New wave of affordable chef-quality pasta for all
During the last quarter of 2009, my darleng and I were traveling frenziedly all around the country doing research for our forthcoming book on regional Philippine cuisine. All within a span of three months, we were in Ilocos Norte, Iloilo City, Bohol, Cebu and Zamboanga City. While we’ve had our fill of traditional slow-cooked food and heritage sites, one couldn’t help but notice, too, how far our country has caught up with the rest of the world with its fair share of shopping malls and international food chains from north to south of the archipelago. If these food choices are a benchmark for modernity, we’ve certainly arrived.
Way back in 1984, the opening of first Pizza Hut in the Philippines in Park Square, Makati created such a stir. Its arrival to our shores was probably as sensational as when man first landed on the moon. That seems like eons ago. Today, like most American and homegrown restaurant chains, they have become commonplace and ubiquitous. They made it possible for us to eat affordable meals in a clean, air-conditioned joint accessible to everyone. Shopping malls, boon or bane, big and small, are the 21st-century great equalizer.
My darleng Mary Ann’s idea of a great pizza is a thin crust pizza and loaded with anchovy or parma ham. But she is very happy that Pizza Hut serves thick pan pizza crust because this is what young people look for. Every time our little nephews and nieces, who she calls pizza monsters, are out with her, she would take them to Pizza Hut because they all end up content and satisfied with the pizza toppings and the munching the thick crust makes them full. From experience, she says Pizza Hut comes out the best in value. And on some Sundays, they even got free balloons to take home. “Its casual dining at Great Value” she added. And living up to the promise of “Great Value” was when we tried their whole line of Pasta Perfetto in Trinoma, were surprised of its bountiful servings and not to mention at a price which is generally lower that of other high-end casual dining restaurants in Timog…truly, you get Chef-quality pasta at a price we can really afford. My darleng and my son Nico can’t wait to tell this to their friends and I am actually doing the contribution of spreading this good news.
Having established itself as the world’s number one pizza chain, Pizza Hut goes out of its comfort zone with the recent introduction of its new line of 12 different pastas, collectively called Pasta Perfetto. It offers the casual dining market the promise to provide a variety of chef-quality Italian pastas at affordable prices.
“We have taken the bold step to proclaim that we are now as passionate about our pastas as have always been about our pizzas,” says Elaine Guzman, vice president for Marketing of Pizza Hut. “This is a global effort to place Pizza Hut into a new frontier, where consumers can now look forward to a whole array of quality, Italian-inspired cuisines.” The new Pasta Perfetto line is expected to stimulate the appetites of pasta lovers with its exquisite 12-dish variety freshly prepared upon order. Imported tomato herb sauce and other carefully prepared sauces with fresh toppings were concocted to match the different types of pasta Pizza Hut is offering — penne, ravioli, fettuccine, lasagna, macaroni and spaghetti. To complete the real pasta goodness, pasta noodles are cooked al dente.
A must try is Pizza Hut’s specialty pasta, Seafood Supremo. Shrimps, squid and scallops are sautéed and baked in parchment paper to seal in the savory seafood taste flavored with tomato cream sauce, basil and capers. Though this may be the priciest dish (at P239, good for two) in its new pasta line, it’s still a lot cheaper than its counterpart in other casual dining places, and definitely one gets the better part of the bargain with this over-the-top pasta dish. Other delectable pasta choices are the Aglio Olio (P99), Baked Mac & Cheese (P119), Spaghetti Bolognese with Meatballs (P129), Baked Fettuccine Alfredo (P145), Lasagna Classico (P179), Fettuccine à la King (P119), Puttanesca (P125), Spaghetti Shrimp Garlic and Mushrooms (P145), Pesto Chicken Penne (P149) and 3-Cheese Ravioli (P165). Pizza Hut’s new Pasta Perfetto line is the start of a new wave of affordable chef-quality, rich and flavorful pasta dishes.
Incidentally, it was while in Tagbilaran, Bohol that a billboard caught my attention announcing Pizza Hut’s Super Panalo P99 Value Meals. I found it amazing that Pizza Hut could offer the same affordable prices all over the country, whether you’re in a mall in Makati or somewhere up north in Laoag City (with its latest newly opened branch at Robinson’s Laoag) or down south like Bohol. I understand they also have branches in Cagayan de Oro, Butuan City and Davao City. Imagine, for P99 only, one has a choice of a Buddy Pan Pizza (Hawaiian; Pepperoni; Ham, Bacon and Cheese; or 3-cheese) cream of mushroom soup and a glass of iced tea; or a baked pasta (Spaghetti Bolognese; 3-cheese Macaroni; or Spaghetti Carbonara), Caesar salad and iced tea; or a rice meal (Meatballs and Mushrooms; Roast Chicken; or a BBQ Chicken Fillet). And Pizza Hut maintains the same quality and standards wherever you may find yourself in any one of its 156 branches spread around the country. Can’t get a better deal than that.
