Kultura in Motion · Manila 2026

Palay +

Welcome to Palay + in partnership with Megaworld — a regional Filipino dining experience that asks what happens when we refine the frame without editing out the soul.

26 SepSaturday · 2026
3–6 PMFirst seating
7–10 PMSecond seating
40–50Guests per seating
09—30 September

A return
in motion.

Palay + arrives near the end of a three-week Manila residency built around food, hospitality, conversation, fashion and collaboration. The journey moves through different audiences and formats before arriving at Eastwood for its most considered expression.

09 SepArrivalMelbourne → Manila. The trip begins with a return, not a launch.
13 SepFind Me CaféA Palay-coded café chapter in Makati: food, coffee and the first Manila service.
17 SepSabi SoundsPalay PH Pop-Up · a full dining expression with Filipino-inspired cocktails.
19 SepPurvyrFood meets creatives, fashion and community through a more social format.
21 SepKalmaA conversation on positive work culture in kitchens and hospitality with Megaworld and collaborators.
26 SepPalay +The culmination: regional authorship, technique and a three-hour seated progression at Eastwood Richmonde.
28–30 SepEducation → ReturnSISFU, reflection, then Manila → Melbourne with the next chapter already in motion.
Why this trip matters

Past.
Present.
Future.

This trip is part pop-up, part collaboration, part fieldwork. It is a chance to re-enter the rhythm of Philippine hospitality, work alongside chefs and creatives on the ground, and test what a future relationship between Palay, Melbourne and Manila could become.

Return with intention.

Palay has been built in Melbourne through Filipino food, hospitality and storytelling. Returning to Manila allows the work to be challenged by the place, people and food culture that continue to shape the cuisine.

Not a copy of Melbourne.

The goal is not to export Palay unchanged. Each stop asks a different question: what belongs here, what changes here, and what can only be discovered by collaborating with people who cook, live and work in the Philippines now?

“The goal is not to modernise Filipino food for approval. It is to edit the frame, so people can see what was already there.”

Curator · collaborator · chef

Chef Fhred Batalona

Melbourne-based chef, restaurateur and storyteller working through Filipino food, hospitality and culture.

Palay · Barangay · Dishes & Dialogues · Kultura in Motion
A chef between service and story

Chef Fhred is the founder and Executive Head Chef of Palay in Fitzroy, Melbourne, and a co-founder and host of Dishes & Dialogues. His work moves between restaurant cooking, events, media, community and cultural storytelling, using food as both a dining experience and a way to start larger conversations.

In 2026, Palay’s Buwan ng Wika brought together chefs, Australian and Philippine-linked partners, hospitality technology and Filipino flavours in a multi-course event in Melbourne. Kultura in Motion brings that same curiosity into the Philippines — but with collaboration at the centre.

PalayFounder / Owner / Executive Head Chef · Fitzroy, Melbourne
Dishes & DialoguesCo-founder and host · food as the starting point, dialogue as the destination
Buwan ng Wika 2026Chef-led Melbourne collaboration exploring Filipino cuisine through food, drinks and storytelling
Kultura in MotionSeptember 2026 · a Manila residency connecting food, culture, hospitality and creative communities
The Palay + edit

Refinement
without disguise.

Technique may evolve. Presentation may evolve. The flavour logic and Filipino identity must remain clear. Palay + is fine dining through restraint, clarity and intention — not imported flavour noise.

Every component earns its place.

Garnishes, sauces and textures should deepen the original idea. Nothing exists simply because it looks expensive.

Technique solves a problem.

Use contemporary technique when it improves texture, clarity, consistency or service — not as theatre for its own sake.

Regional identity stays legible.

Ingredients appear because they belong to the story. A Filipino guest should still understand why the flavours make sense together.

The refinement test

If the plating disappeared and the components were served simply, would a Filipino still understand why those flavours belong together?

If the answer is no, the dish is probably over-designed.
Megaworld chef collective

Give each chef
a question.

The collaboration does not begin by assigning finished dishes. Each chef starts from a region, memory, ingredient, landscape or tradition, then returns with a concept. Chef Fhred’s role is to curate, challenge, collaborate and edit the ideas into one coherent progression.

Isabela · Cagayan Valley

Chef Al Sia

The Agricultural Landscape of Isabela

Rice, corn, munggo, livestock, freshwater ingredients and rural cooking — asking what the land itself contributes to Isabela’s flavour identity.

Cavite

Chef Ynan Del Rosario

Food, Herbs & Restoration

Coastal foodways, broth, seafood, vegetables, herbs and family cooking, approached with restorative clarity rather than wellness theatre.

Nueva Ecija

Chef Kit Carpio

The Rice Bowl

Rice, farming, carabao, beef, garlic, fermentation and breakfast culture through the landscape and labour of the agricultural heartland.

Cagayan de Oro · Northern Mindanao

Chef Chris Lugtu

Fire, Acid & Northern Mindanao

Grilling, seafood, sourness, smoke and pulutan culture — exploring why those flavours belong together beyond a predictable fine-dining sinuglaw.

Bohol

Chef Pete Paluga

Bohol Terroir

Ubi kinampay, asin tibuok, coconut, root crops, seafood and preservation, with the ingredient chosen for purpose rather than prestige.

Bulacan

Chef Rowell Manahan

Resourcefulness & Heritage

Preservation, thrift, transformation and generosity through Bulakenyo cooking, from meat and rice to coastal produce and heirloom preparations.

Ilocos Norte

Chef Chubby Timban

Ilocano Heirloom Cuisine

Vegetables, bagoong, bitterness, sourness, smoke, preservation, offal and pork — asking what remains misunderstood about Ilocano food beyond bagnet.

Iloilo · Western Visayas

Chef Panky Lopez

Memory of Iloilo

One food memory, ingredient or preparation that says something personal, rebuilt through a contemporary culinary vocabulary while keeping its identity unmistakable.

The ninth voice

Chef Fhred Batalona

Curator · Collaborator · Editor · Chef

Fhred begins without an assigned province. He shapes the progression, identifies repetition and missing textures, protects each chef’s voice, removes unnecessary flavour noise, and adds his own course or courses only after the menu reveals what it needs.

Proposed beverage direction

Emperador
× Palay +

The drinks borrow the strongest flavour architecture from Palay and the Buwan ng Wika cocktail program, then sharpen it for a regional tasting menu. Brandy leads; Filipino ingredients carry the identity; sweetness stays controlled.

Calamansi Brandy Highball

Emperador · calamansi · controlled sweetness · sparkling finish

Clean · bright · welcome drink

Cocomansi Sour

Emperador · Saint C Cocomansi · restrained sweetness · spice only if the menu supports it

Citrus-forward · distinctly Filipino

Ube × Brandy

Emperador · ube as texture and aroma · citrus / seasoning as required

Warm · restrained · not dessert in a glass

Pandan Brandy Sour

Emperador · pandan · calamansi · clean, drier sour structure

Aromatic · food-led · balanced

Melon Samalamig Milk Punch

A clearer, lighter Palay + edit of the Buwan ng Wika nostalgia reference, using Emperador where the spirit profile supports it.

Nostalgic · polished · textural

Final Pairing · To Follow the Menu

The sixth drink remains open until the chefs’ concepts are returned so the beverage program responds to the actual food rather than forcing a pre-written idea.

Menu-led · intentional
Built together

The table is only
one part of it.

Palay + is supported by the hospitality, media and creative partners helping the Manila chapter exist before, during and after service.

Presenting · Hospitality · Accommodation Partner

Megaworld

Supporting the Manila residency through hospitality and accommodation, connecting Palay + with its culinary teams, and providing the platform for a collaboration built around regional authorship.

Host Venue

Eastwood Richmonde Hotel

Eastwood, Quezon City · Saturday, 26 September 2026 · two three-hour seatings.

Media & Cultural Partners
Dishes & Dialogues
Philippine Fashion Week
Purvyr
At the table

A menu you can enter at your own pace.

The printed menu remains minimal. A QR code opens this digital companion so guests can explore each chef, region, ingredient, technique, cocktail and story between courses — without turning the dinner into a lecture.

Explore tonight’s stories.Printed menu → QR → digital tasting companion. Read one course, one chef or the whole journey whenever you like.