A toppings joint born out of love

A cozy little fast-food joint, comfortably tucked in between Phenomena and Piandre along Timog Avenue in Quezon City, has been attracting a fast-growing clientele (busy office workers, yuppies, employees of surrounding establishments like ABS-CBN, etc.) since it opened sans fanfare more than a month ago. It's called World Topps, aptly so because the place offers toppings with international menu for very affordable prices -- Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, American and Mediterranean.

"World Topps was born out of love, it's a labor of love," says Madonna "Happy" Ongpauco, eldest of three daughters of former actress Liberty Ilagan and top restaurateur Rod Ongpauco, who co-owns the eatery with soon-to-be husband Jose Lorenzo "Wowie" Rivera, Benedict Salgado (whose family owns the row of commercial spaces on that spot on Timog Avenue) and Peter Carpo. "Wowie and I, and our friends, too, love to eat out. We came up with the idea of putting up this place so we won't have to go somewhere else for our meals and at the same time let other people enjoy the kind of food that we enjoy."

Last Monday, Happy and Wowie, along with Benedict, invited us to sample the World Topps offerings, with Liberty present to entertain and eat (never mind if she's on a low-carbo diet) with guests Susan Roces and Tempo columnist Ronald Constantino.

The couple, who're getting married on April 9 at the San Antonio de Padua Parish in Pila, Laguna (where the Riveras own real estates and a subdivision), would have treated us to "everything on the menu" but we opted for just five Adobo Rice (P65 per serving), Bistek Tagalog (P75 per serving), Chinese White Chicken (P65 per serving), Tempuradon (P100 per serving) and Salpicao (P88 per serving, the in-house favorite).

Consumed with insatiable gusto along with recollections of unforgettable moments during their Sampaguita days (where Susan and Liberty were under contract), the whole lot was wiped clean (burp, burp!) in only a few minutes. (The clean plates proved how delicious the food was.)

There's a big sign in front of World Topps (which would be inconspicuous without it) and if you want to sample the fare, better be there early or you might run out of space. It has only about four tables outside and about six inside, with a cute coffee corner where a couple (just a couple) can shoot the breeze after a meal or while waiting to be seated.

World Topps is open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and on Saturdays/Sundays until around dawn (4 a.m.) to accommodate the hungry crowds which regularly turn that rotunda of Quezon City an exciting weekend haunt.

"My Dad gave me pointers not really on cooking," says Happy who finished a six-month course in Culinary Arts at a school in Napa Valley, San Francisco, California (after she graduated from Assumption Convent), "but more on management and system. The menu at World Topps is different from the menu at Barrio Fiesta and Ihaw-Ihaw (both owned by the Ongpaucos), kaya there's no competition."

Wowie (a UP Tourism graduate) and Happy plan to put up similarly cozy outlets later this year, a plan they will have to finalize when they come back from their honeymoon in Paris and other parts of Europe.

"Early on," recalled Happy (her other sisters are Love and Sunshine), "our parents trained us how to manage a restaurant. We actually work in our own restaurants, getting salaries commensurate to our jobs just like regular employees. And then, our Dad lent us some amount to put up our own restaurant, us three sisters, and we had to pay back our debt on installment basis. That way, he said, we learn the value of hard work and money."

(Postscript: Our group left World Topps fully satisfied, burping a promise to go back for more servings of the other goodies on the menu. Oyakudon/Katsudon, anyone?)