Thursday, July 05, 2018

Locavore's scrumptious farm-to-table dishes now at S Maison at the Conrad

Locavore in Kapitolyo Pasig is one of the lovely restaurants that popped up a stone's throw away from my home. It's hard to get a seat there because it's always packed with diners looking for familiar, home-cooked Filipino meals but presented in gourmet style. Kasi pwede naman pala. People always say that Pinoy food is not as popular as French cuisine or Japanese food because it's grub, it's comfort food, it's not pretty to look at. But Locavore shows us that pwedeng maging haute ang Pinoy food. Just look at the photos here!

Halabos na Suahe with Kelly Sauce
Soft-shell Crab Negra with Alavar Sauce

Chef Mikel Zaguirre of Locavore believes that Filipino cuisine can be modern, playful, and inspired while staying faithful to the flavors we grew up with. He even brought it to another level by creating a menu that highlights local and sustainable ingredients. This concept has proven to be so popular that Locavore now has branches in BGC and Makati so that office workers can also enjoy the flavors of home in their corporate neighborhood. 

Now, Locavore targets a new market—big families, balikbayans, expats—in their new restaurant at S Maison at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay. It's bigger and swankier than its first three branches but it offers the same great food experience in an ambience that is especially suited for family gatherings on special occasions or a leisurely weekend meal.

Pinipig Cereal Sugpo
Sugpo con Mayonesa

At the S Maison branch, diners will find that there are exciting new additions to the menu that are exclusively offered seaside location: The Pinipig-Cereal Sugpo (Jumbo black tiger prawns, salted egg floss, wansoy, smashed saba, radish pancit), Halabos na Suahe with Kelly sauce (steamed live suahe, awesome Kelly sauce, radish pancit), and the Soft-shell Crab Negra with Alavar Sauce (soft-shell crab tempura, squid ink batter, alavar sauce, chimichurri sauce, labuyo aioli, edamame, smashed saba, radish pancit). 

Like everything that Locavore serves, these new items are made with sustainable, locally-sourced components. Chef Mikel says, “With these dishes, we are keeping the identity of Locavore where we are offering something different and yet familiar. These may be inspired by food from other countries, like in the case of the Pinipig Cereal Sugpo, which is derived from the Cereal Prawn, but here we use Itlog na Maalat.”

Boneless Lechon Belly
Sisig-Fried Oyster

By the way, "locavore" is what you call a person who eats mostly or only locally grown or produced food. Farm-to-table talaga. So if you eat at Locavore, you can't expect to find Angus steak or Wagyu beef or Irish potatoes. Every ingredient in Locavore is grown and made in good ol' Pilipinas. I love that! 

I love our global community, okay, but it's also wonderful to support our local food industries. Our farmers in rural communities financially benefit, safer farming practices are encouraged, and the food industry as a whole gains access to fresher and better quality ingredients. Ultimately, we are served healthier and more delicious food while helping our fellow Pinoys. 

Sizzling Sinigang
Street Food Platter

Visit the new Locavore branch at the ground floor of the S Maison at the Conrad, and enjoy a different experience with the brand that has brought a love for local food to a whole new level. For more information, visit http://www.locavore.ph/

The biggest and most beautiful Locavore branch is at S Maison at the Conrad. Must visit and eat here soon!


*Photos courtesy of Locavore.

Tuesday, July 03, 2018

What Netflix's The Crown taught me about spending more time with my kids

I finally finished watching "The Crown" on Netflix. Yeah, it took me a while, being a working mama and homemaker and this—May and June—being the busiest season for me as blogger and mother because of Mother's Day and all the back-to-school activities.

Anyway, after watching the show and seeing Queen Elizabeth II struggle with juggling work, marriage and motherhood (oh wow, the Queen is just like us!), I looked her up as a mother and found this poignant article, "Mistakes, regret and how the Queen learnt being a mother is the job that matters most." It reminded me (as I hope it will remind all of you, too) that we need to be there for our kids, physically, yes, but emotionally most of all.

I say this to myself because I devote more time to the laundry, the bento baon, you know, more time making sure my boys have a good life than actually spending ALL of that life with them. My excuse, of course, is that I don't have a kasambahay. Who's going to cook and clean and get their clothes ready if I'm playing with them or reading a book to them? It's easy to say, "Spend time with your kids," if there are other people around to do the chores and earn a living. Sometimes I think it's a privileged statement. Only mothers who have household help and family who are there to help out can say they can spend copious amounts of time with their kids. That's what my resentful heart says, but I quickly drown out the resentment because I know that statement is meant well.


There's the story in the article that goes, "A very young Charles asked [the Queen], please, to come and play — only to have the door gently closed in his face and his mother tell him, 'If only I could.'" That's happened to me many times. "Mama, read me a bedtime story!" "I can't, sweetheart. I have to clear the dinner table." "Mama, play with us!" "I can't, baby love. I have to write an article." "Mama, draw with me!" "I can't, bunny wabbit. I have to do the laundry."

It's not always no. But the activities I choose to spend time with them are the important stuff—doing homework, eating every meal together, answering life questions, putting them to bed until they're all asleep every night. But if it's fun stuff, I pass. Yes, I know fun is important, too, but I have to do other things. And if anyone dare tell me to quit work and stop doing the chores to spend more time with my kids, well, I would happily do so if they'd take over those jobs!

In the case of Queen Elizabeth, she turned over the mothering almost entirely to her staff resulting to Charles saying his childhood was unhappy and lonely. Of course, she had a country to run so her situation is a lot different from most mothers. Still, how hard is it to cuddle your kids after a long day of governance? How hard is it to hug them and say you love them even for a minute between seeing your subjects? In "The Crown," there are scenes of Elizabeth being polite with her children. Not gushing, embracing, kissing, laughing. Just hello-how-do-you-do. She wasn't cold or cruel. Just distracted, I guess.


Well, it must be hard for some people to be openly emotional. My own mother was also too busy with work and household chores to be more involved with raising us. In fact, the first time Mama said she loved me was when I was 15 years old and only because I told her first. One afternoon, I said, "I love you, Mama." Mama looked shocked then walked out of the room without a word. I shrugged, not surprised at her reaction at all. Three months later, she looked at me and said out of the blue, "I love you, too."

Three months. It took her three whole months to work up the courage to tell me she loved me back. Imagine that! I'm glad that happened because after that, she was more generous with her "I love you's" like she just needed that one catalyst afternoon of me being so verbal about my feelings to open her own floodgates of emotion. I don't resent her for this. She spent her life so focused on providing for us, it had made her emotionally distant. It's a good thing I was never scared to lay bare my emotions, right? Imagine if I waited for her to say she loved me???

In that sense, I don't feel guilty about working. On one hand, yes, I'm sure my kids would love me to play with them more often. On the other hand, they're never confused about my feelings for them and the reasons I can't play with them because I'm always talking to them about work, duties, time. Plus, I actually am with them all of the time so there's nothing to complain about! 

But, yes, I think about this a lot. When I'm enjoying the smell of my freshly washed laundry and imagining how my boys would smell so nice in them, when I'm packing their baon full of food they love, I'm just really happy and proud of myself. Happy that all the things my sons enjoy, I made it possible. My hands cooked their food. My hands prepared their baon. My hands washed their clothes. My hands changed their bedsheets. My hard work bought them everything. I fetch them from school. I help them do their homework. I personally made everything they eat, watch, use, love and enjoy possible. No one else. No yaya, no maid, no driver, no relative. Me. Just me. And their Papa, of course, but since he's at work a lot unlike before when he was a stay-at-home dad, it's mostly me these days. (I miss you, Vince!)

I do wonder if I'd be a more relaxed mother, a more fun one, if a kasambahay did all the chores. But I don't feel guilty at all. I may be a busy mommy but I always always always tell my kids I love them and I smother them with hugs and cover them with kisses in between chores, just before bed, at the start of every day and after every exhausting day. I may not do everything with them but they know I do everything for them! They're my heart and they know it. So they forgive the times I have to say no because I have chores or I have a deadline. In fact, I know they're proud of me for being so hardworking. Their classmates tell me so.

So, fellow working mamas, don't let guilt rob you of the joy of your career. Quantity of time spent with our kids matters, of course, but as long as we never hold back on our affection, as long as we assure them we love them, as long as we make the hours with them special (and it can be as simple as eating ice cream together or laughing at jokes!), the kids will be fine.


"The Crown" is exclusively streaming on Netflix.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Here's the chocolate chip cookie recipe that Jack-Jack from Incredibles 2 loves!

Let's take a break from our working mama posts with a recipe today! 


My family and I finally watched Incredibles 2 today. We waited more than a week because all the theaters were full but today, we finally got some seats. Oh, and thanks to SM Cinemas for their promo where two little kids watch for free!



Anyway, we enjoyed the movie. It's not as great as the first one [why I liked The Incredibles here] but we loved it anyway because it was action-packed, so full of spy nostalgia and mid-century modern aesthetic (my favorite era of home design!), and yet it's also so relatable. Any parent understands the chaos on screen! Any stay-at-home parent gets that feeling of overwhelmed exhaustion and the nagging conviction you're wasting your life at home instead of making a difference out in the world. And any working mom relates to the fulfilment of a career clouded by guilt. Don't worry—it's a family movie! It's not just for parents; the kids will enjoy all the superhero adventures and will relate to the sibling squabbles, the resentment at babysitting, and annoying parents!

For us, the best part was Jack-Jack. I just want to commend Pixar for making him adorable in all his manifestations! Whether he was a fire monster or a pink demon, the youngest Parr super was sooo cute! Parang yung youngest Sales boy namin! Cute kahit nakakasira ng bait! And like my Piero, Jack-Jack is easily calmed down with a sweet treat.

So luckily for us mamas, I got a-hold of the Num Num Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe! Here it is and let's try it on our own little super monsters!



In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the plot summary:

In Incredibles 2, Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) navigates the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life at home with Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell), Dash (voice of Huck Milner) and baby Jack-Jack—whose super powers are about to be discovered. Their mission is derailed, however, when a new villain emerges with a brilliant and dangerous plot that threatens everything. But the Parrs don’t shy away from a challenge, especially with Frozone (voice of Samuel L. Jackson) by their side. That’s what makes this family so Incredible!

Incredibles 2 is still showing! Catch it while you can—with the whole family, of course!