or email helm@bistro.com.ph. Follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/helmmnl/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@helmmnl</a> on Instagram.</div>

Josh Boutwood’s new tasting menu at Helm, Single Ingredient, takes familiar ingredients apart to reveal new flavors, textures, and possibilities—without losing sight of what matters most: delicious food.

Josh Boutwood’s new tasting menu at Helm, Single Ingredient , takes familiar ingredients apart to reveal new flavors, textures, and possibilities—without losing sight of what matters most: delicious food.

Josh Boutwood Launches Single Ingredient, His New Menu At Helm

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Josh Boutwood Launches Single Ingredient, His New Menu At Helm

Troy Barrios

Published August 10, 2026 11:30 AM PHT

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Updated August 13, 2026 01:03 PM PHT

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