An art feast with Abe & Nini Licaros

He is a businessman-art lover. She is a beauty queen-turned entrepreneur-turned civic activist. Turned excellent cook, too.

So when Abe and Nini Licaros invited me and 11 other friends to dinner in their home, we knew it would be an evening of sheer pleasure for the palate. Think paco (fern) salad with lychees, apples, pine nuts, kesong puti, salted eggs and a unique Asian dressing with oranges and mangoes. Think lychees stuffed with blue cheese and pistachio nuts. Think steaming hot sinigang na ulang, Thai style, so refreshing and redolent with stalks of lemongrass mixed with just the right chili, and yet so powerful that if you had a bad case of colds, it would instantly be gone. Think seafood risotto with very fresh prawns, olive oil, broccoli and scallops cooked perfectly, not too moist, not too dry. Think sea bass marinated overnight in garlic, soy sauce, sugar and vinegar and whatever secret spices, and imagine its tasty, crispy bite when grilled. A true feast for a non-meat eater like me. Of course, there were one or two meat dishes but vegetarians have selective memories and remember only dishes that their minds consider edible. As for dessert, that would take another litany of mouth-watering memories. I distinctly remember I went nostalgic with Nini’s home-made palitaw, freshly cooked and still hot, plus matamis na saging with pure coconut milk.

Nini is indeed not just a beauty queen. She is a kitchen queen as well, one who cooks with a passion and who enjoys seeing her guests truly satisfied. It is always interesting to watch how beauty queens evolve from the day they are crowned. Some just fade into oblivion, while others grow and glow some more, unconsciously reinventing themselves.

Nini Ramos was our beautiful Bb. Pilipinas International 1968 and she is one of those who have found a niche in society, not just by looking good but by finding relevance in civic-oriented groups. Together with Irene Martel-Francisco, Nini helps provide scholarships through the Love 14 Foundation.

Nini has never been a full-time housewife, admitting she is too hyper and hardworking. She has been in garment export, among other business ventures, and inevitably would return to her true calling: producing good food.

Her first job was at Shakey’s (by virtue of her first marriage with a scion in the food industry), then she later went into the resto business with friends Mary Ann Ojeda, Sally Tesoro and Chari Bagatsing, with whom she opened The Palm on Adriatico Street. For the longest time, Nini was into producing some of the best ensaymadas in town.

She will tell you about the secrets in keeping ensaymadas light and fluffy, but then again she will say there are really no secrets to good cooking. She took formal lessons (her first teacher was Maur Lichauco), constantly reads recipe books and watches cooking lessons on TV. "But the real learning lies in the experimenting, tasting and doing the marketing yourself," she clarifies. Even when on trips, Nini enjoys going to the market – especially Asian markets, to buy ingredients and take a tip or two from homegrown cooks in the ethnic eateries along the way.

Traveling is something she and husband Abe Licaros both savor, and the rewards of their cultural sojourns are apparent in their beautiful high-rise residence.

Dinner with the Licaros couple means not just a culinary treat. It is a virtual feast, for as you sip your welcome drink you enjoy looking at the artworks collected by Abe the past three decades.

There is an imposing Legaspi, vintage Manansalas, a couple of fascinating Anita Magsaysay-Hos, and an HR Ocampo and Amorsolo to satisfy your thirst. Plus interesting pieces that bespeak of certain cultural epochs. Modernity meets history in the tastefully-designed Licaros home.

After the art feast, you are ready to savor the beauty-queen’s own masterpieces, bite by bite as you imbibe still another treat – a breathtaking view of Metro Manila from all corners of their condominium