Manila (CNN Philippines Life) — Over six years ago, Chef Cuit Kaufman packed his bags and left New York City for Manila.

At the time, Kaufman was a 32-year-old pastry chef working in Manhattan. He studied at the New School, under the master pastry chef Jacques Torres, and had a string of gigs doing private caterings and his own chocolate truffle business. But a few years before, Kaufman had started visiting Manila. “A friend invited me and my brother to visit,” he says. “We liked it and we just kept coming back every year.”

Eventually, Kaufman’s brother was so charmed by Manila that he decided to relocate to the city. Kaufman soon followed, eventually opening Borough in Ortigas City, a 24-hour neighborhood restaurant specialising in American comfort food. The obvious touchstone was New York — from the Brooklyn brunch scene-influenced wood surfaces to the cocktail menu, named after popular places in the city. “I actually really like to be up during the late night hours so the hours work for me,” he says, laughing.

The restaurant proved a success for Kaufman and the rest of the Borough group. So much so that there were initial plans to put up four more Boroughs — to complete New York’s famous five boroughs. When the talks didn’t push through, they set their sights on something similar but different — a more premium comfort food restaurant, this time in upwardly-mobile Fort Bonifacio, called The Bowery. Opened in 2014, The Bowery has become one of the Fort crowd’s go-to late night places.

His menu for the Bowery — like his menu for Borough — is a love letter to the city that made him. The obvious New York comfort food staples are there — elevated mac ‘n cheese, buttermilk fried chicken and waffles, short rib grilled cheese — but the menu also has a few surprises up its sleeve. A few months ago, Kaufman decided to introduce new surprises to the menu, including blackened catfish, a Southern-inspired dish, and gluten-free banana strawberry buckwheat pancakes, a healthy alternative to their brunch options.

General Tso’s chicken is one of the new items on the menu, and one of their more clever takes on New York comfort food. “It’s a Chinese dish invented in New York in the 70s,” Kaufman explains. “There was actually an argument about which restaurant invented it … It ended up popping up all over New York where there’s a ton of little Chinese fast food restaurants, like holes in the wall. Most of the actual Chinese restaurants don’t carry it. It’s really a New York dish.”

While a Chinese dish — no matter its actual origins — may not be the most obvious choice for an American restaurant, it makes sense in the Bowery’s narrative. If the restaurant is a tribute to dining in New York, that hot bowl of General Tso’s chicken from the neighbourhood Chinese restaurant has to be included. “Chinese food is very much a part of New York comfort food,” he says. “And then we decided to do a tofu version because I think it works and tastes good.”

Because the restaurant is higher end, there was an opportunity to be more adventurous with Bowery. “What we like to do is offer some alternatives. To me, that’s what comfort food is about right now — bringing in a somewhat healthier lifestyle. I mean, it’s still comfort food and that’s not necessarily healthy for you but it can be healthier [than what’s out there],” he says. Organic eggs are a fixture in the Bowery’s brunch menu. And while brunch is almost synonymous with sausages, bacon, and beef, they do one better by serving homemade sausages and providing chicken alternatives to pork and beef.

While Bowery is open 24 hours, Kaufman admits that it has gotten more known as a late night spot. “People come here at night for drinking and for food.” He doesn’t see that as a bad thing though.

“That’s my favorite thing to see. When I’m here at four in the morning and I see all these different people — some people ordering drinks, some people ordering a regular meal, some people ordering bar food or even a cheese board — that’s the best feeling about having a restaurant like this. It’s about creative and eclectic feel. We’re not just one type of restaurant.”

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The Bowery is at F151 Forbeswood Heights, Rizal Drive cor. Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Opening hours: Monday (11 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.), Tuesday to Thursday (11 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.), and weekends (opens 11 a.m. on Friday and open for 24 hours until 5:30 a.m. on Monday).