Vongole, crepe Suzette, Tasmanian salmon and a birthday surprise

MILLIE: Every year I look forward to my birthday as a time to rejoice and, in thanksgiving for all my blessings, I celebrate with family and friends.  I normally celebrate for a week to 10 days, with different groups of friends. I had, in fact, planned a birthday bash with the theme of Great Gatsby and Karla drew up a fabulous menu as the theme inspired her so much. Everything was ready, from menu to decor, including the Gatsby-inspired outfit by my dear friend, designer Danilo Franco.

But in the wake of all the recent calamities our country has suffered such as the Zamboanga crisis, the earthquake that hit Bohol, the devastation wrought by typhoon Yolanda and even the much-publicized political pork mess, I had qualms about celebrating my birthday. It wasn’t until the Monday after Yolanda, after watching the late evening news on television, that I realized the magnitude of the suffering and devastation in the typhoon-hit areas. I decided to forego any celebration and instead sent relief goods and tried to reach out where I could.

The days that ensued were very depressing as, one by one, we were getting cancellations for December bookings and beyond but, understandably, people would rather donate to typhoon victims and no one was in the mood to party. All I could do was pray for an end to all the suffering. Luckily, my daily novena masses in preparation for the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal started and with each day that passed, I felt more and more relieved. I also attended an Advent Recollection by Father Phil Estrella and it somehow eased the heaviness I was feeling.

On the eve of my birthday, Karla took me out to dinner at Paparazzi, the Italian restaurant at Edsa Shangri-La. Little did I know that two of my closest friends, Ermin and Pat Garcia, would be joining us. We feasted over a platter of Tallegio cheese and focaccia bread and shared a bottle of Zonin Pinot Grigio as we chatted nonstop. We ordered pastas for long life, so to speak. Pat had gnocchi with tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella, Ermin had linguini alle vongole with clams, garlic and spiced nori flakes.  

Karla’s friend Jharvis Ong, who also joined our mini celebration, had lasagna “36” made with multigrain flour and duck egg yolk, Kurobuta pork belly, Wagyu ragout, porcini mushrooms, parmesan and buffalo mozzarella.  Karla had fusilloni pasta with fresh salmon chunks and lobster in a creamy tomato sauce and I had the ravioli burrata made with putanesca sauce, capers, sundried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, ricotta and basil plus osso buco, a typical Italian dish of slowly braised veal shank served with parmesan mashed potatoes, to share and set in the center of the table. To end the meal, we all shared a chocolate-inspired dessert, Il Cioccolato with chocolate truffle, and gelato and Paparazzi’s panna cotta in three flavors: mango, strawberry and chocolate. The dinner wouldn’t come to an end as there was unceasing banter with Ermin and Pat, whom I have not seen in a while, but around 11:30, Karla seemed to be in a hurry to go home.

KARLA: I remember my mom’s face when we sat down at the table I had reserved, She kept asking why we had such a big table since we were only two. When she saw my friend Jharvis Ong, she immediately started naming my other friends, trying to guess who would be joining us for the night. To her surprise, two of her closest friends walked in, and it seemed like the four-hour dinner was not enough for the three of them to catch up. Exactly what I expected! Mom asked me why I thought of inviting Tito Ermin and Tita Pat as a surprise to her birthday dinner. And all I said was that it’s simple: we haven’t seen them in a while. True enough, we all enjoyed their stories from the past and a couple of confessions along the way, which they all laugh about now. Finally, it was time to go. I was in such a hurry to go home that I kept signaling my mom to go already. After endless photos taken that night, we were on our way home.

When we arrived home, mom started walking up to the room of my lola, which is where we normally enter. She found it weird when I called her back down to pass the front door since we normally only pass there when we are entertaining guests. She opened the door to the sala and even complained about why the aircon was on. As she was climbing the stairs, Tito Larry Mallari played Happy Birthday on the piano while everyone sang for her. She was stunned and immobile for a few seconds. Her reaction was priceless. Her friends present were Dr. Larry Mallari, Tita Lizette Licaros, Tita Vivian Recio, and Tito Ramon Tan plus some family members, Tito Benjie and Tita Dorcie Guingona with their kids Benjo, who got up in the middle of the night just to greet mom, and Bea, Happy and Otto to represent the Ferarens and my friend, Jharvis Ong. The midnight surprise was completed with wine, keso de bola cheese spread that I made earlier that week and The Plaza’s tapa with steaming white rice, as requested. It turned out to be a big hit!

The next day, we had lunch with the Tres Leches, which is what I call my mom and her sisters, Tita Merj and Tita Dorcie. Since my lola and lolo passed away, mom took on the responsibility and started a tradition of treating her sisters on their birthdays, and now it was their turn. This time, we decided to go to Calderon for a Spanish lunch and La Creperie next door for dessert and coffee. Tita Dorcie ordered the Salidou, homemade salted butter caramel and whipped cream, while mom and I had the Crepe Suzette, which is crepe flambéed in fresh orange juice, orange zest and Grand Marnier liqueur. Tita Merj ordered the oh-so-chocolaty double chocolate fudge brownie crepe topped with vanilla ice cream. I also ordered Angelina’s, which is a Paris-style rich hot chocolate with couvertures (60 percent cacao) at the bottom of your cup to make the drink richer, plus a serving of whipped cream on the side. I knew it would be too much for me so I asked for demitasse cups and shared it with everyone.

MILLIE: In the evening, my best friend Verne treated me to dinner at Solaire’s fine dining restaurant called The Strip.  We arrived quite late as the traffic was so bad and we were both famished. For starters we shared a foie gras paté topped with a dried fruit crumble served with Melba toast and we ordered a bottle of red Barone Ruscoli from the Tuscan region. For our main course, we shared a grilled Tasmanian salmon and a US strip loin, definitely premium, seared to perfection.  Excellently prepared, the steak was very tasty, juicy and tender, to say the least. It came with bone marrow and three sauces: red wine gravy, truffle cream and béarnaise. We were so stuffed and there was no room for dessert so we ordered coffee instead and were offered complimentary chocolate truffles and pralines.

What a birthday! I am so blessed. I got my wish of spending it with family and friends, received so many phone calls, e-mails and text messages from all over — as far as Argentina and South Africa — that it took me two days to reply to all. Most of all,  I received text messages of thanks and birthday greetings from people and relatives we had sent aid and relief goods to in Bohol, Cebu, Tacloban and Estancia, Iloilo, hometown of my grandfather, the late Justice Alex. Reyes and I realized that as I shared with the unfortunate, I became a blessing to others. God loves me indeed.

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Paparazzi is located at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel. For reservations, call 633-8888.

Calderon is located at 403 F. Calderon Street, Little Baguio, San Juan. Call 238-2264 for reservations and pre-orders.

La Creperie has multiple locations in Metro Manila; call the branches for their exact location: Shangri-La Mall 584-6540 / 0933-549-0068, Robinsons Galleria 477-7089 / 0932-404-0863, Calderon St. in San Juan, 570-1788, and New Manila, 705-7100 / 0943-517-7041.

Strip Steakhouse is at Solaire Resort & Casino. For reservations, call 888-8888.