Straight to the Point Point

Image courtesy of Christian Rodriguez.

On a recent Wednesday, in a tawny-red marble office building that used to host the headquarters of AIG and which now hosts by-invite haute office space, three very cool chefs threw a very cool party. It was ostensibly a pop-up dinner called Point Point Joint. Named after the translation of the Tagalog term Turo Turo, a style of ordering buffet food, the celebratory feast had fried oysters; icy crudites served alongside fermented shrimp paste; trays of cigar-thin, crispy lumpia; kare kare short rib with tripe; and melty-soft lechon. But it was, in practice, also a raucous house party.

Image courtesy of Christian Rodriguez.

Chef Nicole Ponseca (formerly of Jeepney and Maharlika) not only surprised diners with especially juicy lobster claws on the half shell brushed with achuete butter—the menu was developed in collaboration with chefs Woldy Reyes and LJ Almendras—but also with a professional-level performance of Total Eclipse of The Heart once the karaoke began. Reyes made many tableside-house calls in a silk suit vest, first with platters of skewers and then with a rolling stainless steel dessert cart, as guests took the stage to belt out Mariah Carey and Sinatra.

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Tickets to Point Point Joint are available online now.