Unbiased Goodness: Tutto Domani

Icee is always introducing me to exceptional restaurants so I've been wanting to invite her and the gang to one they haven't tried yet.  Last year, I remember savoring the excellent vegetable lasagna at Tutto Domani owned by my friends, Joey and Anthony so I figured why not put the two together.  Little did I know that I'd be the one surprised that Icee and Anthony were highschool classmates, however Icee was also astonished to discover that her friend was now the chef and brains behind the brilliant food at Tutto where food is prepared with much love.  (And I'm not saying that just because I know Anthony.)  

This is what I want my salad to be - full of textures and stories.  The saffron pasta is something my Tita Lens should try because she's into pasta in a major way while the vegetable lasagna is even better than I recalled with crunchy bits of asparagus thrown in with the zucchini.  The chicken was moist and tasty even without the sauce and my craving for couscous has finally been answered.  A baking genius herself, Icee enjoyed the crounds - crepes rolled into a ball dipped in sugar.      

The joyfully satisfied eaters thanks to Anthony.  Till next time!

Tutto Domani is located at the New World Hotel across from Greenbelt along the row of boutiques fronting the street. 

Wabi Sabi and the Uber Cool Collective

When Peggy showed me their travel pictures of Vietnam, I started craving for Banh Mi - that classic Vietnamese sandwich that puts veggies and fragrant herbs plus plus between a sliced crunchy baguette.  Whenever I go through a chemo session in Singapore, my friend, Ging, would always take out for me a mini Banh Mi from our favorite deli.  So I longed for a Banh Mi in Manila and read about Wabi Sabi from the website, Our Awesome Planet.  It's one of the artsy establishments located at the Collective, a converted warehouse and one that's definitely worth trying even if you have to get lost arriving at Malugay St. in Makati.

I would return many times over for the fresh banh mi and pho noodles but it's the haru maki that is to die for.  The cook told us it was made of banana blossoms.

After lunch, Mia and I happily explored the rest of the amazing Collective.  I bow in reverence to the creativity and tenacity of its founder for putting up this project which gives opportunities to artist-entrepreneurs with a dream.  There's an art gallery, a shop selling furnishings entirely made of cardboard, an off-beat specialty grocery called the Ritual where you can find salt, vinegar, homemade miso and other ordinary (but is it???) ingredients in a special setting.   There's also the design studio of utwentysix where we met Stephanie who recommended other restos for us to try.  Theirs is an ideal set-up of an office in a stimulating environment.  Stephanie also suggested visiting the Collective during Friday or Saturday nights to see the place come alive with the energy and music of various indie bands.

And this is where my weakness found me.  We had already gobbled lunch but spying the thin-crust pizza at Calda, we tried it knowing fully well that my glucose count would be bad with the additional carb even if it is just one point five slice of pizza.  True enough, my sugar level shot up so I promise to be better today.  We also wanted to try the Wingman but that may have to wait when my gestational diabetes is hopefully gone after the delivery.

http://thecollectivemalugay.blogspot.com/ 

http://www.utwentysix.com/home/ 

In the Footsteps of "Awesome"

Ever since health issues cropped up late last year, eating has become more strategic, choosing quality over quantity and with the help of food bloggers and foodies, the list of must go-to places has grown longer than the time to try them out.  I compulsively keep going back to three blogs for tips and recommendations: "Our Awesome Planet," "Jin Loves to Eat" and even though I have gestational diabetes and should not look at or consider this blog at all, I am always drawn to and tempted by "Dessert Comes First" because of the beautiful way Lori writes.    

Since I'll be gone from Manila for three months, I emailed various friends and asked them to choose from a list.  Instead of picking from the list, Charles strongly suggested The Canteen on Rada St., Legaspi Village near her office.   It's one of those places that surely has been written about because the food is really good and office workers tend to go there early to get guaranteed seating in the rather limited dining space which is shared with the clothes shop, Trilogy.  I would definitely come back for the salads and to try other things in the wide-ranging menu.

  

The picture below is of the super duper delicious spaghettini (drooled over by two pregnant women - Bunny and me) from The Corner Tree Cafe where we had the graduation lunch of my nephew Chino.  His mom, my sister Denise wanted us to go all-out healthy vegan-vegetarian and at first chose Sugar Leaf over at Wilson St. but then like a conscientious bride doing her homework, she taste-tested a meal there and disappointed, switched the venue to The Corner Tree at Jupiter St.  Anton Diaz of the Awesome Planet calls it probably the best vegetarian place in Makati.  It occupies a small lot but the meals inside pack a wallop.  

Next, Boots and I tried Faburrito.  It was a bit eerie going there at twelve noon and we were the only customers for a while before other people started dropping in spurts, some taking out their brown bags.  It was a busy office area so I imagined it should be fuller like other neighboring restaurants.   I'm guessing, it's their rather limited menu that doesn't attract a crowd who usually want choices galore.  I over-indulged with the carbo-loaded burrito but Boots kept her diabetes in check with the soft taco -- both yummy.

The next place on the food adventure is Wabi Sabi at the Collective.  I took so many pictures that i'm putting it in the next blog entry.  

Obsessively Kindle Crazy

As I see it I today, the ability to read awoke in me 

some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.  – Malcolm X

I don't usually salivate over gadgets.  I refuse to use iPads and iPhones or change my old, outdated, probably phased-out Nokia cellphone because I don't feel comfortable using the touch screen technology.  But one gadget got me giddy with g'delicious excitement because it brings back a past love hurtling into the present -- the love of reading.  

When my friend Ginger in Singapore whipped out the little gray matter from her bag, I was hooked.   I started googling about it, kept going to Amazon comparing models and plotting how I can get one.  I asked my stepdad if he had one he wasn't using but what he had was the first model which was too big and heavy.  I wanted one handy like Ginger's.  I ended up asking my generous aunt from New York who was only too happy to order one for me plus put in the fourteen books I craved for. 

When I was single, buying books was the regular reward but after getting married and having a son, I had to exercise greater fiscal responsibility so buying books for personal consumption became a rare treat.  Money was better spent buying books for Joshua.  However, with the Kindle, you save on cost, space, weight plus you have the luxury of a multitude of choices at your fingertips whenever the reading bug or waiting hassle hits you.  There are different genres to choose from depending on your mood - fiction, poetry, scientific, spiritual, business, psychology as you can fill it up with as wide a range of interests as you desire.  

Holding the Kindle in my palm takes me to the future of reading.  I never thought I'd feel this way about an electronic device because I always had a strong bias towards the physical book you can smell and touch, the well-designed cover you lust for, overflowing shelves and heavenly bookstores that satisfy a primal need, but the allure of Kindle is too much and it provides a surprisingly easier range of reading positions, plus I adore the e-ink.  It mimics the sensation of reading words on paper without the glare of a typical computer's back light which strains the eye.  Sales of kindle books have outstripped those of paperbacks and hardbounds in Amazon.  

I've been sinfully over-searching e-books in Amazon, abusing the kindness of my Dad since he lets me use his credit card to purchase online.  I keep emailing him this would be my last order but then the marketing arm of Amazon is just too clever at second-guessing my psyche, emailing me about bargains like a $1.99 book related to the one I had just finished reading on the Kindle.  I don't know if a human being or a machine is figuring out my reading preferences but it sure is mighty powerful.  I haven't even begun to discover the joys of free e-books because I haven't yet found those that I want but I've been diligently searching websites.   There's plenty of time for that although the whole love affair with books takes away hours from sleep -- just like the good old days. 

(The first photo is of my Kindle.  The others are courtesy of Book Riot.) 

http://www.facebook.com/BookRiot 

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/kindle-sales-outstrip-paperbacks-amazon-has-first-10bn-quarter.html 

The Lorax Seed

Dear Yel,

On the way home today while listening to the radio, I caught the tail end of an ad quoting the movie Lorax based on Dr. Seuss children’s book.  It struck me as something I wanted to share with you immediately, “The last seed?  It’s not what it is.  It’s about what it can become.”

I haven’t seen the movie nor read the book but that quote bowled me over as something we should both absorb, struggling as we are with important people in our lives who need our love but who are posing too much of a difficult challenge. Just replace “it” and paraphrase:  “It’s not about who he is now but about what he can become.” Then it transforms into a powerful, empowering weapon for us.  When despair strikes us, just wield it like a sword and change your point of view. 

It’s hard to love an “unlovable” person or a person who by our standards, completely disappoints.  But too many times in our lives, we too were unlovable and were crushing disappointments in the eyes of others but I think, never in the eyes of God.  So that’s what we have to put on more -- wear the glasses of God so we see things His way and not our way.  But it’s hard to wear these glasses.  Maybe it hurts our eyes because we’re not used to it but if we get into the habit, it becomes second nature. 

Another quote from a book leapt out today in connection with this train of thinking, “I would like to have seen the whole world with eyes incapable of anything but wonder, and with a tongue fluent only in praise,” from the novel, The Prince of Tides.  It’s easy to view the world with wonder when seen through the eyes of our children, Joshua and Anita, but as jaded, cynical, much-experienced adults who've witnessed too many things, it’s not that simple to switch reference points.  However, we thankfully always have reminder models in our Joshua and Anita. Wouldn't it be great if we could make that effortless swap and it becomes a consistent part of our character?

I’ve been trying this theory out with my present challenge and it’s been working quite well.  Hope it’s useful to you, too.

Love,

Te