$$
Michael Collantes isn t one to let up on the gas. I mean, the man drives a 350Z with a turbo 1JZ build, so why would you expect him to? Since opening Taglish, his Filipino-American eatery inside Lotte Plaza Market, Collantes has stepped on the pedal by forming the Taglish Collective, the restaurant group behind the expansion of the Taglish brand (Taglish UCF opening next month), the recently opened high-end omakase concept Soseki (review also coming next month) and EightySix Media, a test kitchen/supper club/media company.
It s also behind Perla s Pizza, the inviting little pie house joined at the hip to the Thirsty Topher in Ivanhoe Village. In fact, Collantes teamed up with Topher owners Ron DiDonato and Jason Perez to open Perla s as a way to draw business back to the beer bar after it was ordered closed during the pandemic.