Focaccia's new home at the fort

Last Thursday, August 5, 2010, Focaccia 2 at the Fort opened its spanking new doors to Italian food lovers this side of town.

Yup, Focaccia 2, the second outlet of young restaurateur RG Gamboa and Chef Ivan Tajonera, a culinary graduate of the DLS College of St. Benilde where he and RG were schoolmates. The partners first tried their hand at the original Focaccia at A-Venue in Makati Avenue. Cautious with their first venture, the resto was small and cozy, with only about three or four group sittings and another two tables outside. I should know. Some Sundays when the hankering for their tender Osso Buco and their signature pizza Pazzo Rollio overtook us, we would find ourselves jockeying for a table at Focaccia 1, which always had a waiting line. Their tag line says it all: “everyone wants to have a slice of Italy”.

Some two years later, Focaccia 2 opens in another side of town, the Fort. The two young men know when they have a winner in their hands. The combination of business savvy and the creativeness of a dynamic chef, factor in hard work and a lot of PR along the way and you do have a winner.

The new outlet is bigger, maybe three times the original store, and gleams in its newness! The combination of red and white is arresting (kudos to the young interior designer who was there for the launch). It was young and vibrant, and the high ceiling and play of mirrors gave it a much larger, more airy and spacious look. The designer adopted the circular thematic look which added dimension to the total look.

It was a cozy group of family and friends who came for the opening of Focaccia 2, a mix of young and not-too-old, because the owners’ yuppie friends came, loud and happy, and the close friends and families of parents Rey and Evelyn likewise came, serene but hungry.

Chef Ivan poured it on. To tease our palates while the kitchen staff prepared the hot food as guests started to come in, we had Pazzo Rollio, their crazy rolls. For the uninitiated, it is super thin pizza that you roll after you lay on some arugula and alfalfa. My wife just adores this. It comes in different flavors (about 9 I believe) and is available in both the A-Venue and Fort outlets.

Then it was time for the Secondi Piatti, main course to you and me. We had a new item in the menu, the Scallopine alla Marsala that was served with herbed baby potatoes and tiny stewed tomatoes. It was a good serving, not too big but hefty enough for a healthy appetite. As Evelyn said, this was beef tenderloin pounded to further tenderize. For flavor, it was braised in marsala wine. Excellent!

My brother Rey chose to have his good old Osso Buco, his standard order at the A- Venue outlet. It is tender beef shanks braised in red wine and tomato sauce, topped with gremolata and served with fettuccini noodles. Actually, their Osso Buco is also a standard order with me, but I wanted to stay out of the box for now and try their new offerings. No regrets.

Evelyn, my sister-in-law cajoled us to try their other new items in the menu, but several rolls and one hefty meat serving sat contentedly in our tummies, so we took a rain check on their new offerings.

Their menu is now all of six pages. They still retained the soup trio of tomato and basil, pumpkin and mushroom served in demitasse cups, and have a selection of four good salads: Caesar, Garden (highly refreshing with grapes, olives and feta cheese in citrus dressing), Arugula Shrimp Salad and Insalata Caprese which has buffalo mozzarella.

Their Antipasto: Bruschetta Casalinga which boasts of sundried tomato tapenade and buffalo mozzarella on a toasted crostini, Shrimp Scampi, Portabello Fritti and Mozzarella Fritta, Artichoke alla Milanese ( battered fried artichoke hearts) and Spinach & Artichoke Formaggio, among others.

Being Italian, one can’t miss out on the Risotto: al Funghi, di Mare, con Pollo, alla Janina (with Italian Sausage, mushroom and broccoli), and Primavera, their vegetable risotto.

Pastas: Choose from 20 varieties! Care for lasagna, or Canneloni, tortellini, Carbonara, Alfredo, Putanesca? Name it, they have it.

Their Secondi Piatti is a meat lover’s delight. I thoroughly enjoyed the Scalllopine but made a note to try their Roast Beef (lightly seared prime rib) next time. Or maybe the Italian Pork Chop, or the Chicken Parmigiana or Pancetta, or their baked Salmon or Fish Fillet in Caper Sauce. 

The choices, it seems, are endless.

For this occasion, though, I chose to cap the dinner with their rum cake, Evelyn’s signature dessert which is also an all-time favorite. My wife Baby says she’ll try the Limoncello, a fluffy cake with limoncello liqueur next time, maybe a la mode with Focaccia’s famous gelato.

All the best to Focaccia 2 at the Fort.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be Filipino.

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