I’ve had antipasto on the brain ever since Marketman’s EB. My craving reached its peak today: I just had to have it, even though it was only 4:30 in the afternoon. The day wasn’t going to end without my having a plate of salty salami, assorted cheeses, and grilled vegetables. At the suggestion of my ever reliable foodie partner in crime (hi, Kaie!) I buckled up Boo in the car and we hied off to Pasteleria. Located right across the San Antonio church in Forbes Park, Pasteleria La Nuova is what I consider to be ‘the cozy little neighborhood restaurant,’ never mind if that neighborhood is the richest neighborhood in Manila. This little place can get really busy during lunchtime. Because of its diminutiveness, there’s a good chance your dining companion won’t be the only one listening to your animated banter. And since this is Forbes Park after all, every meal I’ve ever paid for in this restaurant has been over P500. But don’t let too-close-for-comfort conversations and pricey prices deter you. Pasteleria has plenty to offer. Their pastas are comforting, stuff you can really dig into. On the menu, they’re (very helpfully) ...

Good friend Kaie texted me over the weekend that I had “featured one week of chocolate lovin’” on my site. In her words, “…isang linggong pagmamahal,” in reference to those melodramas where love happens intensely in a short span of time. Somewhat puzzled by her message, I looked back over my most recent posts and saw indeed, that most of them were about or did include chocolate. It wasn’t intentional, and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon, I think. Ah, the sweet life. I love it! Still, it got me thinking if this bounty of chocolate has indeed made me a chocoholic. Would an increased inflow of this so-called ‘food of the gods’ into my already sugar-saturated body trigger a chocolate cataclysm of epic proportions? Curious, I took the “Are you a chocoholic?” test. And failed victoriously. I am so relieved. Not that I have anything against chocoholics (may their tribe increase!) but I wouldn’t want to be, nor am I ready to be one. To be a slave to only one flavor in the rainbow of tastes in the dessert world??? Ay-yay-yay, impossible methinks. I must be ...

Garch is one of my favorite people in the world. Funny, handsome, and always fun to be with, I enjoyed the dinner we had last night at the Peninsula, along with some other food writer friends. It was the opening of the hotel’s “Hot Off the Grill” barbecue buffet, which is held every Friday and Saturday nights from 6:30-10:30pm. It’s a refreshing change, literally, from the stuffy air-conditioned dining areas we’ve grown accustomed to. The weather is cooler, signaling the imminent arrival of the holidays. The buffet includes a salad bar, grilled delights, a Mongolian grill, Indian specialties baked in a tandoori oven and desserts. on the barbie: sausages, lamb chops, spare ribs, lobster tails,baked potatoes and tomatoes mix-match meats and sauces at the Mongolian grill Made of brick and clay, the tandoori oven bakes food over direct heat. So intense is the heat (up to 500°F), that half a chicken can cook in less than five minutes. Lamb, chicken, and ...

After the barbecue, our little party moved on over to the lobby for the chocolate buffet. This dream event for chocoholics began about a year ago, and has repeatedly proven so successful that the Peninsula has to keep bringing it back. Earlier this year, I wrote down a specific plan of attack on how to best go about the chocolate buffet. It detailed strategies on how to get the most chocolate into one’s stomach. You can find the plan here. Because I was too full from the barbecue, I only had a pitcher of hot chocolate, imagine that! Yes, you read right – a pitcher. chocolate mousse (those rose petals add romance, don't you think?) it wouldn't be a chocolate buffet without the truffles beautiful dark and white chocolate tuiles atop brownies macaroons Chocolate Nights Weekend Buffet at The Lobby The Peninsula Manila Ayala and Makati ...

"…there is no mood so foul or dark that cannot be brightened by a major chocolate chip cookie or two." - Jeffrey Steingarten, food writer Hear, hear, I say, which is why I’ve often wondered why most local bakeries don’t sell cookies. They’re just the thing for a mid-afternoon lift or when I don’t want anything too heavy. Catherine Uy and Liza Ang saw this need to quell cookie monster cravings, thus Delicì (deh-LEE-chee) was born. “We started with cookies first because there’s a market for cookies; it’s just that the available ones aren’t as good or are way too expensive,” explains Catherine. Best friends since the 5th grade, they both hold full-time day jobs and bake at night. Talk about dedication. You go, girls. Not even a year old, the business partners describe their eight types of cookies as “classic and unique.” Aside from the requisite chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin, Catherine came up with cream cheese, a cookie version of cheesecake, if you can imagine that. I particularly liked how this cookie shimmered because of its sugar specks....

For a few days every month, I become a salt slave. I hunger for salt, salt, and more salt. I eat green mangoes with bagoong (salted shrimp paste) and sprinkle them with rock salt. I hoard bags of sampaloc (tamarind), the saltier the better, sucking on them while I’m driving. And I prefer salty chocolates like Hershey’s Max5, a pretzel-chocolate-peanut butter-salt combination that rocks. Saline lunacy is what this all is, I tell you. salt specks So you can imagine my glee when I chanced upon one of my favorite food blogger’s Salty Oats, basically oatmeal cookies with salt sprinkled on them before baking. Doing this instead of mixing the salt into the cookie batter brings the salty flavor to the fore, instead of just complementing the cookie. This was also the first oatmeal cookie recipe that I had come across which called for part rice flour. Because rice flour has no gluten, it prevents the cookie from becoming cakey and/or tough. Actually, rice flour can be substituted for flour ...

It seems that I have a chocolate godsister who plies me with chocolate and keeps my sugar coffers a-brimming. Aside from those who know that I know her, she will forever remain nameless in this blog, for obvious reasons. She’s the one who gave me the Royce’ milk chocolates which I featured a few weeks ago. On a recent trip to Italy, she gave me some chocolates as well. How I love her. Several of the comments that I received in the above post mentioned Royce’ chocolate-covered potato chips. And guess what my chocolate godsister (bless her sweet, sweet heart!) gave me next? You got it: Royce’ chocolate-covered potato chips. Labeled as Royce’ Potato Chips Chocolate, this unique treat comes in a large plastic bag, its top sealed firmly. Wrapper instructions behoove the eater to store the bon bons under 25°C, if there are any left to store, that is. Once the bag was open, I buried my nose into ...

Dinti Guanio was the first to respond when I sounded the call for home bakers who wanted to be featured on this site. That call will always be an open invitation for those who want to get their name out in the home baking business. Dinti fits the profile of the characteristic home baker: she’s been baking since she was young, fueled by watching her mom bake; she has an embarrassingly large collection of cookbooks; and one Christmas of selling her treats progressed into a full-fledged business. Two years later, she's the proud owner of her own store at Tiendesitas, and laughingly describes her house as "a kitchen with a little room." 'Hearty' best describes the goodies that Dinti makes. There’s nothing complicated about what she offers, just dead-on sweets to quell “gotta have it good and gotta have it now!” sugar cravings. She professes to a lack of a sweet tooth however, preferring potato chips to sweets. She’s not the first baker I’ve come across with this affliction. (What is it with this new breed??)...