Brera Park Terraces

Makatizens, are you looking for a new restaurant to try out in our beloved city—one with a delightful ambience and an inventive menu? Well, we here at Make It Makati, your friendly neighborhood guide to the City That Makes It All Happen, is here to tell you a new resto in town that we’d like to call the city’s best kept secret when it comes to gustatory delights.

If you take a stroll to Park Terraces (yes, that pocket of green space just a skip away from Glorietta’s Palm Drive), you’ll find yourself in Brera Delicatessen, a rustic and cozy restaurant all decked out in brick stone. Did we mention that lighting is pretty romantic too and is perfect for a date with your special someone?

What was once a shop in Molito, Alabang has opened a branch in Park Terraces, one of Makati’s prestigious outdoor dining strips. Named after a famous district in Milan, Brera is part delicatessen, part restaurant, and rest assured their dishes, which highlights the finest of Mediterranean cuisine, is really something to get excited about. Now, if shopping for choice ingredients is your thing, then you will definitely marvel at their extensive selection of cheeses, cold cuts and other gourmet finds from Europe.

We at Make It Makati have been fortunate to exchange a few words with the charming Mr. Paolo Durante, General Manager of Brera. Read on as it was quite a fun interview!

MIM: Could you tell us the concept behind Brera in a nutshell?

PD: It’s pretty much a delicatessen, similar to what you’d find in Italy. You can shop for wine and cheeses. Or you can order something from our menu and have a good time at the restaurant.

MIM: If I’m new to the city, what dish should I try out in your restaurant?

PD: Oh, we have something for everyone. For families, we have burgers that are 100% Wagyu. For those going out on a romantic dinner, we recommend they share a platter of cold cuts and cheese, or they can share a dry-aged steak—one that comes fresh from our very own dry-aging room. Our unique process makes the meat very tender.

MIM: Given the plethora of food choices here, which world cuisine do you draw inspiration from the most?

 PD: We consider ourselves a Mediterranean restaurant. So we have chiller for all the in-house products we make on our own, such as hummus from the Middle East, tzatziki (yogurt from sheep or goat milk) from Greece, quiche from France, croquets from Spain, and Arancini from Italy.

 MIM: Can you tell us about your extensive collection of wines?

 PD: Sure, we have more than 90 bottles of wine. They come from all over the world—Italy, France, Greece, Spain, the USA, Australia, New Zealand. And yes, we’re still waiting for more to come.

MIM: What makes Brera a great fit for an exciting city like Makati?

PD: Makati is a city that’s all about innovation. And we believe Brera goes hand in hand with that because we are also about innovation. We are the first and only restaurant in the country that has their own dry-aging room for meats. Our pizza is also different from all other pizzas in the Philippines—it is created Roma-style. It’s thin and crunchy. And yes, we have five different kinds of blue cheese.

MIM: Lastly, what can Makatizens be excited about dining in this fine restaurant?

PD: If you come here, we’d like Makatizens to try out everything we have on offer. Every time we create something new-- be it kebabs, home-made sausages or skewers—is really something to get excited about.