A Memorable Dinner at Cafe 1771

After months of planning and waiting for just the right time to officially kick off The Burp Society, we finally did it at Cafe 1771, a very posh cafe in El Pueblo. It was one night of almost unadulterated fun with our newfound foodie friends over scrumptious food at a gorgeously designed restaurant.

Photos taken from their Facebook page.

It was meant to be. The Chateau Group invited us and The Burp Society (TBS) over for dinner and drinks at WineBar 1771 to introduce us to what they have to offer. With my growing love for wine, I was excited, plus the fact that it’s going to be TBS’ very first meet-up. However, since the date we chose was very close to the holidays, only the private room in Cafe 1771’s The Lounge was available. Still, our anticipation never wavered. Besides, we’ve heard only raves about the restaurant from fellow food bloggers.

Cafe 1771 is a member of the Chateau 1771 Group of Restaurants that includes Chateau 1771 in Greenbelt 5, Sentro 1771 in Greenbelt 3 and Serendra, and Sidebar in El Pueblo. I’ve heard about their restaurant concepts before, but it was my first time to finally dine in one of them. It was a wonderful introduction and I can’t wait to go back.

We had a huge spread of deliciously unique food from Cafe 1771 that night, so I’ll be writing about the meet-up in a separate post. But, more details would be on The Burp Society’s site.

Cafe 1771 is located in El Pueblo along ADB Avenue in Ortigas. It’s easy to find them because of the Colonial-themed facade that’s painted white, with tints of black on their windows.

At night, the restaurant looks like a newly-constructed Colonial house, with almost an eery feel that I was tempted to use vignette effects on the photos I took. 😀

As soon as you enter, you’ll immediately feel welcomed by everyone at Cafe 1771. The interiors made me wish I can take photos with my eyes. Everywhere you look, you’ll find something strikingly vibrant and beautiful. Boy, we were all camera-crazy that night! Even the restrooms were eloquently designed. No, I didn’t take a photo inside, but it was only because I left my phone and camera at the table. 😀

Cafe 1771 The Whimsy and The Lounge

The restaurant is divided into two areas – The Whimsy and The Lounge – each offering a dining experience unique from the other. WineBar 1771 is located on the third floor.

For diners who are looking for a more casual breakfast, lunch or dinner, there’s The Whimsy. It’s the area that you see first as soon as you enter Cafe 1771.

It’s brightly lit and as you look around, you’ll agree that the name was fancifully appropriate. Shades of pink and blue are on chairs and the walls, playfully setting the mood to a fun meal.

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2012 Holiday Buffet and Specials from Metro Manila Restaurants

We were supposed to post this a week ago, but we had to attend to many important things, including the first meet-up of The Burp Society (Yes! We finally did it!). Anyway, you still have three (3) days to call for reservations or order to-go specials from these Metro Manila restaurants for your Noche Buena or Media Noche.

Bizu Patisserie has a Savoury Holiday Traditions and Land of Sweets spread that you can order to-go â€“ Le Picnique Party Tray â€“ for your Noche Buena. See our post about Bizuâ€™s holiday offerings.

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Bizu Patisserie Delighftul Holiday Gift Sets

It’s that time of the year again when people are specially sweet and giving towards others. For many, finding the perfect holiday gift may be an issue. But, with Bizu Patisserie holiday gift sets, you can’t go wrong. 🙂

Bizu Patisserie is a French-inspired pastry shop where one can indulge in exquisite breads, pastries and even savory treats. We’ve written about them before when they celebrated their tenth year, and have visited them a couple of times after and we can attest to how they live up to their motto, “A taste of Joie de Vivre” (joy of living).

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Cucina Andare : First Food Truck Market in the Philippines!

From all my watching of American TV shows about food (Top Chef, No Reservations, Master Chef, etc), I learned the big part food trucks play in the food culture of Americans. It was something Ken and I believed would definitely suit us here in the Philippines considering we already love street food, food carts, and Jolly Jeeps 😉 . So, when we heard about Cucina Andare, the first food truck market in the Philippines, we got all excited!

Cucina Andare will finally be open tomorrow, December 14, 2012, and it’s located at the Glorietta Open Park (front of Glorietta 3, Landmark, Makati Shangri-La Hotel and 6750 Ayala Ave). It’ll be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 4pm to 3am, which is just perfect for my erratic schedule. I can’t wait to go during our 1-week holiday vacation! 🙂

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Homemade Beef Kare Kare Recipe (PLUS Seafood Version)

If there’s one dish our nanay prepares that I would want to eat for my last meal, it would definitely be her delicious Beef Kare-kare. Looking back to my childhood days, I realize that my fondness for this dish can be traced back to the days when our nanay would prepare kare-kare as one of her sweet ways in rewarding us for doing well, may it be in school or just for simply behaving at home.

Since I started working almost a decade ago, we’ve had kare-kare more often because whenever I’m craving for it, all we need to do is provide for the ingredients and our nanay will lovingly cook it for us. She’s even made her own seafood kare-kare (after our lunch at Emohruo in Pagudpud) which I also love (see the seafood option below this article).

This is actually one reason I don’t order kare-kare at restaurants because I have high standards when it comes to the flavors of this dish. It’s certainly one of the many things I missed when I lived for a year in Cebu that I begged her for the recipe and had to have someone cook it for me exactly the way nanay instructed. It was close to how she prepares it, but nothing beats the original ’cause it’s made with pure love. 🙂

Many can attest to the tastiness of our nanay’s kare-kare. And after the long delay of sharing the recipe, we finally had the time to prepare the dish for this blog. We hope you enjoy it and please let us know how it went when you tried it. If you tweaked a couple of things, we’d love to hear about that too. 🙂

Creamy Beef Kare-kare Recipe

Kare-kare is a Philippine beef stew, usually made with oxtail or tripe, vegetables and ground peanuts. But, this recipe was made with regular beef cuts.

SERVINGS:

Good for 8-10 people, but itâ€™ll really depend on their appetites. The 4 of us can finish this off for lunch and dinner. 😀

Continue reading Homemade Beef Kare Kare Recipe (PLUS Seafood Version)

FREE Gelato at Gelatissimo : Join Club Gelato!

To celebrate Gelatissimo Philippines‘ fourth anniversary / birthday, they are offering ALL Club Gelato members FREE gelato on November 18, 2012, from 11am to 6pm. We’ve featured Gelatissimo here before – our first gelato experience. Now, they’re our favorite gelato go-to place, so we’re sure you’re going to enjoy their gelato too. 🙂

How can you get FREE gelato?

All you have to do is join Gelatissimo’s Club GelatoÂ (click to be directed to the site)Â and you should receive a voucher through email. Print that voucher and present it on November 18th at any of the Gelatissimo branches listed below, from 11am to 6pm, and get ONE FREE SINGLE CUP or CONE gelato.

Only one (1) voucher per person and this can’t be used with any other offers / promos. Also, make sure you bring an ID ’cause they might ask for it to verify your membership, probably. I’m pretty sure tons of people will troop to Gelatissimo for this, so just to be safe, prepare an ID. 🙂

Read our review of Gelatissimo in Trinoma.

Gelatissimo Branches:

Ayala Centre CebuÂ – Stall G-100, Garden Level â€˜The Terracesâ€™, Ayala Centre Cebu, Cebu Business Park, Archbishop Reyes Avenue, Cebu City 6000
Greenbelt 5Â – Space 2-045 Second Floor, Greenbelt 5 Ayala Center Makati, Metro Manilla 1200
Serendra PiazzaÂ – Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig 1630
SM City CebuÂ – Ctr 106, Upper Ground Level, SM City Cebu, North Reclamation Area, Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City 6000
SM NorthwingÂ – Upperground Level, SM City North Wing North Reclamation Area Cebu 6000 +63 922 8834 605
TriNomaÂ – Level 4, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, cnr North Avenue Quezon City 1100 +63 2 915 9777

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Philippine Restaurant Week 2012 and Wine Depot Sale

All you foodies who have a special fondness for wine pairings or simply good food, over 100 of the best restaurants and hotels across the country are participating in Wine Depotâ€™s Philippine Wine and Food Week, dubbed Restaurant Week 2012.

This is the fifth consecutive year of this special foodie event where the finest restaurants offer special menus and vino from Wine Depot for less than Php 1,000. You have until October 14, 2012, thatâ€™s Sunday, to wine and dine at our very own Restaurant Week.

Here are just some of the restaurants that are participating:

Thereâ€™s Marioâ€™s restaurant, The Cake Club (weâ€™ll be posting about them next), and even restaurants in Cebu, Bohol, Cagayan de Oro, Boracay and Baguio. If youâ€™d like check out the restaurantsâ€™ menus before you head over, click here.

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Quench Your Thirst with J.CO Beverages + New Donuts to Love!

We gushed and told you how much we love J.CO donuts. It’s not just about how yummy their donuts are, but it’s more on the creativity behind each flavor they offer. So, it was not surprising that they’re maintaining this level of uniqueness with their beverage concoctions. J.CO Donuts and Coffee is here to prove that, truly, they’re not your usual donut place. 🙂

Excited to try their beverages and the other donut flavors I haven’t tasted yet, my nanay and I trooped to their nearest branch – Trinoma. There was a long line of people inside, which, quite frankly, discouraged me. There were about 15 people in front of me and it took about 45 minutes to an hour before I finally got my turn. Everyone was ordering like 2-3 dozens each! 😀

Sadly, many of the donut flavors and the beverages I wanted initially were no longer available when I got to the counter. So, I opted to order their Iced Thai Tea. Good thing I was able to convince my nanay to try the Cafe Avocado. I wanted the Cappuccino Avocado, but for some reason, it wasn’t available.

Anyway, if you think that the combination of avocado, coffee and chocolate is plain weird, you’d be surprised. It was delightful! Made me wish they were still serving Cappuccino Avocado when we were there ’cause I’m sure it’ll have a more intense kick of avocado. We’ll come back next time for that, probably on a weekday when there’s a shorter queue.

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Boosting Your Brain Power with Food

I remember back in my senior year in high school, a few months before I was scheduled to take the UPCAT (entrance exam), I noticed my mother buying bananas and vegetables more often, feeding me peanuts and forcing me to eat tuna (I wasn’t into fish when I was younger). She told me all about their benefits to my brain and they should help me while I review and study for the UPCAT (not that I needed help, really 😀 ).

I’m no expert nor did we consult any nutrionist or scientist to back up her claims, but throughout the years, I learned she was right. There are many foods out there that have been proven to boost brain power, but their effects are not immediate. So, if you’re looking to improve your mental health, you might want to change your diet now to include some of the best brain food items out there.

There’s broccoli. They’re supposed to be something kids hate, but we actually loved it even when we were younger. Every time we’re in Baguio, expect us to come back to Manila with kilos of broccoli to enjoy at home.

Berries (blueberries, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, etc) are known to have high levels of flavonoids which can help with dealing with stress too.

Nuts are good sources of Vitamin E that help slow down cognitive decline. I know peanuts help promote good memory. Same with egg yolks. 🙂

Even with all these healthy and nutritious food, you have to remember that though they can help you, if you don’t get enough sleep or rest, don’t expect that much improvement. Your brain needs rest from working, with all the processing, analyzing, deducting and even daydreaming it does. Take it from me. I used to be very good at memorizing things, especially numbers. But, after years of suffering from insomnia and not sleeping enough, I’ve noticed how forgetful I’ve been. With my recent lifestyle change, I’m gradually seeing positive changes, especially now that I’m eating healthier at home, including these brain foods I listed above.

What’s your favorite brain food? Let me know at the comments section. 🙂

Oh, I passed the UPCAT with flying colors, by the way. 😉

A Sweet Start to My Day, Thanks to Splenda

I work full time at night and one of the many things I enjoy is a cup (or two) of coffee to perk me up so I can fulfill all my tasks more efficiently. Since I work online and I’m in front of the computer for 7-8 hours straight, even with my current routine of exercising 30-45 minutes per day before my shift, I know I have to control my calorie and carbohydrate intake because I don’t get to move as often as other people who work in an actual office and commute on a daily basis.

I used to like my coffee black and bitter, but lately, I see myself adding at least a tablespoon of sugar to a regular cup of coffee, and about 2-3 teaspoons when I opt for the 3-in-1 blends. If you add that up in a week, that’s a lot of sugar, which is not good for my low calorie, less carbohydrate diet (I’m trying to eat healthier at home).

Thankfully, there’s Splenda No Calorie Sweetener. The content of each packet of Splenda is equivalent to 2 teaspoons of sugar, but it has none of the calories. On the box, there’s a conversion chart that should guide you. Yes, you read that right. The good thing about using Splenda is it sweetens my coffee without the calories and carbohydrates I usually get from sugar, making me enjoy my cup of coffee, even twice a day, with less guilt. 😉

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