Johanne Siy’s Aro Puts Filipino Ingredients—and Their Producers—at the Centre

Johanne Siy built Aro around an idea shaped by her travels: ingredients that receive little attention, particularly in Southeast Asia, deserve a place at the table alongside the people who produce them. Her first restaurant opened on Singapore’s Mohamed Sultan Road on 25 September 2026. 23710

A name and room designed to feel personal

Aro means “love” in Pangasinan, Siy’s native language. Its 26-seat dining room is intended to feel warm and home-like rather than formal. Designed by Keiji Ashizawa Design, the interior uses a natural palette partly inspired by the colours of the Filipino pili nut. Siy’s travels extended beyond food producers: she also visited ceramics makers in Japan. 267

Filipino ingredients, without a national-cuisine rule

Siy’s menu is led by ingredients and their makers, not by a requirement that every dish fit one culinary tradition. Her travels in Europe and Asia included visits to artisanal salt makers in the Philippines, informing Aro’s emphasis on lesser-known products and the communities behind them. 378

The opening menu brings that approach into focus. Gamet, a rare seaweed from Ilocos, is served with French Gillardeau oysters and other seaweeds. Pili nuts from Bicol become a savoury nut-milk custard accompanied by ham, fried capers, egg-yolk sauce and caviar. The Filipino ingredients also include stingless-bee honey from Laguna and Asin Tibuok salt from Bohol, though the available reporting does not establish precisely how the honey is served. 34

A menu meant to keep changing

Aro’s dishes are expected to evolve for reasons beyond the seasons. Siy may return to the same ingredient with a different preparation—roasting it on one menu, for example, and curing or fermenting it on another—as sourcing and producer relationships develop. That makes the restaurant’s commitment to an ingredient more lasting than any single dish. 5

Available reporting does not establish specific measures Siy plans to introduce for a more sustainable kitchen workplace, so that part of her vision cannot yet be described reliably.