dine•o•crat

The French Symbolist poet Paul Verlaine wrote in verse of his dream lover as someone who is "never quite the same ... nor wholly different" ( " Mon rêve familier "). A cheese expert from France, interviewed by Jeffrey Steingarten , used the same line to describe Camembert , the great and legendary unpasteurized raw-milk cheese. He used it to describe its complexity, how the cheese would taste a bit different each time, but somehow the quality of it is also the same as you might remember it. I thought the same might apply to rice porridge, or "lugaw" in Tagalog, "lelut" in Kapampangan. Sure it's sometimes bland, but there are so many varieties and regional differences that a version of this ubiquitous and satisfying comfort food is bound to hit your Proustian g-spot. The right one, for me, releases an orgasmic torrent of memories. But even the blandest lugaw provides enough of a quickie, even as Chinese congee, because the texture and sme...

Here's what Wikipedia says about soufflés : "A soufflé is a light, fluffy, baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means 'to blow up' or more loosely 'puff up'—an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites." If you put it that way, it sounds easy, not to mention clinical. But making a "soft-peak meringue" is no small feat. The one time I tried to make it, it took two people and a large Kitchenaid mixer to get it right. In a restaurant setting, making soufflés takes a special touch that needs to happen not only once, but hundreds of times—consistently. And as a diner, you have a duty to pronounce it correctly: it's "soo-flay," not "soo-full." (Someone I knew used to say the latter; he's been, as soc...

I first read about Terry Selection , a Spanish restaurant and gourmet deli, in a book called " Manila's Best Kept Restaurant Secrets ." At the time, I had just moved to Manila and was looking for a variety of restaurants that served international cuisine, including Spanish. I had already eaten at a Spanish restaurant in Quezon City (what I call the country's entertainment hub) and had been somewhat disappointed. Terry's, owned by Juan Carlos de Terry, seemed promising enough. I had my first meal there recently. It's probably too early to write a full review, but here's a peek at the food I had. The meal was satisfying, if a bit heavy. The main plate was a gamey Rioja-braised oxtail, a taste which I normally shun, but it seemed appropriate for the night and the glass of cabernet-tempranillo blend wine I had with it--tannic and fruity--complemented the dish well. I went to the branch in Makati on Pasong Tamo, which I think is the original one, though there a...

Buffets were my nightmares. Seriously. My first experiences of them were back in the late 80's, in the form of American all-you-can-eat chains and the Vegas strip. Thoughts of these fluorescent-bathed establishments deliver to my mind plates of dark-edged lettuce, grease-laden meatballs and all-you-can-eat spaghetti with dubious meat sauce. Little did I know back then that these were merely temporary outposts for the 250-pound men and women on the express road to 500 pounds. But even Vegas has upped the ante of dining, upgrading its hotels to dizzyingly ostentatious luxury and, consequently its amenities to match, including its buffets and more formal sit-down restaurants. When I went back to Manila for good, one of the first places my family took me to was the strikingly modern Sofitel Manila , which houses the Spiral buffet restaurant (and a small casino). After several more visits, my nightmares, I could honestly say, are gone. Even after having eaten at the new-Vegas buffets, ...