Toyo Eatery's Jordy and May Navarra

The Philippines' Toyo Eatery has been named the winner of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award 2025 from the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.

The coveted award was voted by the 350-plus members that comprises the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, who were each asked to name the one establishment that has provided the best hospitality experience in the past 18 months.

This is the second in a series of pre-announced special awards unveiled leading up to the actual live awards ceremony of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants that’s going to be held in Seoul, Korea for the second year in a row on March 25 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul.

Toyo Eatery debuted on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards as the One to Watch Award winner in 2018, when the awards ceremony was first held in Macau. It entered the list the following year at No. 43 and from then on has been consistently climbing the list while holding on to the title of The Best Restaurant in the Philippines for five years at the same time.

It also won the prestigious Sustainable Restaurant award in 2023 and landed the No. 24 spot on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 list.

At the helm of this multi-awarded Filipino restaurant named after the Filipino term for soy sauce that placed the Philippines on the global gastronomy map is the husband-and-wife team of Jordy and May Navarra. Together with their team now fondly called #BarangayToyo, they continue to champion Filipino food, Filipino heritage and culture through its restaurant via their own brand of personal approach to hospitality that mirrors how they host and take care of their guests when entertaining at home.

William Drew, Director of Content for Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant, says: “At Toyo Eatery, each guest is warmly immersed in Filipino food culture – whether you are there to enjoy a tasting menu of reimagined cuisine, or the kamayan sharing plates, eaten by hand off banana leaves. Genuine hospitality is also evident in the personal touches from Jordy and May — from the seamless integration of interiors, floral and vegetable displays and wall art to local craftsmanship and, of course, in the way they educate diners about their food. A hearty congratulations to the entire Toyo Eatery team.”

Since opening Toyo Eatery in 2016 with his wife May, Chef Jordy, who apprenticed at The Fat Duck in the UK -- ranked the World’s Best Restaurant in 2005 -- and at Hong Kong’s Bo Innovation, continues to blend his own heritage and culture right into the restaurant’s concept, championing everything that’s proudly Philippine made, grown or sourced while at the same time also working on minimizing their carbon footprint by fostering relationships with farmers and artisans, so that they can continue to source most of their ingredients locally. At the same time, they find the right balance to maintaining a more inclusive or approachable fine dining atmosphere that is characteristically less formal than most fine dining places abroad that both locals and foreign guests can enjoy.

On winning the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award 2025, May Navarra says, “Winning this award brought us tears of joy, as it validates that the distinct Filipino style of hospitality that’s often deemed as more casual than the norm is now accepted and appreciated.”

Chef Jordy adds: “To be welcomed into a Filipino home is to experience genuine warmth and care. At Toyo Eatery, our style of hospitality has always kept that in mind. We continue to go beyond just service which is why we are deeply honored to receive this year’s award. We aim to convey the Filipino experience, not just through the dishes we serve, but also by creating genuine connections with our guests. This award belongs to our incredible team and to all those who have dined with us. Maraming salamat (Thank you very much).”