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Eighteen years ago, inside the pressure-cooker kitchen of Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli, Chele González and Aitor Zabala were just young Spanish cooks sweeping up the shards of a culinary revolution. A generation has passed. And while their respective trajectories have since crossed oceans, their work remains bound by a singular, obsessive devotion to terroir, articulated through hyper-refined, masterful plates.
Chef Aitor Zabala, the visionary co-owner of Los Angeles’ newly crowned three-Michelin-starred Somni, built his reputation by bringing avant-garde Spanish gastronomy to the Los Angeles elite. Meanwhile, Torrelavega-born Chef Chele González took a radical gamble, anchoring his culinary masterpiece in the heart of Manila and spending over a decade embedding himself in the fabric of the Philippine archipelago.
Now, those parallel lines are finally intersecting. On October 9 and 10, 2026, González and his team at Gallery by Chele will host Zabala for a high-concept, two-night collaboration.
Appropriately titled Evolution, the dinners trace each chef’s creative odyssey from the radical laboratory of El Bulli to their adopted homes in California and Southeast Asia. For two nights, Manila will serve as the epicenter for a global, hyper-regional dialogue.
Beyond the inevitable industry accolades, Evolution is ultimately an exercise in identity. It is a return to a shared origin story for two cooks who walked out of the same legendary kitchen nearly two decades ago, only to discover that their wildly divergent paths have led them back to the same table.
Evolution: A Somni x Gallery by Chele Collaboration will be on Friday, October 9, 2026, and Saturday, October 10, 2026, at Gallery by Chele. With seatings starting at 6:00 PM. For reservations, please visit Gallery by Chele’s website at gallerybychele.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Evolution is a two-night collaboration between Chele González of Gallery by Chele and Aitor Zabala of Somni, bringing together their shared Spanish culinary roots and experiences in the Philippines and California.
Chele González is a Spanish chef based in Manila who has spent more than a decade working with Philippine ingredients and culinary traditions. He is the chef behind Gallery by Chele.
Aitor Zabala is the co-owner and chef of Somni in Los Angeles, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant known for its avant-garde Spanish gastronomy.
The menu will feature dishes that combine Philippine ingredients and flavors with refined Spanish techniques, including tuna kinilaw, poached grouper with herb broth, and crab with cured roe.
Evolution will take place on October 9 and 10, 2026, at Gallery by Chele, with seatings starting at 6:00 PM.
