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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider More than morsel

More than morsel

Published Aug 18, 2023 04:31 pm

MEDIUM RARE

Jullie Y. Daza

Now that practically everyone in my circle — it’s a small world, as they say — has heard about Chef Rafael (Tibong) Jardeleza Jr. and his month-long festival (until Aug. 31) of Western Visayas cuisine, I am convinced more and more that Filipino food escapes definition. One would need more than one book to write the introduction! 


And I will not even try to describe what Café Ilang-Ilang’s buffet consists of, divided as it is into three cycles, noon and night, to entice patrons and give them a taste of the contributions of Iloilo, Aklan, Guimaras, Antique, Roxas City. If what I saw last week was any indication, the people who lunch at smorgasbords are particularly attracted to a certain type (French? Cantonese? spicy Thai?) or they’re there simply for the fun of it. For a change, I guess, from adobo and sinigang, from home cooking to culinary finesse by a cook wearing a toque and apron.


Our eating group was called to assemble by our captain of the table, Benjie, who was “curious” about Visayan dishes. (His taste is five-star metropolitan. You may name Hong Kong as a favorite destination.) So there we were, Olive and Niwa, Putch and Joy, Evelyn, Vanesa, Peter, Fermin, Mio, Michele, Rachy, and where were Manny, Marivic, Opat, Renee? Off somewhere lunching on another country’s treats and eats? (Farther down Roxas Blvd., at the Mall of Asia and until Aug. 15, Conrad Hotel was serving Italian food for Filipino diners. Have you, dear foodie, ever wondered why there are more Italian restaurants than Spanish in the Metro?)
Back to Chef Jardeleza, who was busy welcoming diners to Ilang-Ilang like the celebrity chef that he is and explaining to some of them the peculiarities of Visayan dishes. Did he catch the bewildered look on my face as I paused at every station trying to decide my choices? Before I knew it, Chef was at our table with a tray of his picks of the day for me, including lumpia togue and prawn ukoy.


The coffee shop was busy with the hum of 600 diners, going by Benjie’s estimate as he  expressed more than a morsel of hope: Let’s not waste food just because it’s a buffet without restrictions.  

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