Round-the-world food trip at Azzurro-Spargo

You take your pick and, with your palate, take a trip around the world at Azzurro-Spargo.

Vivian Sarabia, Optometrist of the Stars, is right.

"You can go French or Spanish or Greek or Italian or Indian or Thai or Indonesian or Mexican or American or simply Filipino," assures Vivian who, besides an eye for beauty, has a distinct taste for food. "At Azzurro-Spargo, you can go on a round-the-world food trip."

From the Sarabia Optical at the third level of Megamall (Building B), Vivian brings celebrity photographer Richard Chen and me to Azzurro-Spargo at the street level. There, we meet Shiela Romero, looking much younger than her 30-plus years, the twin restaurant’s movie-starish main owner and Vivian’s good friend, all set to make us sample some of the Azzurro-Spargo mouth-watering items to prove Vivian’s point.

"You’ll love the food here," Vivian keeps telling us on the way to Azzurro-Spargo. "It will be love at first taste."

Located at the Megastrip Building B of Megamall, Azzurro-Spargo is Shiela’s newest twin babies with co-owners Les Romero (son of Congressman Mike Romero), Maielle Manimtim and Lydia David, and investors Mike Toledo (Press Undersecretary during the Erap Administration) and former sweethearts Miriam Quiambao and Hans Montenegro.

Azzurro, more than a year old (its counterpart, Azzurro in Glorietta 4 at Ayala Center, Makati City, is three years old), occupies exactly one half of the space, with the month-old Spargo occupying the other half. You enter the place and if you take two steps to the left, you are at Azzurro; take two steps to the right and you’re at Spargo. The two restaurants are divided by a thin wall.

"You can actually cross-order," says Shiela, a La Salle Business graduate (major in Applied Economics and Management of Financial Institutions) who inherited her love for food from her father (who used to be Rod Ongpauco’s partner in his Baclaran restaurant branch). "You can sit at the Azzurro side and order food from the Spargo side – or vice versa. The two places have only one set of attendants, sharing the same kitchen and most other amenities."

Azzurro serves Mediterranean cuisine, including Italian (risotto, pizza, pasta, etc.), Spanish (salpicao, paella valenciana, etc.), (steaks and an array of salads, etc.) and Greek (lamb cooked in various ways, etc.).

Spargo serves what Shiela describes as "comfort food" for Pinoys – barbecues hanging from a metal rack.

"I call them ‘world barbecues’ because they come in different flavors – Indian, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Filipino."

Samples from the Spargo menu: Skewing in Manila (P145 per order, consisting of pork adobo and eggplant, plain rice and adobo sauce), What’s Your Beef? (P190, beef salpicao, mixed peppers and onions with salpicao sauce and garlic rice); Samurai Special (P185, marinated chunks of beef with teriyaki sauce and steamed rice); El Pollo Spargo (P188, chicken and mushroom with salpicao sauce and garlic rice); and Ramayana’s Pride (P245, lamb, tomatoes, dijonaise and buttered rice).

Azzurro has been attracting its own clientele, just like its Glorietta 4 counterpart (voted One of the Top 10 Restaurants in 1999), only a few months after it opened, and so is Spargo, proving to all and sundry that, for a quick inexpensive meal, there ’s nothing like, yeah, rice toppings (you can eat the barbecue straight from the "spargo," a term coined by Shiela who says "it doesn’t mean anything" or scatter the chunks over either garlic rice or steamed plain rice).

On certain days, you may sit near and/or rub elbows with stars who make up Azzurro-Spargo’s regular habitues, such as Lorna Tolentino (whose favorite item is Salmon Carpaccio, P210 per order, consisting of thin slices of salmon fillet marinated with lemon juice and olive oil with light egg mayonnaise and mango salsa, with a side order of pasta done according to Lorna’s specifications), Andrea Bautista and soul-mate Diether Ocampo who are also crazy about Salmon Carpaccio, Ces Drilon and husband Rock (who don’t stick to just one item), celebrity designer Paul Cabral (who usually shows up with Andrea and Diether, ordering a different item everytime), Ara Mina, Martin Nievera and Aiza Seguerra (who tried Magret de Canard, P480 per order, fried duck breast fillets cooked pink and served on creamed spinach and roasted garlic, mushrooms, barbecue sauce and mashed potatoes).

Vivian Sarabia usually orders Mushroom Risotto (P220) which she sometimes shares with good friend Korina Sanchez, but this afternoon, Vivian has no choice but to sample the Blue Marlin Salpicao (P285, cubed marinated female marlin, sauteed garlic, served with buttered vegetables and garlic rice) and Ramayana’s Pride Shiela laid out on the table, complete with bottomless servings of iced tea and a sinful serving of a dessert called La Collection (P155, a combination of three signature desserts – panna cotta, panettone pudding and creme brulee).

As usual after a visit to a restaurant, we end the day with a big burp and a promise to come back for more servings.

(Note: For inquiries about Azzurro-Spargo, call Shiela Romero at 0918-8984546 or the desk person at the Megastrip at 687-3281 or 729-5800/892-9694 at Glorietta 4. For catering services, call 897-7145.)