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Dine With A Breathtaking View In Tanay Highlands

Is Tanay the new Tagaytay? 25-year-old Crane Padilla, co-owner of the cafe and restaurant Tanay Highlands believes so.

Article (news)

Jar Concengco

<p>“Tagaytay is too crowded. Plus you have to pass by so many tolls to get there. The view is also obstructed by so many high rise buildings. In Tanay, thankfully the LGU has limits on how you should put up your structure. If you’re beside the highway, you can’t go higher than nine meters,” Padilla says.</p><div></div><div><br/></div><p>This was one of the reasons why he pursued putting up Tanay Highlands here before it became a hotbed for campsites and a getaway for nature lovers. The idea of the restaurant started as the basis of his thesis in college. “The pandemic gave me a lot of time to rethink and really study if this project was feasible with the help of my cousins. So I came up with a 20-page thesis that explained the possible market for a cafe and restaurant here in Tanay. To be honest, back then I was being discouraged by lots of family and friends because of Tanay’s image before. People thought that Tanay was full of NPAs and that no one would come here,” he recounts.</p><div><br/></div><p>Padilla enlisted 3 of his cousins to join him in this endeavor - chef Kaiser Padilla as head chef, Kitty Padilla as pastry chef, and Rina Carlos to help with operations. “It’s always hard to do business with family but we found a way to make it work where boundaries are not being overstepped,” he shares. “What happens at work stays at work but when we go down to Marikina to Lola’s house, we’re all a happy family.”</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/4560ee9a-3a97-4bee-ae96-6e5a8cae9f98_jar_7694a.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/62559449-3213-4e99-a7a3-ba518c3191ee_jar_7703a.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/b81f6263-4eb5-4346-aa36-e7510c05c36c_dji_0529a.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Tanay Highlands serves comfort food with a mix of pastas, Filipino cuisine and rice meals. They also have a newly built area dedicated to pastry goods baked in house and locally sourced coffee. Padilla involves himself in the ethical sourcing of local coffee beans. Twice a year he travels to Benguet to speak with the coffee farmers and observes the different processes in making coffee. “By knowing what what really goes on from bean to cup, I’m able to really curate the taste that we want the customers to experience,” Padilla says.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/30de381e-779a-42f8-807a-1945894bda3c_jar_7731a.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/150cdd8b-204e-4d6f-a6b6-c30b0e7f8a4e_jar_7781a.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Many of the dishes and drinks are rooted in nostalgia - Padilla citing his Lola Rosa as an inspiration. “We have one specific drink - the ube latte - that I would honestly say is my favorite drink because it brings conscious consumerism, memories and innovation in one product. Conscious consumerism because it was sourced ethically and I was involved all throughout the process from harvesting to roasting the coffee. Memories because when I was a child, my lola would let me mix the halaya with a branch from a palm tree. It also has a dash of rose petals because my lola’s name was Rosa.”</p><div><br/></div><p>The lechon macau - a bestseller - is thrice cooked. First the pork belly is boiled, then baked, then fried to a succulent, flavorful chunk of pork with crispy skin. Their sinigang sa miso is of a thicker consistency but still with the tangy punch that you search for with the dish. Their bulalo - famous because like in Tagaytay this place gets quite chilly - gets torched table side before pouring the broth into the bowl. The squid ink pasta is a rendition of birthday noodles using black squid ink pasta and topped with fried squid and shrimp.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/75a759f7-5318-408f-9794-b72e7d7e87e9_jar_7989a.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/09b51f41-b71f-4f2b-b304-6da66ca046ca_jar_7969a.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Tanay Highlands has also opened up as a campsite with one area equipped with a toilet, shower and grill. They also offer tent rentals for first time campers or those who’ve always wanted to try camping but don’t have the gear. </p><div></div><div><br/></div><p>Tanay Highlands started out with only 2 employees. After 3 years, it now has 60 staff with lines of people waiting to be seated during the weekends. “One thing that I appreciate about Tanay Highlands is that people spend their memorable milestones here. It’s just a restaurant, but when you see people celebrating their birthdays here, their anniversaries, it warms my heart that I’m able to help people create new memories.”</p><div><br/></div><div><em>Photographs by Jar Concengco</em></div>