Foccacia excellente!

Italian food lovers know this bread only too well. Did you know that it is also the name of the newest Italian restaurant in town that has been making waves in the restaurant scene.

In the Makati Avenue area where they have built a medium-sized mall called A-Venue is the location of this new restaurant. Check it out at the ground floor — Foccacia.

Anyway, my family and I had a feast one Sunday lunch when we discovered it. Actually, I heard about their signature offering, the rolled pizza, and my kids have not stopped egging me about it until we scheduled one Sunday lunch for it, just to try out this much-hyped pizza, along with anything else of course that would make my Sunday.

Crunch time. The menu, though not as extensive as other big restaurants, offered quite a selection of pastas, pizzas, beef, etc. Because we came here for the rolled pizza primarily, we had it in different variants. Not a regular pizza lover myself, I found myself relishing every bite of the different flavors on the table. Actually, we had a lot of fun rolling the big slices of very thin crusted pizza that had all sorts of good eats generously sprinkled on top, depending on the variant you ordered — olives, sausages, mushrooms, bacon, beef, tomatoes and a lot of cheese just oozing out. The crust was very very thin but when rolled, you could bite into it heartily like a double-crusted pizza. When you sink your teeth into the balled-up pizza, you can taste the layers and layers of cheese and sausages, etc and relish every bite. So that’s the much-hyped rolled pizza — not bad at all. In fact it was excellent and worth another visit.

The bad thing about it is we got carried away with the rolled pizza and didn’t leave much space for the other orders. We had carbonara which was pleasant — not too rich and heavy, with bits of bacon and a hint of herbs. That we still managed to demolish, my kids being certified pasta lovers. The orders are not meant for sharing, so a regular plateful could still be managed without feeling too heavy or sated.

Presumptive as we were, would you believe         we also ordered the steak which the young entrepreneur-owner, Argee, said was tender and flavorful. As I said earlier, we didn’t figure on ordering a second and third round of the rolled pizza. We just had a lot of fun rolling the pizza and popping them into our mouths and didn’t realize we were stuffing ourselves too much. Well, we couldn’t manage that anymore because we were bursting, so it had to wait for dinner, re-heated.  Yes, it was all that — fork-tender and full of flavor, even when we had to pan-fry it a bit to re-heat.  That also made our Sunday.

On our next visit, we must try the other pasta offerings and whatever else they have in the menu. If they are anywhere as good as their rolled pizza, they must be worth another visit! It makes for a great Sunday treat for the family.  I understand the place get alive on Friday and Saturday nights as well. These are generally known as barkada nights and they have cold beer to go with the rolled pizza. The small, cozy interiors certainly make this a fun destination these cold Friday and Saturday nights.

Memories...and more

To those who have sent e-mails, yes, memories...and more is not only about food and restaurants of old.  Some readers reminisced about the stores of old, when malls were not even in the imagination of the venerable Mr. Henry Sy.  Back then, he was happy with how his first Shoe Mart store in Carriedo fared! Now, people don’t say Shoe Mart anymore, just SM.

Anyway, here are some of the old stores my late father would bring us to. They were Sunday treats that the kids looked forward to even if we were quite sure we were not going to get a new pair of shoes because it wasn’t June (school opening) or December (Christmas). Window shopping was nevertheless as much fun as actual shopping, something that would be Greek to my kids and the generation of today.

From my brother Junior–Berg’s Department Store in Escolta. It’s not the high–end shop of the era but more for the middle class. The more stylish store then selling expensive shoes and other fashion items was Walk-Over, also in Escolta.

Speaking of shoes–really durable ones were Greg Shoes-”Sira na paa mo, sapatos buo pa”. I remember they were shoes that you usually outgrow. I know, I’m the youngest in the brood and I usually get the hand-me-downs.

From Elisa Sandico — Oceanic Commercial, the favored store for curio and novelty items. People trooped to this store when they wanted to get good wedding gifts because they had a good selection of silver ware. Actually, Berg’s and Oceanic were beside each other in Plaza Sta. Cruz.

Also from Ms. Sandico’s e-mail — Everlast Dept. Store in Quezon Avenue and Aguinaldo Department Store near Ayala Bridge in Echague. They were also popular for the racks of garments on display at the ground floor. Merchandising was hardly a science then, but it was as much studied and labored at as it is now. The mannequins had a regular change of outfits and people gawked at large display windows to see what the latest styles were in clothes and shoes.

From Marissa-Constantino — Botica Boie & Soda Fountain in Escolta.  This was really a landmark in my growing up years. Botica Boie had its own simple medicinal concoctions like ointments, etc., but if it sported that ubiquitous Botica Boie trademark, we were sure it was safe and a surefire cure. And the soda fountain! Ms. Constantino writes that their sundaes were a good enough treat for birthdays, and as my brothers crept into their teens, they were favorite hangouôs for their barkada and Saturday night dates.

I have my ”UST Arts and Letters classmate” and seatmate, Mons Guevara (son of the illustrious late columnist Joe Guevara) to thank (for the reminder that Wah Nam Restaurant was not in Quiapo but in Sta. Cruz as I wrote! in my last column. How can I argue with my long-lost friend? That’s first hand info I guess while I only rely on what my older friends tell me–hinde ko na inabot yun, Mon. Joke!

If you have more memories mothballed in your camphor chest, do share them with our readers. Aired out in the open, they will have new life breathed into them.  Add to the fun!!

Mabuhay!!!  Be proud to be a Filipino.

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