More continental flair: Merci, grazie, gracias

The world is on your plate — and on your palate. Oui, you can eat like the French who are known for their steamy romance with good food and good wine. You can go Italian, Moroccan or Mediterranean. Even moussaka no longer sounds Greek to us.

Indeed, the world is getting smaller every day, thanks to Podium’s restaurants that bring the best of continental fare — with a flair — to our shores. And in celebration of Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 27, it’s Podium’s turn to say merci, grazie, and gracias to its legion of faithful patrons through the years. To give thanks, Podium is giving away a trip for two to Macau with accommodations, transfers, and sightseeing tours courtesy of the Macau Tourism Office. A single-receipt purchase worth P1,000 entitles a customer to a coupon for a chance to join the raffle to be drawn on Dec. 5.

Cafe Breton: A crepe-y story

We get that crepe-y feeling everytime we eat at Cafe Breton. Of course, we’re mad about the galettes, too. Savor the Galette Bretonne loaded with spinach, shrimps sauteed with crab meat, drizzles of fresh cream, and Gruyere cheese. Or the Galette Paysanne filled with whole Hungarian sausage, onions, egg, and asparagus with cheese sauce.

But if you’re a sandwich person, there are some pretty filling choices: Breton mozzarella burger (juicy all-beef patty with mozzarella surprise) served with side salad; Go Fish open-face sandwich (smoked salmon on a bed of scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast); Tuna Melt sandwich (creamy tuna spread with melted cheese); sausage in a bun (your favorite sausages in Breton’s very own whole wheat buns). Now, which sandwich will it be?

Cafe Breton gives you the crepes right down to the dessert. Get your sweet vengeance with La Pinay (mango vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce) or Blueberries & Cream (blueberries in syrup and cream, a generous serving of vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream).

Your scrumptious crepe goes best with a bracing cup of coffee, like cafe liegeois (espresso coffee ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate sauce).

Having satisfied your crepe craving, you can only blurt out an ecstatic merci beaucoup with a hearty burp!

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Cafe Breton is located at GF/118, Podium, Ortigas Center with telephone number 687-5971.

Segafredo: Italian tradition in a cup

Bask in the warmth of Italian tradition — in one sip. In the 500 international coffeeshops of Segafredo Zanetti Espresso, espresso is served only in the best of ways. True to its stimulating catchphrase un cafe per amigo, Segafredo lets you experience coffee as a friend.

Sit down and smell the coffee — the kiosk-type Segafredo Espresso at the Podium, says outlet supervisor Xenia Germino, can seat 40 persons.

At Segafredo, you can partner your coffee with pastries, called coffee sets: Caffe Americano with muffin; coffee with a cookie (chocolate chip, butterscotch, oatmeal); coffee with buttercake or brazo de mercedes for only P100++ or grilled ensaymada for P114++.

Our eyes pop at the sight of the humongous cookies that are certainly no cookie-cutter cookies. “Our cookies, cakes, and pastries are done by the Maya Kitchen and Vargas Kitchen,” Xenia tells us.

We pair a decadent slice of devil’s chocolate cake (with caramel filling and white and dark chocolate chips) with our latte. Truly heartwarming on a muggy day like today!

For non-coffee drinkers, Segafredo puts a spin on iced blends with its Banana Spin, Strawberry Spin, Mango Spin, Oreo Spin, Chocolate Spin, and Bevanda Al Cacao (hot/cold chocolate).

Here, eat your pasta like the Italians do. The pasta perfect selection includes basilico (fresh tomato sauce and basil); pesto alla genovese (basil, nuts, and olive oil); classic bolognese (tomato sauce with ground prime beef); aglio olio (garlic, olive oil, and sundried tomatoes); carbonara (cream, eggs, and bacon); baked bolognese; arrabiatta (pepperoncino, bacon, fresh chili pepper).

The pizzas and panini sandwiches (ham toasties, cheese toasties, vegetarian, roast beef, etc.) also pack a meaty wallop.

Surely at Segafredo, you get more than a slice of Italy.

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Segafredo is located at 2F/CT201 of Podium with telephone numbers 633-3421 and 683-0736.

Cafe Med: The colors and flavors of the Mediterranean

There are large plates, little plates, and a mouthful of colors and flavors at Cafe Mediterranean.

For the large plates, there’s the Moroccan or Tunisian fish fillet, served with regular pita or whole wheat pita or buttered rice or Moroccan rice pilaf or couscous. The salmon croquettes rule, encrusted with breadcrumbs and served with garlic and olive oil dip with orange zest and black pepper.

The last time we had moussaka was on a trip to Athens decades ago. For our penny-pinching group, it was the most decent meal our measly budget could afford. It tasted so much like my mother’s eggplant torta.

The large offerings also include: pollo al rosmarino (roast chicken, Italian style with rosemary), grilled chicken Mediterranean style, lamb stew, and spicy pork tenderloin.

Big things also come in little plates at Cafe Med. The filling little plates, served with pita bread, include hummus (classic garbanzos and sesame dip); baba ghanoush (eggplant and tahini dip); tzatziki (cucumber, yogurt, and mint dip); falafel (crunchy garbanzo croquettes); kofta (savory meatbals from Greece); tabouleh (tomatoes, flat-leaf parsley, and cracked wheat); and tapenade (black olives, capers, and olive oil dip from Provence).

Have a Moroccan mint tea to cap a tea-tillating food adventure in the Mediterranean. Or raise your wine glass to give thanks for all this glorious food.

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The Cafe Mediterranean is located at  2F/221 of Podium with telephone number 631-7297.