For our 81st Michelin date, we reserved a table at MICHELIN Selected Automat, the more casual sister restaurant to MICHELIN Selected Metiz, both under Chef Stephan Duhesme’s culinary umbrella, with Chef Arlo Gregorio at the helm of Automat.
Our first impression? It felt like being invited to a friend’s fully kitted-out, sophisticated kitchen, the kind of friend who happens to have impeccable taste, serious culinary chops, and an open kitchen where the action unfolds right before your eyes.
And then there’s the name.
There’s something deliciously ironic about calling a restaurant Automat.
The name harks back to the old automats: those once-glamorous temples of futuristic dining where coins went in, food came out, and the human element was practically edited out of the equation. No waiter hovering, no chef emerging from the kitchen, no small talk over the meal. Just a vending machine dispensing dinner with the efficiency of a well-oiled clock.
Chef Stephan Duhesme, however, has taken that very idea and turned it neatly on its head.
His Automat is anything but mechanical. If anything, it feels like the antithesis of automation. Here, the kitchen is not hidden behind a curtain; it is the beating heart of the room. Guests sit cheek by jowl with the chefs, close enough to watch the choreography of the kitchen, exchange a few words and feel the pulse of the meal as it comes together.
The result is intimate, convivial and refreshingly unpretentious. It is less restaurant as institution and more dinner at a very stylish friend’s house, except your friend happens to have a Michelin-recognized kitchen.
And that, perhaps, is the cleverest part of the name.
Where the original automat reduced dining to a transaction, Duhesme’s Automat restores the conversation. Where machines once dispensed meals behind little glass doors, here food comes with faces, stories and a generous helping of human connection.
There’s even a wink to the passage of time. The old automats were once trumpeted as the next big thing , the shiny future of dining, until the future moved on and left them behind. Chef Duhesme has resurrected the name, but given it an entirely different pulse: one that reflects a more casual, accessible and social direction for modern Manila dining.
So, in an age when everything seems determined to become automated, Automat offers a rather charming contradiction: a restaurant named after a machine, where the most important ingredient is the human touch.
What We Ordered
We started with Keso-Keso Puti with Pandesal . Think whippedfermented kesong Puti, garlic tuyo paired with freshly baked, buttered Automat pandesal: crisp at the edges, fluffy inside, and even better slathered with that creamy cheese. Pure ambrosia and the most expensive pandesal we’ve ever tried at P200 per pc. Worth it though.A perfect way to start lunch.
And a Saturday PSA: Automat serves lunch only on Saturdays, so plan accordingly.
Next came the Papa Pancit. Think house made noods , Lechon Kawali Batangueno style. Filipino comfort food turned up a notch.
Then came the surprise star: Ensaladang Gulay. Think ceviche, but with Kai Lan and atcharang lalabas : bright, fresh and tangy, with juicy chunks of shrimp and a smooth zucchini purée tying everything together. Unexpected, elegant and seriously addictive.
For the main event, we went for the SRF Beef Cheeks with Grilled Bone Marrow. The beef cheeks were fall-apart tender, deeply rich and almost ridiculously luxurious, while the grilled bone marrow added that silky, savory richness that makes you want to mop up every last drop of that Salpicao sauce
Make sure you have someone beside you to remind you who you are, because after one mouthful, you might just forget your name haha
And then, just when we thought lunch was over, Sous Chef Alvin sent out a complimentary Shrimp Kilaw.
Fresh, bright and beautifully acidic, a perfect final bite and a fitting reminder that Filipino cuisine can be both deeply familiar and wonderfully unexpected.
Dessert was Caramelized Pandesal with Queso Ice Cream and grated Gouda. Think warm, caramelized, salty-sweet and creamy, with the familiar comfort of pandesal transformed into something altogether more decadent.
And somewhere between courses, we had that little aha moment:
Every single dish we ordered was on point. The service was outstanding, conversations included. There was an easy warmth to the whole experience. It genuinely felt like dining with friends who just happened to be chefs, welcoming you into their kitchen and feeding you unbelievably good food.
At this point, we were thinking:
Are we looking at the next Michelin Bib Gourmand?
Trivia:
Trivia
Of course, after 80 Michelin dates, we had to track down the Michelin red emblem—our quintessential photo op.
This time, it was nonchalantly positioned on the ceiling above the kitchen, tucked like a secret shiding in plain sight. Sous Chef Alvin told us it began as a Valentine’s Day treasure hunt, but the playful hiding spot proved so popular that they made it permanent.
A clever little conversation piece and an even better reason to pause, look up and discover what’s been hiding overhead.
