About Josh Boutwood
Born in Bedford, England on November 30, 1986 to a Filipino father and English mother, Josh’s formative life was almost nomadic— moving from a typical English county town to the tropical beaches of Boracay and back to the vibrant food scenes of Northern Europe.
Travelling between Spain and the United Kingdom, Josh would continue his formal education. But he preferred working in his mother’s restaurants in Spain and Boracay than going to school. Working as a dishwasher and prep cook, Josh discovered the delight of satisfying people with food.
Josh moved his young family to Boracay and in 2010, opened his first restaurant, restaurantAlchemy. Soon, he received an email from The Bistro Group, a well-established food and beverage corporation. A few menu consultations later, The Group formally asked him to come in as its corporate chef.
Josh joined The Bistro Group at their Manila offices in 2012. As a corporate chef, he learned the intricacies of backroom operations, the cool logic of a financial spreadsheet, and the complexities of managing and motivating people. It was an essential education.
On February 1, 2017, Josh opened a small, tasting menu restaurant called The Test Kitchen. The following year, opened two new concepts in quick succession: Savage, a pre-industrial dining restaurant that opened in April, and four month later, a new tasting menu room called Helm. In November 2019, the test kitchen relocated to Rockwell, Makati and he is currently developing two new concepts set to open in 2022.
Follow the journey.
