By Jullie Y. Daza Photos by JYD In a city where a restaurant is opened every day and the adventure is not merely culinary but also extremely social and sociable, how many “eating clubs” are you a member of? Indeed, it’s possible to be part of more than one, simply because—with so many restaurants to go around—there are just too many new places to see and dishes to taste, not to mention too many friendly clubs and groups of various persuasions to belong to. One of the, ehem, first and “original” eating clubs is unnamed, like most of those that proliferate in Metro Manila; nor does it have a documented or documentable history, like most of them. For as long as its members have the time, the energy, and the so-called special or no-occasion reason to meet, this eating club will continue to “do lunch” in whatever venue they can imagine—practical, impractical, new and aching to be discovered, or highly endorsed by word of mouth, pardon the pun. But even without a written history, this club that began at the dawn of time sometime in the ‘70s is unique because it gathers professionals who are friends and rivals in the same trade. The members include or included rivals in the hotel industry (remember Hilton, Intercon, Mandarin?), in the airline business (PAL, Cathay Pacific), in the travel trade, in journalism. It was strange but, given our charming natures as a hospitable people, not so strange to see competitors breaking bread at the same table without stabbing one another in the back with a steak knife or a dessert fork. This eating club, you see, is a meeting club first and foremost—we meet to catch up, exchange rumors and deny false news, and to see how graciously everyone else is aging (glamorously, how else?). As eating clubs go, there are no rules, no schedules about when and where to meet, though birthdays, Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving may be a more common excuse than a member winning a highly coveted position or promotion. In the olden golden days, it was easier to gather everyone because we were younger and traffic was not a dampener! Times have changed, the tides have risen slightly due to global warming, we are no longer able to drop the names of Chona Kasten, Mary Prieto, Pete Borja, Nomer Pabilona, Chiqui Recio, Zeny Silva, Baby Raymundo, who are this minute enjoying their heavenly meals as we speak. The eating club’s most recent exercise was held at the Red Lantern of Solaire when Rose Libongco, who can still afford to count her birthdays, hosted a lunch even if it was not her birthday. Many of her guests turned up in red—inspired by the name of the restaurant?—but not Rose, who looked fetching in black. Two guys turned up, Edu Jarque and Freddy Alquiros, faithful as ever to their calling as the club’s knights in shining armor. Toni Gregory Palenzuela of Bridges, a marketing and public relations agency, collected thanks and kudos for her patience in tracking down everyone to keep the faith, meet up, and “eat ‘til you burp.”