What He Would Want to Eat | by Cesar Cruz Jr.
- Joanna Garingarao
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
Chef Timothy Javier doesn’t really talk about food like it’s a concept. He talks about it like something he actually wants to eat.
The sous chef of Alejo Restaurant at Citadines Roces Quezon City brings a youthful energy into the kitchen—eyeglasses on, neatly groomed hair, tattooed arms usually half rolled up. He doesn’t try to stand out. He just moves with intent, focused on the plate in front of him.
“I just cook what I want to eat,” he says. “And what my family and friends enjoy.”
That simple line shapes everything on his menu, many of which you can also find on Alejo’s à la carte selection.
Take the Salmon Kilawin Cups. Instead of the usual ceviche often seen in hotel kitchens, he goes for kinilaw and turns it into something you’d easily find at a bar table. Bite-sized, bright, and easy to pick up between conversations and live music sets. Fresh salmon, salted egg, ginger aioli—no spoon needed, no fuss.
It didn’t come from a technique. It came from being out.
“When you go out, there are always bar bites,” he says. “I wanted something easy to eat. Something you don’t have to think about too much.”
His Kare-Kare Tantanmen came from somewhere else entirely. A trip to Japan with his wife for their anniversary, where late bowls of spicy ramen quietly stuck in his memory. Back in Manila, that experience turned into something familiar but new—kare-kare meeting tantanmen halfway.
You see the same thinking across his other dishes. Sisig with binagoongan rice, pork floss instead of chicharon, calamansi aioli, and a soft 63-degree egg. Pork ribs nilaga rebuilt around ribs after travel through Thailand. Alejo Fried Chicken, brined with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, onion, and bay leaf, then paired with annatto rice and curry ketchup.
His tattooed arms rest casually as he talks, but there’s nothing careless about the way he cooks. Everything feels remembered rather than invented.
Still, he always comes back to the same grounding idea.
“It’s hard to say I’m Filipino and not cook Filipino food,” he says. “At home, that’s what we eat.”
This Father’s Day, Alejo Restaurant hosts Unlimited Steak Night on June 19 and 20, 2026, 5PM–8PM—steaks, sides, desserts, and live music filling the night.
But in the end, it circles back to something simpler for him.
What would I want to eat today?
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