That’s exactly what chef Fernando Aracama of Uva wants to tell you: stop being apologetic about Filipino tastes and food. "This is the direction we’re taking for Uva," he says. "Before, our roots were very Eurasian. We’ve been known for playing around with Filipino food but not getting directly deep into it. After traveling around the country and seeing so much culinary pride in the regions, we decided to go back to our roots. For me, it’s like a homecoming."
Adapting the slogan "Progressive Filipino Cuisine," Uva – the restaurant that came up with the inspired ChocNut ice cream (he still produces the best even after the flavor was adopted commercially) – makes a strong declaration about its cuisine. It’s no longer fusion, no longer something-slash-Filipino. It’s Filipino through and through. "Everything on the menu is practically reflected in what mama fed us when we were growing up in Bacolod."
"Mama" must be a great cook and she taught her son well. For our tasting menu, Fernando prepared a feast of good old Filipino food that were very familiar but somehow better than what we had or have in our own homes.
We started with pancit molo with foie gras chicken siomai, poached shrimps and toasted garlic chips. The foie gras is very subtle that you might miss it, but the rest is very tasty. Next is salad with pan-fried Laguna kesong puti with pesto on top and mango-dressed green salad. Fernando says when he traveled to Laguna and discovered that they fried their kesong puti there, he thought it was odd, but nevertheless it amazed him and so he brought it to Uva.
For our main dish, he brought out crispy beef rib adobo with ensalada ng talbos ng sayote at bulaklak ng kalabasa, deep fried saba na saging and monggo with gata at langka; and pesang lapu-lapu.
I adore the first dish because it combines everything I love about Filipino food starting with monggo (we order monggo at the office almost every day). Fernando’s version is unlike the Kapampangan version that I grew up eating, which has bitter gourd. I forgot from what region he is from but it comes with gata and langka! And his beef adobo is the way his mom cooked it in Bacolod – crisp-fried in its own fat.
The pesa comes with a side dipping sauce of sautéed tomatoes, ginger and garlic. "This is a recipe of Claude Tayag, which I added with lemongrass to add fragrance and taste ," says Fernando, then adds with a grin, "If you don’t like it, I’m going to kill him." Well, Claude need not worry. We loved the pesa.
For dessert, Fernando proudly presents the one dish that’s all his, no outside influences except his own childhood, and you won’t find it anywhere else either. It’s deep-fried suman sa ibos on mascuvado latik, with fresh mangoes, butter barquillos and spicy ginger ice cream. "This is purely unadulterated," says Fernando. "I wasn’t drunk when I did it – it was one of those clear, clear moments."
He relates that growing up in Bacolod, whenever there was leftover suman from breakfast his mom would reinvent it in the afternoon by frying it a la turon or with mascuvado. His mom also used to make him and his siblings drink salabat every night.
"Nobody can take this away from me," he says. "Unlike the ChocNut ice cream."
Yep, it’s all Negros and it’s all his childhood right there on his dessert plate.
The Spanish restaurant Una Mas was on to something when it chose its name. "Una Mas," which means "one more," serves buffet-style meals with paella española and paella negra, oysters, lengua pastel, roast beef, callos and other main courses for P450 for adults, P275 for kids.
Says marketing head Ross T. Mapanao. "We’ve Filipinized the taste. Our chefs cook what customers like such as kaldereta."
Ask the chef to cook the paella an extra 10 minutes so nobody fights over the burnt bottom. Also, try the chicken croquettes with garlic-mayo dipping from the buffet.
You can also order a la carte with its choices of tapas, salads, soups, six different kinds of paella, and grilled items. But the restaurant manager says people come to Una Mas most especially for its paellas and oysters (try the oysters with hollandaise sauce!).
This Christmas, Una Mas takes the feast to your home (or your party) as the Greenbelt branch delivers within the Makati area for a minimum order of P750.
Una Mas also makes gift-giving easy with its goodies like the Christmas chocolate wreath, a bundt cake topped with green frosting and decorated cookies, Christmas chocolate logs, banana nut muffins, banana flan and sugar cookies.
For a Chinese meal, you have two choices: Gloria Maris and Zhongnanhai Chinese Bistro. The former, you must have tried it before it came to the mall; the latter, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what it offers.
Zhongnanhai or ZNH takes Chinese cuisine and spins it in inventive ways. Ever had soup in a dumpling? When the STAR Lifestyle staff went to ZNH for a tasting lunch in September, the hands-down favorites were the xiao long pao soup dumpling, Michael Rollover (raddish and mushrooms wrapped in rice noodle), red crab with vermicelli, polunchay oyster cake and the braised shrimp with basil.
For Christmas, ZNH offers three different kinds of nine- to 10-course set menus for parties of four, ranging from P1,888+ to P2,388.
If your trip is Italian, there are three restaurants to choose from: Gaita Fores’ Pepato, which combines great food with astounding interiors; Segafredo, which goes beyond its coffee tradition to serve dishes like salmon caviar pasta; and Italianni’s, which to many people is a tradition in itself – weekend lunch or dinner with the entire family or barkada.
Segafredo is unveiling new dishes for the holidays, starting with its entry to the WWF Savour Nature 2005 event – black sesame pan-seared tuna with lettuce and julienne vegetable sidings and tuna-mango sauces; mixed mushroom pasta with two kinds of mushrooms glazed with white wine sauce; and fresh salmon caviar pasta. My favorites at Segafredo have always been its thin-crust pizza and its strong, strong coffee.
At Italianni’s, start your meal with spinach and artichoke formaggio (a favorite of the Lifestyle staff) and stuffed mushroom (a favorite at the Lara household). There are so many good and hefty dishes at Italianni’s it’s hard to choose – from its salads with the great blue cheese dressing to Chicken Italianni’s (chicken with spices sausages and peppers), and salmon oreganato; and for pasta lovers, there are angel hair pomodoro, shrimp fra diablo and penne arrabiato. Then, of course, there are Italianni’s desserts for two or three or four: its famous New York-style cheesecake, tartuffo and panna cottas in different flavors.
For Japanese cuisine, you can either go to all-time favorite Sugi with its no-frills fare, or Kai with its neo-Japanese cuisine. Two opposites on the pole, both with dishes you’ll find yourself dreaming about: Sugi with its established menu and Kai which never ceases to amaze diners with its inventive menu by a group of young CIA/Nobu-trained chefs led by Gilbert Perez. At Sugi, my favorite is the grilled gindara and, of course, its sashimi; and at Kai, the dynamite oysters, the Kobe beef which you grill right on your table, and its tofu cheesecake.
For diners who want to party (and strut their stuff), there’s Nuvo, Temple Bar (don’t forget their tofu with hoisin sauce – close your eyes and you’d think you were eating Peking duck), and Mezze. Mezze specializes in small-plate dining, offering delights from the Mediterranean rim (Greece, Turkey and Morocco) in an Anton Barretto-designed interior.
Head to Magnum Bistro if you’re serious about your wine, Bizu for those can-never-say-no-to French macaroons, Masas for great Filipino food, and Cena for more Mediterranean fare.
Greenbelt 2 has 16 restaurants. If you go out with friends every week, it’s a good mission to try them all.