Felix Rising

MANILA, Philippines - There’s a place in Greenbelt 5, Makati that’s rising like the mythical phoenix. Just a hop, skip, and jump away from the Greenbelt Chapel, Felix is for those who worship food with all their hearts — and stomachs.

Amid refreshing interiors that soothe the soul, you discover a sanctuary. It’s like you just died and went to food heaven. Suddenly, Chef Florabel Co appears in her immaculate white garb with a matching cherubic smile.

No, Chef Florabel is not St. Peter’s cook who’s keeping the Great Kitchen above brimming with celestial delights. She’s the indefatigable, innovative spirit behind Felix, a resto she named after her father. “My father loves to eat but doesn’t cook,” she chirps.

A Burning Passion for Food

Florabel imbibed her father’s burning passion for food. More than that, she tried her hand at cooking at a young age. She remembers that her first recipe was a yema-filled chocolate cake, which she did when she was in second year high school. It was a sweet success and it is now available in her restaurants.

Fact is, the very creative, innovative Florabel always has something delicious up her sleeve. It’s always sheer pleasure to dine in her restaurants and even meet this young celebrity chef up close and personal. Trivia tidbits: Did you know that KC Concepcion, who’s vegetarian, is taking her South Beach Diet with Florabel? That President Noynoy Aquino simply loves Florabel’s beefsteak Tagalog and tempura laing? That Kris Aquino would ask Florabel to send her the former’s favorite salad and pasta?

One weekend, after nourishing our souls with the Holy Mass at the Greenbelt Chapel, we saunter to Felix to feed our hungry stomachs.

Guiltless Love Affair

To kick off our guiltless love affair with food, we scan the appetizer menu. Felix has a lot of fresh offerings that are really cool: Ostrea (baked oysters in three terrific flavors — spinach & bacon, cream cheese & basil, tomatoes & anchovy); Colchester (poached oysters in chardonnay cream sauce topped with caviar); Cousteau (cold seafood platter — lobster, prawns, New Zealand mussels, fresh oysters, and Alaskan king crab); Gen San (devilishly spicy tuna with garden salad); Santorini (deep-fried squid rings with desiccated coconut served with miso mayo), among others.

With our lethargic taste buds fully aroused, we move on to the soup. We didn’t say soup drink, but go ahead and drink your soup. We highly recommend Clare (five mushrooms with oyster chips), Tomy (puree of tomatoes with ricotta cheese and baby arugula), or the healthy and hearty Mambulao (fresh malunggay with tofu).

There are oodles of noodle/pasta choices, too. Try Ala KC, named after KC Concepcion, of course (note that Florabel has named some of her dishes after celebrities, friends, and family members). Ala KC consists of mixed grilled vegetables and artichoke in olive oil with pine nuts and feta cheese, which KC loves to nibble on.

Oh, What a Grill!

Hot off the grill — not your typical grill next door — are Kenta (Wagyu Gold rib-eye); Clara & Ibarra (Felix’s surf & turf — grilled tenderloin of beef with pan-fried foie grass in mushroom sauce and half shell lobster in lemon butter sauce, served with pasta aglio y olio and green vegetables); and Banagan (Palawan lobster). Oh, what a grill!

And now, enter the entrée. Now, this one really rocks: Rockafeller Chick (stuffed chicken fillet with spinach and mozzarella wrapped with bacon and served with potato puree and tomato). Or try Charlotte (braised US pork Kurobuta short ribs with chestnuts, mushrooms, and buckwheat noodles). Or how’d you like to treat yourself to FC Royale (US Angus beef patty stuffed with foie gras, served with salad and homemade fries) or CY Royale (Wagyu burger with deep-fried mozzarella cheese and cranberry sauce). And everything’s coming up Rosie (roasted chicken with grape butter sauce served with mushroom vegetable rice). Then, too, Tony (whole baked lobster with lemon butter sauce, served with apple and pear salad) deserves a Tony Award for its theatrical presentation. Meanwhile, while it takes two to tango, it only takes one to enjoy a duo of sea bass and Canadian scallops with foie gras.

Surrendering to Lapu-Lapu

Then there’s Christopher, a dish inspired by Florabel’s husband who shares her passion for cooking (and eating). This fish dish is made of Lapu-lapu fillet wrapped in bacon with leek fondue and tomato compote, and served with brown rice vegetable risotto. Totally surrendering to the wiles of Lapu-lapu, we find ourselves confronting Mactan (grilled prawns with dried scallops, chili, cucumber, radish, and XO sauce, served with brown rice risotto and green asparagus. On the other hand, Florabel has cooked up a heavenly surprise called St. Pierre (crispy John Dory with sea urchin sauce, served with potato puree). Also noteworthy is The Carpenters (a medley of scallops and prawns fricassee, served with mashed potatoes and vegetables).

Salmon Says

Simon says you ought to try the salmon, too. Like Martha (slow roasted salmon with skin crackling, spinach, and mushrooms in leek sauce, served with potato puree); Bond (baked salmon with horse radish crust in vodka orange broth); or Salmone Azafran (poached salmon with vegetables and saffron broth).

Want something that’s all-Filipino? Try San Fernando (prawns kare-kare with fried eggplant, served with shrimp paste or bagoong). After that, you’ll swear you left your heart in San Fernando. If you want to do the salsa, give Chanos a chance. It’s really belly good, this grilled milkfish belly with prawn tomato salsa, served with white rice and taro leaves in coconut cream. And if you love adobo (who doesn’t?) you’ll go crazy over Feliciano (Chef Flroabel’s award-winning adobo with kesong puti, garlic rice, and tomato salad.

Don’t forget to leave room for dessert — lots of room!. With sweet childhood memories of down-home goodies lingering in my taste buds, I dive posthaste into Lipa (suman sa latik dipped in Batangas tsokolate). Or you can have your cake and eat your Treviso (Italian tiramisu, lady fingers dipped in espressso with creamy mascarpone), too. And mani more, like Julia (irresistible choco mani cake).

Meet Ben, Reese, Sharon, etc.

Of course, I also made friends with Angelina (layers of ice cream, custard, and meringue in one sinful slice); Venus (Haagen Dazs raspberry sherbet with fresh fruits); Isamu (crepe samurai), Ben (macadamia sans rival); Reese (peanut butter pie), Carmela (chocolate caramel mousse with Oreo crust); Sharon (sugar-free and flourless chocolate cake); and Abi (crème brulee, a classic custard with a delicate sugar glaze). Now, I can’t get them off my back — or is it my hips?

Citibank, Felix’s Dining Partner

And if you’re a Citibank cardholder, dining is extra pleasurable at Felix. You get a free appetizer for a minimum single receipt purchase of P2,000. You get a30-percent off on the Citi Menu, available Saturday and Sunday, until August 15, 2010.

“We launched the Citibank Dining Privileges in more than 1,000 dining locations in the Philippines,” says Martha Aguila-Borja, vice president, Citibank Cards Business Group. “It’s best for these restos to partner with Citibank because we own the lion’s share of sales; whether it be dining, 40 percent would be coming from Citibank cardholders.”

“Our regional campaign has been very successful,” asserts Alma Gruenberg, VP, Citibank head of Usage & Merchants. “It’s called Gourmet Pleasures in Singapore, which started 10 years ago. It has grown into a major proposition for cardholders in Singapore and then we expanded the offer to include the benefits in all Citibank cards issued in Asia. So basically, if a Citibank cardholder from the Philippines goes to Singapore, he will also enjoy the same benefits. And vice versa.”

Borja adds, “Another component to the program is the Best Deal Promise. If you are a Citibank Dining Privileges partner, we guarantee the cardholder that they will not find a better deal elsewhere from other credit card companies. For example, if it’s a free P500 appetizer and the minimum is P2,500, that’s about a 20-percent discount. If they find another credit card company offering an equivalent value of more than 20 percent discount, say 25 percent, then we will rebate the cardholder for the five-percent difference as long as the cardholder uses his Citibank credit card in that merchant. It’s a very, very bold move for Citibank and we’re very, very happy to be doing it for the first time in the Philippines.”