BAGUIO boy, chef John Carlo De Vera silently opened Zax’s: Home of Chicken and Waffles armed with a concept of layering flavors to excite the Baguio pallet anew.
Zax’s carrier dish, chicken and waffles, turns the home favorite breakfast meal into a satisfying dish paired with a signature chicken dish which takes 30 hours to prepare served two-ways.
“We try to marry the two, chicken + waffles, in a playful collaboration of flavors,” adding the chicken is first brined, packed with spices and lathered in a secret batter before it is deep fried to perfection ready to enjoy all day.
Zax’s offers an all-day breakfast packed to fill you up with homemade pork sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs and home fries partnered with fresh bread by partner Swiss baker.
The bacon cheeseburger meal, uses the finest ingredients assuring quality and quantity in each bite using the grinder to the grill concept to assure freshness.
A fusion of Mexican-Filipino and English flavor using a chayote slaw is for the Baja Fish Taco which will promise to be a surprise for those who choose to go on a tasteful adventure.
Chef Carlo said the lowly chayote has been transformed into a tasty slaw made with red cabbage and mayo to pair with a three piece taco, Mexican rice and refried beans.
All ingredients come fresh from the market brought by local suppliers promising the best of highland quality produce.
Schooled in International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management in 2012 and furthering his studies at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Chef Carlo has worked from the ranks to bring to the highlands his expertise and love for flavor.
“My technique has matured over the years, every bite is exciting, and there are different flavors in each dish.”
Chef Carlo started the beloved, Dad and I, in 2010, using familiar recipes of his youth as passed on by his father, making the restaurant a favorite for home cooked meals.
In 2014, the idea of setting up Zax’s was discussed, aiming to set soul food unto a table with hearty meals with a flavorful ideas Chef Carlo acquired over years of schooling and work.
In 2017, the resto opened with Leandro Magtibay’s murals on its walls, giving the space an updated look and feel. Not straying from his well-loved first restaurant which was family oriented and homey, Zax’s, was named after Chef Carlo’s brother, using tried and tested recipes paired with a new look and full packed menu.
“People are not scared to try new things now, they are getting tired of the same things, we still serve our best sellers and we call them, Session Road Classics, people still love to eat them.”
Chef Carlo describes the food scene in the city to have likewise matured with a slew of restaurants opening, offering new dishes which has been met with much enthusiasm.
Zax’s offers new favorites like the shrimp and cream dory Seafood kebab, fried chicken teak, sliders, breakfast sausages, fish tacos and their best seller, salted egg chicken wings.
The Zax’s burger Game of Thrones inspired challenge will test the famished with their signature Hound burger packed with four pure beef patties set to be finished in four minutes and the Mountain burger decked with eight patties timed to be devoured in eight minutes to get a free pass on the bill.
Squad meals are available for big groups and take out trays for home and office gatherings.
Complete hearty meal to share with a friend or devoured on your own will be more than enough.
Zax’s serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and is located at Puso ng Baguio Building (just above Swiss Baker), Session Road, Baguio City.