A Victorian Christmas with Ricky Toledo & Chito Vijandre

(Second of three parts)

If AC+632 owners Ricky Toledo and Chito Vijandre were to have their way, a little of the old world would creep back into our lives and into our homes. A dash of the Victorian era here, a splash of whimsy there — and a whole lot of their childhood memories would be relived.

That’s exactly what they did for their Christmas table and their store AC+632: a setting inspired by the rabbits of children’s book writer Beatrix Potter. 

Potter is a personal favorite of Ricky and Chito. They grew up reading her stories, mesmerized by those silly rabbits — especially Peter Rabbit — who got into all sorts of troubles and adventures.  

Chito says with a laugh, “How bakla ano? We were reading Beatrix Potter instead of playing with GI Joes.”

Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.

They lived with their Mother in a sandbank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree.

“Now, my dears,” said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, “You may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.”

“Now run along, and don’t get into mischief. I am going out.”

Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through the wood to the baker’s. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.

Chito and Ricky read and loved them all.

We teased them: Isn’t it too early for Easter to have rabbits? We point to a wreath decorated with eggs. Oh, how different and lovely! Chito points out that, hey, you can let the décor stay from Christmas until Easter. Saves you time and trouble too. 

Ricky explains that in Beatrix Potter’s world, it seemed like it was always autumn and even the rabbits were having afternoon tea and Christmas parties in the woods.

These are the scenes that the two have recreated in the window display of AC+632 — a hit with the children and adults who have their pictures taken with the rabbits in the background. There are wooden shavings, bird’s nests (with tiny eggs!), paper butterflies on trees, autumn leaves on the forest floor, little tables and cups and saucers for the tea party. And best of all there are the rabbits — anthropomorphic in their human clothing and doing the best-loved of British traditions: having tea!

On their Christmas table, the rabbits are interspersed with Chito and Ricky’s collection of fine china, crystals, and giant glass vases filled to the brim with Christmas balls and fruits. It’s an elaborate spread for sure.  

“A lot of what’s here are the things that we like — Victorian silver and Venetian crystal,” says Ricky. “And if we do a table for dinner, we love filling it up. What’s Christmas but extravagance and excess? You can never go wrong at Christmas when you overdo it. If you under-do it, it’s not Christmas. Why bother? The whole point of Christmas is generosity and abundance. Maybe any other time it might be hard to over-decorate, but the season gives you a license to go overboard.”

Ricky grew up in a house where Christmases were happy and abundant. “As a child you are always looking forward to the gifts. I was fond of dolls, so I would have stuffed rabbits apart from the Barbie dolls because my father did not want me playing with the Barbies. I remember we’d always go shop for a fresh tree and we’d put it in the foyer. We lived in an art deco house in Sta. Cruz, Manila, which my father, architect Antonio Toledo, designed. There was always lots of jamon, chocolates, sweets and pastries. And then there was turkey.”

And so, for this Christmas table, they asked chef Bambi Sy Gobio, their partner at Restaurante Pia y Damaso, to make a turkey. Bambi brings the turkey to the table — brown and glistening and looking so….stuffed.

“It’s a 10-kilo turkey!” Bambi exclaims. “It can feed more than 20 people.” She goes a step further and gives recipes for leftover turkey — because for sure there will be a lot left over after the noche buena (see next page for recipes).

She brings out pasta with tuna, blue marlin, sardines and olives, and a plate of Chinese lumpia.

Then she lets us try her sweets. This is where she got me — really! One bite into her cookies and I began cursing the heavens for being a diabetic and having an uncontrollable sweet tooth. She pairs her waffle bibingka with homemade cocojam — but there’s more — sansrival that’s so crunchy.

A hotel and restaurant administration graduate from UP, Bambi trained in New York’s Culinary Institute of America and honed her kitchen skills in Bouley, the restaurant of award-winning chef David Bouley, and at Four Seasons Hotel in Canada.

When she came home in 2001, Ricky and Chito hired her for Fidel on Orosa St. in Malate. I remember that restaurant for its very nice Moroccan mint tea and tea service. The street then was flanked by quirky and unique dining places run by young chefs, restaurateurs and even furniture designers.  

“Apart from the basic good crystal, china and cutlery, you should have a nice centerpiece of some sort, like a candelabra,” says Ricky as we look at the rich table. Candles and flowers always make the table festive. Whatever food you’re going to have, like fruits and nuts, you can use them as a centerpiece to decorate, mix them with the flowers.”

And how festive those gold Christmas balls in humongous glass vases with fruits. “Just throw them about on your table or side tables or buffet or console! And use your own heirloom pieces. At the store we have a new line that we found in London and Paris — Victorian silver with ivory handles — from the late 1800s. We really love them and we mix them with the pieces we inherited from our families. Like I still use my grandmother’s silverware.”

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To be continued tomorrow, in Sunday Lifestyle.

AC+632 and Restaurante Pia y Damaso are located at Greenbelt 5.