Infinite possibilities with a single ingredient

After Helm became the only restaurant in the Philippines to be awarded two Michelin stars, Chef Josh Boutwood expanded his vision by narrowing his focus. His latest tasting menu at Helm is called “Single Ingredient,” which explores how one ingredient becomes an entire culinary story through technique, texture, and imagination.

Helm by Josh Boutwood is a 24-seat tasting-menu restaurant located in Makati’s central business district. Guided by his Filipino-British heritage and years spent cooking across Spain, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, Josh creates menus where each dish is rooted in memory, culture, and place. His creative process often begins with a triangle, using three elements in tension and harmony to define a dish’s structure, flavor, and texture.

Josh says, “Single Ingredient is about finding complexity through simplicity, and challenging ourselves to see how far we can take one ingredient. It means pulling the focus onto one singular ingredient per course and extracting the maximum flavor and texture through different preparations and techniques. The idea is to explore everything that one ingredient has to offer.”

The menu marks the next chapter in Helm’s creative journey. His previous monochromatic tasting menu challenged the kitchen to create dishes within a single color palette. This time, each course is built around one exceptional ingredient and all the possible expressions it offers.

He adds, “It came from the search for simplicity. It’s really an ode to the ingredients I enjoy working with and eating.”

That philosophy unfolds as he presents his dishes that use both premium and simple ingredients, which he treats with equal importance. Pumpkin becomes a study in texture and flavor through custard, lacto-ferment, roasted seeds, and a deeply savory XO made from its skin. Cod is explored through fillet, bacalao (salted cod), skin, and bones. Lamb is presented using three parts of the lamb—loin, belly, and tenderloin, adding just watercress and onion.

Japanese A5 Wagyu from Miyagi Prefecture (using the meat, tendon, and marrow), cod from the Faroe Islands (highlighted by dill), lobster, and bluefin tuna are each examined beyond their most familiar forms, revealing new dimensions. Josh’s famous dessert “Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate” now goes beyond three types of chocolate, reaching even five or six types of chocolate in one dish.

Rather than building the menu around signature dishes, Josh believes its meaning is found in the journey, saying, “It’s never about a single dish. It’s really the progression of the menu that tells the story.”

When asked what earning two Michelin stars allows him to do differently, he replied, “Absolutely nothing. Helm has always been on a path of evolving the dining experience. This menu is simply another step in that journey.”

Single Ingredient invites guests to reconsider the familiar through craftsmanship, restraint, and curiosity, and Josh hopes that guests will have “The urge to come back again” after this dining experience.

Single Ingredient explores flavor, texture, and technique through a singular culinary lens and is priced at P7,500 per person, inclusive of VAT and subject to a 10% service charge. 

Helm is located on the third floor of The Shops at Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati Avenue, Makati City. For reservations, visit joshboutwood.com.