Frannywanny

Forgive me dear readers as I'm still in truffle heaven. I woke up this morning with a smile on my face as I thought of that delicious plate of pasta that I had last night. Indeed, this just got to be one of the best hangovers that I've ever had and here I am daydreaming about it again as I type this entry. Finally, after months of planning, Paul and I met up with a couple of his cousins for dinner at Lusso . This is to bid goodbye to two cousins who will be traveling soon and to also celebrate ML's birthday at the same time. What a fun celebration! We initially had a hard time looking for the restaurant as there was no huge signage which you will commonly see in most restaurants but rather all they have is an engraved signage spelling out LUSSO at the handle of the restaurant door. Very subtle yet so elegant. Reservations were made and our party of 12 was comfortably seated inside. The menu came in the form of a small lengthwise piece of paper with back-to-back print...

I can still remember my first Boracay trip. It was the summer of '07 the same year Frannywanny.com was born. Paul and I went with my big big group from work. Finally after many failed attempts, I excitedly sat through our 50-minute flight to Kalibo where we had to take an hour and a half car drive to Caticlan and endure another 10 minute boat ride to the sunny island of Boracay. "This should be worth the wait." I thought to myself. From the moment we got to our resort at Station 1, I held my breath at the beautiful crystal clear water and white powdery sand. This truly was paradise. Definitely worth the wait, dear readers. :) As soon as we dropped off our bags and changed into our beach clothes, off we went in search for a good place to have our very first lunch. Following the lead of my colleagues who have been to Boracay more than I could count with my fingers, we headed to D'Mall. They told us this was the central, go-to place for all Boracay visitors and...

Who doesn't love potatoes? Well, I know I do! I know my sister Pan and best friend T can't live without potatoes too! This is mainly the reason why I braved the traffic and the strong rain as Paul and I drove all the way to Restaurant 9501 to be part of a special Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by the US Potato Board . I was able to join their first Thanksgiving Dinner at M Cafe two years ago and till this day, I can't help by drool by the thought of those delicious Porcini & Truffle Gnocchi . It was simply delicious. Restaurant 9501 is a private restaurant exclusive only to ABS-CBN employees and their registered guests.  While I don't work for the network, I had the privilege to dine there a few years ago for a South African festival wherein I enjoyed my meal very much. Putting together two amazing experiences both with the US Potato Board and Restaurant 9501 , it's no wonder why I immediately sent my confirmation upon receiving their invite and was act...

San Juan is truly an amazing place to be. When we first moved here, my sister and I would call it the donut hole simply because it's located at the middle of Metro Manila where it makes it practically accessible to head north, south, east and west. Another reason was due to a long blackout during the Milenyo typhoon and it seemed like the entire Metro Manila had power back already except for our city. San Juan is one of the smallest cities in Metro Manila yet its currently growing with a lot of food finds and amazing gastronomic delights which makes it a great place for food lovers like me. Just recently, Paul and I had our afternoon snack at Segovia's Cakes and Recipe s, a new resto-cafe located just a few steps away from our home. I heard that Segovia's is owned by Carmen Segovia of the famous Cake Studio who used to cater for my high school. While my memory can be pretty hazy now, all I remember is that her pasta is really one of the best that I've ever had...

...and the fun never stops!! After celebrating my birthday with The Club, my high school best friend and my family, I went back to work the day after my birthday leave and scheduled to have lunch with my closest colleagues. They let me decide where lunch will be held and after finally choosing between 2 to 3 restaurants, I finally went for Cantinetta which was located outside the Powerplant Mall. The reason for choosing this restaurant? 1) I am craving for pasta and truffles 2) I love Italian food 3) I haven't had a full meal at Cantinetta ever (the last time was when I just had a bowl of Gelato). Thus, Cantinetta was our lunch destination that day. My colleague I was the first to arrived and she was given a basket of warm bread and two types of spreads. At the same time, she went ahead and got a plate of Spinaci e Funghi (Php. 300) for us to share. I love the bread and the delicious Chicken Liver Pate . I enjoy having this topped with some sweet salsa on top. D...

We all had a very busy summer. Some flew in and out of the country, others got busy at work while I..created a BIG event . Thus this trip was very much awaited by every member of The Food Club namely: Jane and Chris , Richard and Irene , Abet and Joan , Ro and Peter , Carlos , Trixie , Paul and yours truly . After all, I was already day-dreaming about lounging by the pool while bonding with my dear friends. We all stuck by our proposed time schedule to be able to make the most of our trip and to be able to have more time to bond with one another. We all agreed to meet up at 830AM to load our groceries and drinks and to begin the not-so-long drive up to Tagaytay where we all agreed to stop for lunch before heading to Punta Fuego where we will stay for the night. While thinking of where to eat, Jane and I decided to try Amoroma as I've heard a number of raves from my boss. He told me they serve "real slices of black truffles" and that was in fact the magic word...

It's funny that while I've been blogging for years and has been trying to keep myself updated social networking-wise, it was only recently that I finally discovered the world of Twitter . I know that Twitter has been around even before Plurk did but I never thought it would be so much fun to be a part of it. Thus, just about a month ago, I created my very own Twitter account and has been tweeting non-stop with friends and fellow bloggers. One thing that I love about Twitter is that I get to reconnect with my old high school friends. We get to be updated with each other's day-to-day activity and it's easier to plan a get-together given how fast the response rate of Twitter is. Needless to say, we get to communicate in real time without any cost. While tweeting each other one weeknight, we decided to meet up for dinner. Me, being the official reunion organizer of the class, took charge of pulling everyone together for our first ever tweet-up. It has been a while si...

While planning for our trip to the US, Paul and I did not expect that we are about to embark on a journey to Burger Land! Everywhere you go, you'll surely encounter a burger stand or a restaurant serving the meatiest, biggest burger ever seen! From the famous In-n-Out, which I will talk about more in detail in my next entries, to the gourmet ones such as Umami Burger where my dear friend Karla brought us for dinner one chilly evening, we had a great time having a taste of all-pure beef with the freshest veggies and soft burger buns. Back in Manila, I'm not really a big burger fan as I prefer the non-meat choices such as Burger King's BK Big Fish or McDonald's Fillet o Fish sandwich however, since I am in Burger Land I have to try these burgers and see why the locals love them so much. As mentioned above, it was a very chilly evening where the temparature was at 8 degrees celcius. We buttoned up, pulled down our hats and shivered our way towards Umami Burger alon...

This week was very stressful...both at work and for my personal life. With so many pending tasks calling out my name all at the same time, I just wish I can just close my eyes and everything will just move around in a snap. However, if there's one moment this week when I hope time would just stand still and things would go in slow mo, it would be during my lunch last Wednesday with my sister. We felt like one of the girls of Sex and the City enjoying their lunch out in a lovely restaurant with the best tasting food. Yes, I felt like I was in heaven for two hours away from the office. Well, I just had the most delicious crepe I've ever tasted in my life and I enjoyed this with a glass of bubbly too! Crespella with Tartufo Sauce Crepe stuffed with ham and cheese and covered with rich, creamy truffle sauce...need I say more? Definitely found heaven on my plate.  Let me tell you more about this particular lunch in the following days. Meanwhile, enjoy the weekend ever...