Frannywanny

Back when I was still in Manila, I got to admit that the local Filipino cuisine was never one that I'd really crave for. As the saying goes: "You'll never know the value of what you have until you lose it..." perhaps a more apt saying would be "Absence makes the heart grow fonder..." Being miles away from home and not having the luxury of eating our local cuisine whenever I want to, I've grown to love it more and more. You have no idea how our eyes would sparkle at the scent of garlicky adobo or how our heart would do leaps and cartwheels at the mere sight of a shiny, crunchy roasted lechon. Thus, whenever we're home, we make sure to make up for lost times with our favorite dishes. One of the highlight of my recent visit was during a private dinner hosted by my favorite "lechon diva" D of Pepita's Kitchen . Note that I was burning with fever that evening but I made sure that I didn't miss this gastronomical experience. Of course...

November is finally here and for the past weeks, Mommy has been bugging us to organize a Thanksgiving Dinner for the family. Note that we've never celebrated Thanksgiving before and the only times I've had turkey was at Dad's Eat All You Can Buffet, the US Potato Board's Annual Thanksgiving Dinners and at Disneyland Anaheim where Paul and I shared a turkey leg. After all, it really would take a good chef to be able to impress me with turkey as I normally find it bland and dry. Thus, I really do not know why Mommy suddenly wants to celebrate Thanksgiving but I have a strong feeling a major craving for turkey has something to do with it. *wink* When Paul and I got an invite to celebrate Thanksgiving last August, we excitedly headed to Damaso Residencia which was the private residence of our dinner host, Chef Bambi Sy Gobio . Chef Bambi is also the talented lady behind the restaurant Restaurante Pia Y Damaso in Greenbelt 5. No thanks to color coding, we were the l...

Oh I just love discovering secret dining places! This is the reason why I immediately grabbed the chance to try Atelier 317 when an offer worth Php. 995 was posted at Deal Grocer . What initially was planned to be a romantic dinner date for two was happily turned into a fun dinner out with my two favorite eating companions Paul and Richard . We had to make a reservation days in advance as the place has only three table thus it has a very limited seating capacity. I've been hearing about Atelier 317 from friends and fellow food lovers, this restaurant is owned by Chef Stephanie Zubiri and is located at a private home in Makati. Thankfully, both Paul and Richard have amazing sense of direction so I didn't have to worry on how to get to our 'secret' destination. We entered Palm Village which is very near Rockwell Center. The streets are quite narrow but following the direction given by the guard, we immediately located Atelier 317 . It's a two or three storey hom...

Just how much food can you possibly eat in one sitting? This thought entered my mind in the middle of the meal last Thursday as I joined a couple of bloggers for a special lechon dinner at Pepita's Kitchen . When I got Spanky's invite for this particular dinner, I was just expecting an informal set-up where we will be pigging out on lechon, lechon and more lechon all night long. However, as we arrived at Pepita Kitchen 's very own Dedet Santos ' lovely home, we joined a long table where I immediately noticed the pretty ceramic plates in front of me. On top of my plate is our menu for the evening, I counted the dishes and realized that we will be trying a total of *gasp* 15 dishes that evening. Can I handle it? Let's see. Check out this cute lechon bread sitting cozily in front of me. Hello babe! Dinner began with two pates and a plate filled with Skyflakes. One was the Pinoy Pate which was the green pate made of balut (one-day-old chick) and wine while ...

It was a lovely Friday evening where I, together with the entire Yummy team, traveled all the way to the unfamiliar streets of Quezon City to have a special dinner hosted by Chef Myke Tatung Sarthou . Following directions given by tricycle drivers, we finally found his home and was warmly welcomed by Chef Tatung himself. I love the interiors of his home -- it has a mix of old and new furniture pieces that gives the entire place a unique personality yet giving you that comfort feeling that you can unwind and relax while enjoying the special dinner that Chef Tatung will prepare for that evening. Chef Tatung opened his home last June and has been serving different 4-course dinners only every Friday. Reservations are required as his place is good only for 20 guests. His 4-course dinner is at Php 500 per head and is inclusive of your drink of choice. That evening, our dinner began with a basket of homemade bread and butter. I love the milky bread with poppy seed and we even a...