The evening is surreal, starting with the directions,
"Let's go to Malacanang." I don't get to say this often, that I'm going to the presidential palace, but that is indeed the only way to get to our destination. Within the grounds and after two checkpoints, we locate San Rafael Street, the street that was once occupied by Manila's old rich, the Prietos, Valdezes and the Legardas. Tonight we dine at the house of Dr. Alejandro Roces Legarda and his wife Ramona (Tita Moning). Now both deceased, their granddaughter Suzette Montinola worked 8 months after her grandmother's death in 1999 to preserve the legacy of food and entertainment of her beloved family. Her family worked on sprucing up the house, with aunts coming home from the US and Australia to help clean up, her brother designing and printing brochures and calling cards, and Suzette herself using her hotel experience and education for the business in order to retain the staff of cooks, helpers and drivers. From selling pre-booked Christmas goodies from the kitchen, they have now successfully converted the ancestral art deco home to a restaurant, combining fine dining with the experience of history, art and culture.
We begin the night with cocktails- iced lemongrass tea with queso de bola fingers, a pastry topped with the in-house famous queso de bola. I take one, and another, because our server, dressed in blue uniform with white lace pipings, go around the patio, serving the pastries on a silver tray, offering until you say no.
We stand at the footsteps of the home, with a grand chandelier at the background and family photographs lining up the walls. Here Edel, like a museum docent, explains the history of the street, the house, the family. We enter the house starting at the library, then off to the clinic, the camera room and the train room all located at the ground floor. I catch a drift every time I enter a room; I don't know if it's just me or our own ghost stories exchanged at the patio, or the walls that line up photograph after photograph, invoking memories of the past. After all, we were walking inside another person's home and it is teeming with family and old Manila history. My favorite area is their living room at the second floor, lined with two sets of couches, family photographs a crystal collection and paintings on the wall. We see a Zalameda at the foyer, a Hidalgo and Luna in the living room, plus numerous photographs taken and developed by the late doctor.
The house itself reminds us of our own ancestral houses, the kind that is made is of wood, with tall windows (bintana), and walls of long wooden planks. The floors are of wood that are not laminated, but by the daily grind of the housekeeper, waxed by bunot (dried coconut husk) at the crack of dawn, it gleams and glows.
That is all the similarity, because the house constantly reminds you that the family who lived here is of the old rich, with Murano Bird crystals adorning the dining table, blue Meissen plates lined with gold that the servants were not allowed to wash, the fine China, glassware and silverware dining pieces from an inheritance and collection of the family, and a bell on your table to call on the servers for any of your needs. I said it was surreal, right?
That is not just what makes the dining experience memorable. The food, served course by course, by at least 3 servers who go around for a second or third serving each time a dish is served; silver trays on their arms while you get a helping of their potato and leek soup, gambas and kangkong salad with walnut vinegrette, paella valenciana, lengua cooked in white wine sauce, mixed fruits and cheese collection, bread pudding, tarragon tea or barako coffee. Instead of leaving it on the table, they go to one person at a time, making one feel indulgent. It actually enhances the appreciation of the food, not because of the servants, but because it is slow food, meant to be savored with each bite, with one flavor right after another, and a mixed texture that melts in the mouth. By the time my red wine is finished and the famous bread pudding is served, I take this soft, moist rich pudding with tarragon tea and I am in ecstasy, quietly relishing this remarkable experience.
La Cocina de Tita Moning
315 San Rafael St. San Miguel, Manila
Philippines
632- 734-2146/734-2141.
Merry Christmas to all!
