'I do' at Pino

MANILA, Philippines - While the rest of Luzon panicked over the rising waters caused by killer typhoon Ondoy, their much-anticipated wedding was the only thing on the minds of would-be couple Roi Lu and Janette Meniado.

The Lu-Meniado nuptials were months in the making. The theme, music, venue, caterer, couturier and flowers were all set. No tiny detail was left unforeseen or unaccounted for. But when the day itself came, all the plans were thrown — rather drowned — out the window by typhoon Ondoy.

The Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City, where the wedding was supposed to take place, was not accessible at that time. Also, the officiating priest couldn’t make it because Kamias, where he serves as parish priest, was also waterlogged.

Crème, the wedding planner, made arrangements with EDSA Shangri-La Hotel (where the couple was billeted) for the possibility of holding the ceremony and reception there. The management agreed but there was no priest to officiate. To make matters worse, the wedding suppliers couldn’t get to the reception place — the Water Nymph Resort — which is located in the heart of Marikina.

The search for an alternative church and reception venue was on. To make a long story short, the wedding pushed through in one of the churches in Kamias, Quezon City. And a new reception venue — Pino Resto Bar — was booked by wedding photographer Paolo Zalameda, who’s a regular customer of the resto.

“It was 8:15 p.m. (Sept. 26) when I got a call from one of my staff asking me if we could accommodate a wedding reception that night for some 30 guests. I was shocked but upon hearing the whole story I finally gave in. I rushed to restaurant and made do with whatever we had in the ref,” recalls chef Edward Bugia of Pino Resto Bar.

Finally, the newlyweds arrived. The relatively small but cozy resto made it fittingly intimate for the couple and their guests to celebrate this memorable event.

”After dinner, the groom asked me if we serve wine. I told him we didn’t and offered him two shot glasses with tequila instead,” relates chef Edward. “Leche flan was served in lieu of the wedding cake for the traditional cake-cutting ceremony.”

Roi and Janette’s wedding day was indeed nerve-wracking but ultimately ended in bliss.

“Chef Edward and his hardworking staff at Pino saved the day. They made our wedding day extra memorable,” enthuses Janette.

Filipino Restaurant With A Twist

Situated at 122 Maginhawa St., Teachers Village in Quezon City, Pino Resto Bar is the brainchild of enterprising buddies chef Ed, PJ Lanot and Star Jose.

Both Ateneans, chef Ed and PJ share the same passion for all things yummy and the performing arts. Chef Ed used to handle events in Ateneo. So whenever he had gigs, he would get PJ as host.

“I act on the side. I guess that’s how we developed our bond. Star and I, on the other hand, used to be officemates in Starcomm, an advertising firm. I resigned from Starcomm to pursue my first love which is acting,” PJ relates.

In 2008, PJ and Star took a trip together in Vietnam. Over cups of coffee, they toyed with the idea of putting up their own resto/bar.

“Out of the blue, Star told me that it would be a good idea if we open our own restaurant since we’re all foodies, not to mention that Ed is a chef. We were so excited. In fact, we called chef Ed right away to discuss the plan. Everything was finalized except for the location,” recalls PJ.

While the three were in the thick of preparations, PJ got a call from a friend, who owns a restaurant in Quezon City.

“He told me that they were selling the restaurant because they couldn’t manage it well. All six partners were busy with their respective careers and so the resto suffered. To make the long story short, we took over the business,” enthuses PJ.

The first thing chef Ed, PJ and Star did was change the name of the resto.

“The resto is called Pino because we offer Pili-‘pino’ food, and ‘pino’ in Filipino means ‘fine.’ Pino is all about fine Pinoy comfort food,” PJ explains.

Chef Ed and his kitchen staff only had a month to prepare the menu.

“We got this resto in July and started operations by August. Our first menu was very limited. We only had 12 appetizers and 12 main courses. After a few weeks, our regular diners started asking for more. What I did was introduce new items once in a while until we came up with the complete lineup of dishes,” says the amiable chef.

Chef Ed fuses two best-selling Filipino fares into one gastronomic delight. Take for example the kare-kareng bagnet. This delectable dish is one of the more innovative ways of presenting both bagnet and kare-kare. The pork, served bagnet-style, sits on a bed of rich peanut sauce with veggies. There’s no need for bagoong since the dish is served with a cup of moist bagoong rice. It’s definitely a must-try.

“What makes Pino click among foodies is the art of fusing Pinoy food with other Filipino dish. We try to make our menu interesting to entice diners even more,” chef Edward enthuses.

For starters, chef Edward prepared a buffet of appetizers, which consists of cheese sticks, pork and shrimp lemongrass skewers, tempura oysters and pearls, mini sisig tacos, and tofu balls with cheese.

The pork and shrimp lemongrass skewers were delish, but I found the mini sisig tacos a bit salty for my taste. Vegetarians will surely love the tofu balls filled with cheese cubes.

For the main course, the other must-try items are the kalderetang lengua (stewed beef tongue served with steamed rice), the sisig carbonara pasta (spaghetti with sisig, diced bacon and onion in carbonara sauce), and pork tonkatsu with Vigan longanisa (pork cutlets with Vigan longanisa fried rice), among others.

Well, the crispy tenderloin tapsilog tops the menu. The beef cutlets are dipped in batter then deep-fried to give it that crunch. Enjoy it with mango rice and topped with sunny side-up quail eggs for a change.

For dessert, choco-lovers will fall for chef Edward’s chunky choco tempura. The chocolate wafer bar is dipped in tempura batter, deep-fried and served with vanilla ice cream drizzled with choco and strawberry sauces.

“In celebration of Pino’s first anniversary, diners can bring their favorite chocolate bar and I will turn it into a delicious chocolate tempura dessert,” says chef Edward.

Pino Resto Bar gained its popularity among students of Ateneo and UP, office workers, and families who live nearby for its delectable dishes that only chef Edward and his team can offer.

“Pino is passionate about giving you delicious food that comes from the heart,” chef Edward enthuses.

Pino’s clientele grew as foodies trekked to Maginhawa St. in Teachers Village, Quezon City, to taste for themselves what the regular diners were raving about.

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Pino Restaurant is located at 122 Maginhawa St., Teachers Village, Quezon City. For reservations, call 441-1773 or SMS 0918-9116042.