Jose Calpito may be a chef at a AAA five-diamond restaurant, but when it comes to preparing Filipino food “it’s never as good as my mom’s,” he says. “She has the magic touch.”

Then again, he does work at Chef Mavro, so if he can’t beat his mom, Joy Banes, on a traditional plane, perhaps he can at least equal her with Filipino-inspired dishes at a five-diamond level.

When chef George Mavro­thalassitis was casting about for something special to bridge his summer and fall menus he settled on Filipino, a cuisine that he and Calpito say has been overlooked in high-end restaurants.

“Filipino food is pretty underrated out of all the Asian foods,” Calpito said. “Filipino is on the back burner. “

Calpito, who describes himself as “full Filipino” and is Chef Mavro’s pastry chef, took the lead on the menu, although each dish was a collaboration with Mavrothalassitis and Jonathan Mizukami, chef de cuisine. Flavors were tweaked so that dishes would pair well with wines and, of course, look pretty on their plates.

The four-course Haute Filipino menu debuted Sept. 9 and will be available through mid-October. Cost is $105; $67 for wine pairings. Call 944-4714.

Calpito has a story for each dish:

LECHON

Growing up Filipino means growing up with the flavors of vinegar, shoyu and fish sauce, Calpito said. These all went into a dressing mixed with seaweed to make an ogo vinaigrette for the Chef Mavro take on lechon.

Crispy bits of pork belly are sprinkled over multicolored tomatoes, Maui onion and fiddlehead ferns. “It’s like the Lechon Special at Elena’s,” Calpito said, referring to the venerable Waipahu restaurant. “It’s kind of a take on that.”

Wine pairing: Domaine Pierre Guillemot, 2014, premier cru, France

SINIGANG

“My mom would cook this for me whenever I was sick,” Calpito said. “Somehow that sour vinegar soup would cure me in a couple of days.”

That tanginess is curbed a bit in the Mavro version. Onaga poached in a tamarind broth — tamarind, Mavrothalassitis says, “makes your mouth alive” — is surrounded by long beans, tomatoes, cubes of taro and the chef’s beloved Sumida Farms watercress. Topping it off: a fried strip of onaga skin — “onaga chicharron,” they call it.

Wine pairing: Tramin Pinot Grigio, 2013, Italy

ADOBO

Even when very young, Calpito was discerning enough to know that when his mom made adobo, pork belly produced a more tender, more flavorful result than any other cut. “Whenever she didn’t make it out of pork belly I would cry,” he said

“I feel so bad now — she would actually go back to the store and buy pork belly.”

The Mavro version: Niman Ranch pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, with bean vermicelli pancit; calamansi is squeezed and adobo jus poured at the table.

Wine pairing: Protos Crianza Tempranillo, 2008, Spain

HALO HALO

This classic dessert was always made for a crowd, so Calpito could tell if his mom had it planned. “If I see her buy a big block of ice, me and my brothers would know.” She used a hand shaver to scrape the block, then added jarred sweets such as coconut strips and fresh fruit, often starfruit.

Calpito’s version is coconut shaved ice swirled with ube jam and surrounded by coconut shreds, tapioca pearls, hibiscus gelee, azuki bean mousse, jackfruit and — for Mom — pickled starfruit.

Wine pairing: Domaine Vouvray, 2015 Vouvray Moelleux