The Verdict
Metiz — the name is French for "mixed", the French spelling of métis, the sort of word Stephan Duhesme has been fighting with since childhood — opened in 2019 in Karrivin Plaza, the same converted compound off Chino Roces Avenue that houses Toyo Eatery. The timing was not coincidental. A generation of chefs trained in the world's most exacting kitchens had returned to Manila at roughly the same moment, and Karrivin Plaza became the physical address of that reverse migration.
Duhesme is half-French, half-Filipino, and his entire cooking career has been an argument with whichever half was expected to dominate the plate. Before Metiz he ran Manor, a European tasting menu restaurant that won him fluent critical press but that he has described as "the restaurant I made because I thought I was supposed to". Metiz is the restaurant he made because he finally stopped listening to that instinct. The tasting menu is unapologetically rooted in the Philippines — sour native vinegars, fermented crustacean paste, regional rice varieties, tropical fruits at the peak of ripeness — and the technique is drawn from whichever tradition does the job best. Sometimes French. Sometimes not.
The room is small. Thirty seats, capped intentionally, because Duhesme believes that any more would compromise the food. The interior is all concrete, dark wood, and an open kitchen that rewards diners who ask for the counter seats. The menu changes three to four times a year, always a degustation, always in the ballpark of ₱5,500 per person before pairings. Asia's 50 Best Restaurants placed Metiz at number 48 in 2023 and named it to the broader 51-100 list the following year — a level of regional recognition that few Philippine restaurants have achieved.
Why It Works for a Considered First Date
For a first date with someone who reads, who travels, who knows what fermentation is and why it matters, Metiz is nearly unbeatable. The tasting menu gives you roughly two hours of structured conversation — each course arrives with a brief introduction, each pairing offers a prompt, and the room's size means you will never feel observed. The bill is manageable. The signal is clear: you are paying attention to what Manila's kitchens are doing right now, not what they were doing a decade ago.
For closing a deal, Metiz is the discreet alternative to Makati's more obvious steakhouses. The counter seats allow for side-by-side conversation that feels private even when the room is full. The service is conversational rather than formal. No one is going to interrupt a negotiation to announce the courses at excessive length. For solo dining, the counter is designed for it — sit there, order the pairing, watch Duhesme work, leave three hours later genuinely better educated about Philippine food than when you arrived.
Also in the Manila Dining Map
Metiz anchors the Karrivin Plaza cluster alongside Toyo Eatery (one building over) and Inatô, Duhesme's small-counter sibling restaurant. In Makati proper, Celera at Comuna is the closest spiritual relative — chef-owned, tasting-only, Michelin-recognised. For a more formal European room, Sala. In BGC, Taupe for the tasting-menu experience from a different generation of chef. Cross-reference: First Date, Solo Dining, Close a Deal.