Being a foodie, and a not a bad handy chef myself, somehow I can tell if the place has a new chef, sometimes even just by the way the food smells or is presented. Perhaps that is the artist in me. Food presentation plays an important role.
Thirty-four-year-old Chris Locher is a Swiss chef who I followed most recently to his new kitchen. I first tried his cooking when he held court at Yats International Wine Club at Clark Field. That was two years ago, and word spread fast about this newly-opened and most expensive restaurant in our part of town. I can still remember my first dinner at Yats, when Mary Ann and I had these wonderful lamb chops. And since it is basically a wine club, chef Chris himself came out of the kitchen to recommend the wine that would go perfectly with our food (and wallet). And since their wine selection ranged from P300 per glass to P1 million for a bottle of 1900 Chateau Margaux, he found us one (with much difficulty, I guess) that would suit my beer budget pocket, discreet enough not to let my wife know what a cheapskate of a date I was. That was my first encounter with the warm chef Chris.
After having worked his way up the larder in various establishments in Switzerland, Thailand, Australia and the US, he came to the Philippines for the first time in 1993. What he planned as just a couple of weeks vacation has become over 10 years of cooking for the Filipino palate. His first two years were spent satisfying the discriminating tastes of the bankers and clients of the Asian Development Bank and the catering functions of the Plaza Inc. There, he got to cook for President Ramos, Pope John Paul II and the 1996 Miss Universe contestants. Then he changed kitchen a few times within and outside of Manila, including the Yats Wine Club in Clark Field.
In March, he opened his restaurant, which is simply called C’ Italian Dining, located along Don Juico Ave. in Angeles City. Again, word spread quickly about his Italian specialties.
C’ stands for Charmaine Pineda, Locher’s partner, and perhaps for Chris’s name, too. The décor is your typical Italian trattoria, a small family-run joint serving home cooked meals. It is also called grotto in the Swiss-Italian border, where stone dwellings are converted into eateries, serving locals and tourists alike, not unlike our own hole-in-the-wall carinderia. As one enters its narrow frontage, one can opt to sit in one of the six tables in the cozy air-conditioned dining room, or go al fresco in the spacious garden at the back.
The first time Mary Ann and I dined there, most of the seats were taken by expatriates drinking (wine, mind you) and smoking cigars, watching Michael Schumacher race on the restaurant’s 250-inch TV screen.
Having enjoyed our first time there, we returned on Mother’s Day with our son Nico. The three of us shared the summer platter of sweet melon, salami, tomatoes, grano and Parmesan cheeses, marinated artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives for antipasti. The olives are flown weekly from Greece via UPS, whose hub by the way is in Clark. The demand for olives is so high that they sometimes run out of it.
We also shared a bowl of fried risotto orb, seasoned with mozzarella and Provolone cheeses, served on a bed of tomato sauce. The crispy rice balls are reminiscent of the Spanish croquetas, but the difference lies in their filling, which is rice instead of potato. Another bowl of ribolitta was shared, which is a classic Tuscan white bean stew with ham hock and vegetables. Like its Mediterranean neighbors, this rich thick lentil dish is akin to the French cassoulet or the Spanish fabada.
For the main course, Mary Ann had pasta with aromatic spiced meatballs braised in piquant fresh tomato sauce with oregano and thyme. Nico and I shared a 650-gram 1-inch thick Bistecca Florentina (also called cowboy steak by the waiters, I guess, because of its Texas-size serving). It was grilled medium rare, with rock salt and lemon, enhancing the natural flavors of the beef. Although Bistecca is not included on the menu, it is a very popular item among their regular diners. I suggest you make an inquiry beforehand because its price depends on the availability of Angus beef flown in the country.
C’ has a good wine list. Unfortunately, there was a liquor ban the night we were there, as it was the eve of the elections, unlike on our first visit. Then, we had a good bottle of Chianti red that went perfectly well with our bistecca (yes, it was a repeat order!). One dish I would like to try on my next visit is Spaghetti Diabolo, and as the name suggests, it is a devilish pasta dish with pickled red and green Italian chilies, fresh mushrooms, herbs and Italian cheeses tossed in virgin olive oil.
This grotto also offers daily specials written in chalk on a blackboard. Two of its best sellers are the herb-crusted sea bass with fresh mushroom risotto and Chicken Patrone, a chicken fillet braised with Italian sausages in rich red wine sauce with mushrooms and olives.
Chef Chris, who passionately loves to cook, never takes a day off, unlike most celebrity chefs, who seem to be all over magazine pages but never in the kitchen. He and his partner, sous chef Aris Dizon (a cabalen), will be more than happy to whip up something not on the menu to please the whim of guests.