You have to say the title of this food feature with a pronounced Italian accent — otherwise, it just doesn’t work. For this is what kept playing on repeat in my mind, as I was dining with my three sons at the friendly neighborhood trattoria, La Carinderia, at the Greenbelt Hamilton in Legazpi Village, Makati. And yes, this is the same La Carinderia of Chef Stefano Tomasiello and his wife, Priscilla, that has been a dining mainstay for visitors to Siargao for a decade now.

Chef Stefano likes to mention that La Carinderia is both Italian and Filipino. He’s not a purist when it comes to cuisines, and he’s happy to use Filipino ingredients in his typically Italian menu. The theme behind the eatery is to be informal, strong on taste and quality, and to stick to the basics whenever possible. Given the limited space of La Carinderia, that becomes an asset of the eatery — not that many choices, but the assurance that whatever you order will bring a smile to your face and leave you with a “happy tummy.”

This limited menu may be a drawback for first-time visitors, or for those expecting more of a selection. But that is the mission-vision of Chef Stefano: good traditional cooking, handmade pasta, and utilizing quality local produce when feasible. The La Carinderia Spaghetti alla Carbonara is the best example of this kitchen philosophy. The salty morsels of guanciale are a highlight of this most popular of dishes, and two of my boys insisted on ordering this as their main course, having heard so much about it — and begging for extra guanciale.

For starters, we had the Vitello Tonnato, a Piedmontese dish consisting of thinly sliced round beef with capers, a tuna, anchovies and boiled egg dip, and served with sourdough bread. For my boys and me, it was the capers and the dip that did the trick here, elevating the dish to a starter I’d gladly come back for. It was wiped out in a matter of minuti.

The Polpette alla Letizia is presumably named after Stefano’s aunt — meatballs blended with herbs, raisins, Grana Padano, Scamorza cheese, all simmered in a rich tomato sauce. Hearty, and with a thick consistency to the sauce, this is one filling appetizer.

Tagliatelle Porcini Kind of Blue was a special that day, and I loved the way the mushroom sauce and blue cheese adhered to the pasta. The porcini bits were sliced generously, and the Negros blue cheese did not overpower but complemented the porcini wonderfully.

Spaghetti ai Gamberi is the seafood pasta of La Carinderia. It’s shrimp pieces served with long egg pasta that’s wading in its own bisque. Very Mediterranean in taste, there’s sweet basil, cherry tomato, parsley, white wine and garlic sauce. It reminded me of marinara or pomarola sauce — marinara if you’re used to American-Italian.

There’s a Siargao Tiramisu that everyone swears by, but we opted to share the Negros Ricotta Cheesecake. Subtle, with an almond crust and lemon zest, this is not your typical sweet profile, but something more neutral.

As you can see, the menu liked to highlight how the cheeses came from Negros and are not imported from Italy. Stefano and Priscilla weren’t around, and the staff had no idea I was going to write about our lunch. I actually prefer doing my restaurant reviews this way, and it not always be an invitation to some opening. For this is how the regular clientele will be treated, and that’s good to experience firsthand. I would have liked the gaps between the starters and the pastas to have been shorter, but that’s a minor complaint. The staff were attentive and eager to please, so I appreciated that.

With reasonable price points and deep pasta portions, the dishes at La Carinderia give value for the buck. Just don’t expect fancy or elevated Italian cuisine; this is comfort food, Italian-style — and it works within that definition.