An Italian rooftop arrives in Iloilo’s culinary corridor

Seven floors above Atria, the Iloilo skyline does something it rarely does in print: it cooperates. Forum Rooftop Dining and Lounge, the newest addition to the city’s expanding fine-dining roster, sits at the top of The Grid Building with a view that has been waiting for the right kitchen to match it.

That kitchen, as it turns out, speaks Italian.

Forum’s menu leans confidently into the Italian gourmet tradition without the apologetics that sometimes trail provincial attempts at imported cuisine. The pastas are not playing at being authentic; they are simply made well. The wine list is generous in its imports. The service, attentive without hovering, suggests a staff that has been trained for a room a degree more cosmopolitan than the city has been used to expecting.

An evening here in the company of Dr. Putli Fuerte, Iloilo City Tourism Officer Junel Ann Divinagracia, Ria Cordero, Catherine Tabanao, and Louella Gurrea felt less like a dinner and more like an opening argument. If Iloilo is to be taken seriously as a culinary destination — a claim the LGU has been making with growing confidence — rooms like this are the evidence the city has needed.

Forum reads as designed rather than decorated. The interiors are eclectic without veering into theme — exposed lines, warm lighting, a bar shelved with imported bottles that earn their placement. The mood is intimate at the table and conversational at the lounge, which is the harder trick to pull off.

We will return. Dahlings, so should you.