Foodies

Was it Mrs. Gump, or was it Forrest, who said, “Life is like a box of chocolates”? In my case, it’s not a box of chocolates but an endless series of restaurants, cafés, bars, hangouts, food tastings and anything and everything that has to do with food.

As one of the feature writers of Sun.Star Cebu, the leading community newspaper in the Philippines, I’ve gone to a lot of restaurants here in Cebu, both in the city and its outskirts. I’ve tasted a lot of food, from cheap street cuisine to the more expensive items you would only find at specialty restaurants.

Before writing for Sun.Star’s lifestyle section, Live!, I had already been exposed to good food and fine dining by my grandfather and namesake, Dr. Lino Arquiza, Sr. When he was alive, it was very often for me, breakfast at the Manila Mandarin in Makati, lunch at Manila Midtown Ramada along Herran, and dinner at the Century Park Sheraton on Vito Cruz. Living in Malate, we were in close proximity to the best hotels and restaurants in the city. Lolo was sort of a gourmand, fond of good food, so we were always eating out. If we weren’t eating at hotels, we would be at Kimpura or Miyako for Japanese food, Gloria Maris for Chinese, and Josephine’s for Filipino dishes.

My Dad Vicmar is also a bit of a foodie. A steak lover, he would often take me to SGS Steakhouse in Greenhills after picking me up from class at La Salle Greenhills. He was responsible for getting me addicted to rare, bloody steaks, although he prefers his on the medium-well side. If not steak, then Dad and I, together with my Ninong Jose, would be chowing down on chicken mami and siopao at Ling Nam Noodle House, still in Greenhills, or camaron rebosado, lomi and fried rice at Luyong Restaurant in Pasig. Midnights at home would be spent eating all kinds of sandwiches, omelets, noodles, chips and whatnot, and drinking lots and lots of Coca-Cola while watching TV.

My Mom Glenda, on the other hand, would initiate wiener roasts at night in the front yard, with marshmallows to match. A great cook, her special adobo and tapa is always a sure winner at family gatherings, while her pasta with pesto would sometimes be ignored by our guests, though I’m sure she only cooks it because her children like it.

My Lola Ising cooks great bistik and pommes frites.. What’s so great about her French fries is that they’re actually more like shoestring potatoes, cut so finely that they end up being really crispy. There’s also her pan de sal slathered with Star margarine, sprinkled with a little sugar then heated on her frying pan. I don’t know what to call it, fried bread maybe, but heck, it tastes good!

Lola Bebe, Dad’s mother, was also a bit of a cook, always whipping something up in the kitchen. Her sukiyaki would definitely give any Japanese restaurant a run for the money, while her banana cake would have given any commercial baker stiff competition.

I’m very fond of eating, and my wife, Chacha, fortunately, shares the same passion. She insists that I cook better than she does, but I beg to differ. Her sinigang is definitely out of this world, and her spaghetti with meat sauce and nilagang baboy can rival anybody’s best. Chacha also has this knack of putting together leftovers and coming up with something wonderful to eat.

As for myself, I can do a mean pasta with grilled chicken and white sauce, somewhat resembling pasta Alfredo, except with grilled chicken, seafood pasta, which has whatever seafood’s on hand, lasagna, deli sandwiches, and a bunch of different things like steak, chicken fried steak, stuffed chicken, salpicao, veal chops, home fries, baked potato wedges and popcorn.

I realize that these things don’t make me an expert on food, but hey, This ain’t rocket science, people. Who the heck needs a degree, or a membership in a gastronomic society for that matter, to appreciate good food?