Dolce Vita – Ermita

I spotted the restaurant a couple of days earlier in the middle of Manila street life – during the day, I need to say – with its inviting red lips logo on the façade of the building, representing the Sweet Life of the Philippines. You guess it right; the Italian restaurant is called Dolce Vita, after the classic movie of Fellini and last Saturday night we decided to check it out.

Once inside you leave Manila wild life and suddenly you are in the tranquil surrounding of an Italian restaurant with an awesome interior. The enormous Venetian masks on the walls are magnificent and the dark wooden statues give the ambient light a great atmosphere. The Dolce Vita is already a pleasure to sit and look around.

The menu has plenty to choose from, but not before you read at the opening page the credentials of master chef Tiziano Cavalinni. What a great name! And even better, the chef himself was wandering around the tables and the bar at several occasions, in his kitchen wear, only the big spoon was missing.

Tiziano, at age with a grey ponytail and a worn face of decades in the kitchen, cooked in his heydays for Queen Elisabeth and Luciano Pavarotti, and we all know the latter did like a second dish. The chef even learned his art in a 4 star rated Michelin restaurant! Oops, how many stars? Double M googled it to be for sure and indeed, Michelin ratings are not higher than 3 stars. Suspicious… or just a printing error? We were now warned and ordered in silence.

I do not eat half a day before dining out – in contrast with Double M - who tucked away a chicken leg just before entering the restaurant. So I had some classic Italian starters: a minestrone soup and an Insalata de Cesari. The soup was very rich in vegetables and came in a large portion, enough to end up with two cups and share. The Cesar salad was crispy although a bit too much swimming in the dressing, which I personally do not like.

The mains were coming and demanded quit some space at the table since they were served at big wooden boards. MM choose a chef’s specialty; the Fiorentina, a Florence porterhouse beef marinated and grilled in virgin olive oil. I took the Coteletta alla Marcello, a fried breaded beef tenderloin with a Parma ham topping, truffle cream and parmesan cheese. I can only judge my beef, honestly, I was not convinced. I like the pure ingredients and prefer moderation with sauces and cheese. I once read a book about the fast food industry where CEO’s were talking ablout succes snacks; in case of doubt, top it with molten cheese and bacon… and this was a bit the effect with the breaded beef; I only tasted the topping…

It was pretty mighty – so no complains about the size of the portions. I am not sure how Double M experienced his chef’s specialty, but it seems to be okay since he completed it literally to the bone… The choice for a dessert was limited, only the Tiramisu cake was available from four options. I expected this Italian biscuit cake drowned in coffee and liquor as heavy as the meat dishes and so we shared this as well. A good choice and indeed, no need for coffee, it was soaked in well.

Wrapping up – Dolce Vita is a great place to sit and escape the hassle of Manila for some hours. I don’t want to be too tough and will be back and stick to the homemade pasta or pizza and check out again if we will give out an additional Michelin star or not. Master Tiziano will have his second chance to prove the real Sweet Life of manila…

Cafe by the Ruins

Who would drive at least four hours through the tricycle filled roads of the Philippine province followed by a dark and dangerous climb over steep and unlit mountain roads with speeding trucks while having a flat tire? And that only to consume a world famous cup of coffee only served at a place called By the Ruins???

We did, double M and me. Cause this was not just a cup of coffee, this was the extremely rare civet cat coffee... What coffee??? Okay, its a kind of weird story and don't ever ask me how they invented this coffee, but the civet cat eats coffee berries, digested by the cat after which the beans are harvested from its... poop. This is then produced the same way as other - normal - coffee beans and brewed to a cup of fresh coffee. In New York they can charge you up to $100,- for a cup of coffee, but since the Palm Civet lives in the Philippines, it did not cost more then a regular Starbucks Frapuccino...

By the ruins is located in the mountainous city of Baguio, in the north of Luzon. The Ruins are a bit hidden behind a busy street nearby the central park of the city, but once inside (and waiting to be seated as even at lunch time this spot remains utterly popular) you enter a surprisingly moody garden like place. On the menu we read the following phrase:

"The ruins we lay claim to are the remains of a garden theater which was later converted into the gracious home of Phelps Whitmarsh, the first civil governor of Benguet. The house was built early in the last century and destroyed in World War II.The governor maintained a famous garden where Mrs. Whitmarsh, an Ibaloi, propagated flowering plants and introduced strawberries and vegetable seeds." 

We also had a great lunch (in the next blog) but coming back on the coffee. I finished the whole cup while Double M did only sip a couple of times, showed me his connoisseur look, then pushed the whole cup into my direction while murmuring something about 'distinguish taste' and 'interesting' after which he continued his cream cappuccino...

Another shot of the By the Ruins interior, obviously prior to my photography courses. I promise better overviews next trip...

Preview on a Dubai thriller

Already a couple of weeks we - Tet Paxon - are active on this blog in writing about food, entertainment, traveling and all you can consume. Although its too early (and too complex) to explain the full concept of Romantica Incognita, a part of the truth is that this site is being created as a warming up for writing a novel, more precise, a thriller.

This idea is already dating back as early as half December 2009, and since then not a lot has been done to materialize the book. In fact, nothing has been done besides a couple of meetings, one in Dubai and one in Philippines, to explore the plot and a handful of pages with notes. That now has to change, and today I stood suddenly once again face to face with the object that triggered the thriller initiative late last year...

This morning I was downstairs at The Walk, to buy a newspaper and a coffee, when my attention was grabbed again by this awesome and thrilling car which can be spotted sometimes at the streets of Dubai. It was not just excitement, but also a deeper mysterious thought about who is inside the car. This intrigued me from the first moment, as the windows are tanned darker than any other car in town. You are simply not able to see through it.

The other fact is that it is not a regular limousine, but a weird one, as the model is a Hummer, very odd, would this car be able to drive off road? What kind of special features would be inside it? Was it just one person, a whole family or... was it something else that was hidden in this extraordinary vehicle?

And so a story was growing around the Hummer limo, and later the limo became part of a wider plot, which is taking place in modern day Dubai. Now we can't say a lot yet, as the story is about to be written in the remaining part of the year, but on this blog the early birds who can find it, will be able to learn more about the coming book and find some of the backgrounds of the story.

Now, to make it all a bit more interesting, we will hand-out to the the first five person who put a supportive comment on this blog - or any blog regarding the novel -  a signed copy of this thriller which title is not yet known. The release date is scheduled somewhere in the year 2011.

The next five signed copies, with a personal message, will be sent to those who will be the most active contributor at this blog (and our facebook and twitter account) to help this project moving forward. Yes, we will be definitely more productive when support is kicking in!

Finally, there will be another 15 signed copies to be sent to our supporters for reasons yet unknown, and to be announced during the coming year, but the fact remains, 25/25 signed copies will be handed out ultimately.

With the publication in a few minutes of this first blog regarding the 'yet-to-be-written-thriller' we are happy to have started the project publicly, and besides a natural motivator, we hope that the public pressure following on the blogs comments (!) will push us at the keyboard as a daily routine.

With regards,

Tet Paxon