Note: This is the last installment in my US food trip series. Food Flight of Fancy: Chicago Part 1 is here. This is a photo of Fox and Obel , Chicago’s premier gourmet market. It’s slick, well-stocked, and expensive. But my, what heaven! Among the great wealth of food stuff one expects to find in a utopia like this, I pick up a bottle of chocolate extract, a bottle of sanding sugar (great for making sugar cookies sparkle), and a bar of milk chocolate with salty pretzel chunks from Chocolate Bar in New York. Food emporiums don’t usually allow photos to be taken, so this is a photo that I shot “ninja-style.” Who could resist? Fox and Obel 401 E. Illinois, Chicago IL, 60611 312. 410-7301 ~~ Chicago is famous for a lot of its foods, primarily deep-dish pizza, so I can’t say that I’ve been to this great city until I try one. In downtown Chicago, there’s a popular pizzeria called Due (I’ve heard this pronounced as doo-EH). It’s owned by Pizzeria Uno which is just down ...

note: this is an ongoing series of my US food trip last March 17-April 3. Chicago may have just dethroned New York as my favorite US city. I’m a big-city girl, and I gravitate towards places with tall buildings, people bustling about, and frenetic activity. Chicago is all of that and much more. It reminds me of a cleaner, friendlier New York. I’m in awe at how intelligently this city is designed. The buildings are architectural wonders: regal, magnificent, and tremendous come to mind. Chicago is a city that celebrates structure, every design has its purpose. A beautiful city that embraces the river. How admirable is that. click to enlarge Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's -- can't miss 'em yellow arches Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's exterior -- can you see me in the photo? As my sister Charley and I walk through downtown Chicago, we pass by the original Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's, ...

On-screen capture. Thanks to Micmoc for this photo. l-r: Daphne, Liza, Ingrid, and me My days on TV are far behind me – or so I thought. Two years as a newscaster on Studio 23 was more than enough. So what was I doing last night guesting on ANC Life? I’d gotten offers before to guest on other shows and I’d always turned them down politely but firmly. ANC Life however is hosted by my friend and former co-worker Daphne Oseña-Paez, also of the now-defunct show “F.” I’ve always liked Daphne, she’s really one of the more grounded people in the cutthroat world of broadcasting. The topic was blogging, and I joined two other Filipino bloggers: Liza of The Fash Pack, and Ingrid of Tresor, self-confessed bag hag/hog. I’m not sure how they feel about me blowing their anonymity, but well, we were all on TV last night! The show was broadcast live. TV studios maintain sub-zero temperatures because of their equipment, so needless to say, I had to work very hard to keep from chattering. (My knees were shaking under my skirt). Being inside that small room ...

I used to hate ginger. I hated how fibrous it was and how I thought it had a smell from hell. In my first job as a newscaster (god, that was AGES ago), my colleagues swore by a mean salabat drink to counteract a sore throat. I said then that I’d rather deal with a sore throat than ingest such poison. And then I tasted Roshan’s ginger walnut biscotti. “I make it with crystallized ginger from Australia,” she tells me earnestly, trying to make me see that ginger didn’t have to be so vile. “The ginger really brings out the flavors. See?” As they say in business, it was a hard sell -- and unnecessary. That biscotti had me at the first bite. The ginger was subtle yet discernible, sweet even, against the crumbliness of the cookie. My taste buds were tantalized, singing a little duet with the crunch going on in my mouth. Who knew ginger could be so pleasant? It was like meeting a person for the first time and being completely turned off with her seemingly snobbish persona. But once I got to know her it was like making a ...

Food Flight of Fancy: Los Angeles (Part 1) cooking dinner Patty and I met seven years ago in culinary school. Our wacky natures naturally gravitated to one another and she’s the only person I know who has the same laugh as me, which thrills us both to no end. She used to work in the now defunct Stars in Manila, and when she moved to LA, she worked as a pastry chef at some restaurants. With us, it’s always about food, whether we’re talking about it or eating it. So it seems only natural that while I’m in LA visiting Pat, she decides to throw a little dinner for me so that I can meet some of her friends. She refers to the dinner as a ‘cook-in’, as opposed to a ‘cook-out’ because she doesn’t have a deck, which works out fine. Pat decides on a tapas (small plates) party. We spend the morning at the Farmers Market and then do a quick run to the gourmet market and Sur La Table. Pat initially wants me to make bread, since she’s never quite forgotten that cheese-swirled loaf that I ...

I don't drink, but this (finished) martini looks stunning A long-time resident in LA that I meet says to me, “When people hear ‘LA,’ they immediately think Hollywood, the glitz and glamour of it all. Hollywood seems to be our nobility. But that’s such a small part of LA.” I agree with him on that since I’m certainly not “starry-eyed.” However, when my friend Patty picks me up from the LA airport, she brings me, ironically enough, to Beverly Hills. Yup, that Beverly Hills with the world-famous 90210 zip code, the $20 million mansions, and the palm tree-lined streets. No, I don’t see any celebrities – it’s too dark – but Patty takes me to The Beverly Hills Hotel, known in these parts as the Pink Palace. “BEST burger in town,” Pat tells me with emphasis. This ‘best burger’ is served to us at The Polo Lounge. It’s a Kobe beef burger complete with all the sidings I can ever want or even hope to want: lettuce, long pickle slivers (what is it with these protracted pickle fingers?), onions (red and white), tomatoes, and ...

My trip is about drinking all the hot chocolate and coffee my already belabored stomach can hold. I adore the coffee shops I see around me and marvel at all the sweet offerings on display. This latte and mocha is from Emporio Rulli, a place that bills itself as the ‘quintessential Italian pastry, caffé and wine shop.’ My friend Joy and I visit a shaded café that sits overlooking the breathtakingly beautiful stretch of Union Square. Surprisingly, none of the pastries appeal to me at the time – cream cakes that remind me of Bizu and tarts layered with almond paste. So we settle for a cup of java each and find that that’s just fine. Emporio Rulli Il Caffé at Union Square Stockton Street Pavilion On the Square at Stockton & Post Street San Francisco, California ~~ Mexican food is something I yearn for often but can never get enough of. There certainly aren’t enough (are there any?) Mexican restaurants in Manila, so eating Mexican food is tops on my list in California. My tita takes me to Chevy’s, a Tex-Mex chain that she likes very much. Chevy’s is very proud that their tortilla ...

Union Square is one of San Francisco's main retail and cultural centers. There’s something here for everyone. It’s also a terribly pretty place, and I say terribly, because it’s one of those places that make me stop in awe and just ... breathe. Cookware giant Williams-Sonoma has their flagship store here – three levels of kitchenware gluttony. I walk around in a daze. I may as well be in a trance. At the food court in the giant Macy’s here, my sisters and I (that's us on the left) have lunch at a bakery called Boudin – pronounce it ‘bo-DEEN’ because that’s what it says right on their drinking cups, as you can see in the photo below. I’m actually ashamed to say that this was the only time during my trip that I ate clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. San Francisco is famous for both, and many will say that I haven’t been to San Francisco if I haven’t eaten clam chowder in a sourdough bread ...