Mirsbin’s Kitchen

The servers were on their stations at exactly 11 AM this morning. I said a simple prayer, please God please send customers today. It was the first time that I didn’t invite friends for lunch and dinner. We will have to rely on repeat customers or a number of walk ins.

The customers started to come at around 2 PM, quite a late lunch for some med reps from St. Luke’s and then people started to come in. What made this day super unusual was when two ladies walked inside, and asked what the menu was. The lady said she was vegetarian, but our resto served a lot of meat. So I politely told them that we had chicken, bangus and sizzling kangkong. So she opted for the kangkong and her friend ordered the chicken with mashed potato and some coffee jelly.

Turned out the other lady was the mother of our interior decorator, Mrs Liongoren (the one with an art gallery, mother of Avid a known commercial director) and as she was raving about the mashed potato, she asked for two more orders one for take out. After the other orders from the other customers were sent to the kitchen, I checked if the two ladies were enjoying their food. As I was asking about the food, Mrs Liongoren told me. “I’d like you to meet, Gilda Cordero- Fernando”. And I almost fell, I had to sit down and regain my composure. I was starstruck! I wanted to get my phone to take some pictures, but it was out of battery already.

We chatted for awhile, she was glad that I was in the business already, since I mentioned that I’ve always wanted to cook. They both loved the mashed potato, the coffee jelly was heavenly and Ms. Gilda vowed that she will come back for it. This is one of the best days of my life. I told my brother about our unexpected guest, but sad to say he didn’t know her. So I called Elaine, and we were both so happy. Thank you God for that surprise!

We finally opened last friday, soft opening lang. But we had to do it since we were way behind sked. But we’re glad we did it. An hour before we opened I was still at the grocery purchasing drinks. Grace, Tec and Corrs were our first customers. Then friends of Mark and Manny came. Then more than 40 friends showed up to grace the opening.

It was tiring, exciting and nerve wrecking. But it all paid off when we counted the sales at the end of the day. It was more than we expected for the first day. Check out the photos, we took that a week ago. Manny and I styled the dishes. Hope you get hungry!

Kain na sa COW KING Steak Sizzles located at 23D Sct. Ybardolaza Q.C. We’re right in front of the Sacred Heart Church

Our specialties include Cripy Ribs, Tenderloin Steak, New York Steak. For those watching what they eat we have Grilled Bangus Steak. Don’t forget to order mashed potato and coffee jelly

I lost my dad last week, so I found it more fitting to write about my food memories with him for LP10. My dad loved to eat and so did the whole Angeles family. Each gathering we had was celebrated with too much food and a lot of laughter. During the wake most of the guests told us it looked like it was a big party. We had a lot of food, most of it Daddy liked.

As a child, daddy introduced me to different kinds of food, from hotel dishes to really good food found in the many restos here in Manila. As early as 5 years old I was already exposed to hotel cuisine. My favorite at that time was the halo halo at the Westin Philippine Plaza. I could not remember though if I liked the halo halo for it’s taste or was it because it was served in a big glass bowl with a small umbrella. I was fascinated at the dishes served at the Intercon’s Jeepney shop. Plus I truly loved the truffles at the Manila Peninsula.

I remember the first time I drank Iced Tea (brewed tea from Lipton’s brisk tea) it was served to me at the Philippine Columbian. It was there I also saw how Caesar Salad was made from scratch. Waiters in their bow ties would make the salad dressing in wooden bowls, mixing the egg yolk with the olive oil.

The best times that we had was when we ate Chicken Bbq in Aristocrat near Malate Church after Simbang Gabi. Daddy would always order the “flying saucer” – adobo sandwich that was heated and cut into a circle.

Too many food memories to write about. But during these times of grief, I think about these one by one. I was flooded with these fond memories as he was laid to rest. No more pain, no more sadness. I wonder what he’s having for dinner in heaven.