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in good taste: recipes, newport mall

Together with the commemoration of National Heroes’ Day yesterday, our favorite contemporary Filipino restaurant, Recipes by Café Metro, opens another home in Newport City Mall.

Compared to Recipes’s signature white-metal-and-concrete design, the Newport branch takes on a cozier appeal with the addition of yellow booth seats and accent walls clad in simulated wood tiles. To those who have been patronizing Recipes for 10 years, this branch might appear to be quite nostalgic as the warm wood finish is reminiscent of the interior of its first restaurant in SM Megamall, then known as Café Metro.

Apart from the opening of a new branch, another exciting thing to watch out for is the addition of new food items in their menu! Visit Recipes by Cafe Metro at the 4F of Newport City Mall, Pasay City. Call 822-1547 for reservations.

Get updates from Recipes via their Facebook fanpage here.

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in good taste: abaca restaurant

When we went on our CebuNext / Design Folder company outing a few months ago, the team could only admire Abaca Boutique Resort and Restaurant from afar. Luckily, when I went back to Mactan island this July, I had the chance to have a great lunch at the world class restaurant. The look of Abaca Restaurant, like their food, is simple but pleasing to the senses. I’ve always liked minimalist aesthetics so the no-frills classic style of the restaurant appealed to me. Unfortunately, since it was a very exclusive resort, we weren’t able to tour the whole place, but we were shown one of the rooms. The room’s style is consistent with the theme of the resort — very clean and ultra classy. It would be perfect for a honeymoon or a romantic getaway. My friend told me that the place looked even more romantic at night with all the lights. I will definitely go back to Abaca, hopefully with the whole DF team in tow.

*Photos courtesy of Jason Raval. Thanks Jason!

in good taste: subspace coffee house

If you are a fan of K-pop and the Koreans’ adventurous sense of style, you’ll absolutely love the new Subspace Coffee House in Ortigas.

Owned by Wilmer Lopez and Thor Balanon, the duo behind the hip home and lifestyle store Space Encounters, Subspace was created with two things in mind: 1) to have a setting where their clients can see how their funky vintage pieces can be used for commercial applications, and 2) to have a venue where they, especially Thor, can celebrate their love for coffee, design, and K-pop.

Their trip to Seoul last year inspired their design for the coffee shop. Similar to Korean fashion, the interior of Subspace is cute, edgy, nostalgic, geeky and quirky all at the same time. Their colorful pieces from Space Encounters like the Papa Bear loveseat and the Wishbone chairs are arranged in an industrial setting of plain white paint, unfinished concrete surfaces, retractable iron grilles, and exposed pipes and ducting. K-pop and Korean vintage posters are mixed with mid-century accessories, and space science details.

It’s interesting that instead of using them as chairs, the Wishbone were hanging above the dining area (photo above)! Thor explained that they were supposed to demonstrate anti-gravity. Clever!

Subspace also features Korean films and concerts. But instead of installing a TV, they simply installed a small projector and used a portion of one wall as their screen.

Of course, it wouldn’t be coffee shop without coffee! Thor suggested for us to try their Sweet Purple Potato Latte (flavored coffee popular in Korea), Iced Lemon Green Tea, Nebula Coffee Jelly, a couple of cupcakes, and samples of their chocolates. Everything was delicious!

Their Sweet Purple Potato Latte (which I call ube coffee for short) is my favorite. It was perfect for that rainy afternoon. Lilli and Green Guide loved the green tea. We enjoyed everything! Too bad Ana, our “coffee connoisseur”, wasn’t able to join us.

Subspace Coffee House is now open! Visit them at Unit 103, GF Grand Emerald Tower, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig. Also checkout their facebook page here for more photos of their food items.

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in good taste: café by the ruins

I want to go back to Baguio. There are a few restaurants that I didn’t get to visit when we were there last month — like Oh My Gulay! and Bliss Cafe. Luckily I was able to pass by Café by the Ruins. We really enjoyed the food (especially Tita Susie’s Crispy Tapa) but what made our lunch extra special was the atmosphere of the cafe.

The mostly wood interiors made the place cozy and relaxing. And the ruins they built the place around, the house of the first civil governer of Benguet which was destroyed in World War II, made the cafe fascinating. I also like how they made use of unique nature-inspired lighting fixtures and the rough textures of wood and stone to complement the ruins. I’ll definitely go back to Café by the Ruins when I get the chance. -lilli

in good taste: manila collective

If you like coffee and photography, you definitely have to drop by the Manila Collective. The DF team chanced upon this coffee shop in Cubao X when we visited We Are Triangle. Apart from serving french-pressed coffee and some desserts, Manila Collective also holds mini-photography exhibits featuring different artists.

We have to go back soon ! To know more about the Manila Collective and the exhibit schedules, click here.  – ana

in good taste: breakfast at antonio’s

I’ve been meaning to visit the newly renovated Antonio’s restaurant in Tagaytay. Good thing a friend of ours invited us to have breakfast there during the long weekend. I’ve been to the old Antonio’s restaurant and Breakfast at Antonio’s, and both were very successful in creating a wonderful ambiance for its customers. Naturally, I had high expectations for the new one and it did not disappoint me.

Reception area of Antonio’s

The interiors of the dining areas were very easy on the eyes, making use of only white and black paint. I love how the designer was able to include key elements to make the space look fresh and inviting. Apart from using intricately designed tiles and lamps, wooden pieces were also into integrated creating a very homey atmosphere.

Big vases in bold colors were also used as accent pieces

We ate at the ground floor, surrounded by big windows, perfect for the cool Tagaytay breeze. Of course the food was fantastic! You can choose from a wide variety of Filipino and Continental dishes. In case you plan to visit, order the french toast and the beef roesti - ana

style shopping: wine story

Because of their taste and the immediate dizziness that I get from them, I’m not a fan of alcoholic beverages except for the sweet and highly diluted mimosa (with lots of orange juice). In spite of that, I have always been intrigued by the culture behind wine. You can count me as a wine ignorant until I got the assignment to cover Wine Story, a new wine shop in Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

Established by the same company behind Healthy Options, Wine Story is definitely not your usual wine store. Unlike other shops that simply sell wines, Wine Story is like your one-stop shop for everything about wine. On top of their wide selection of wines, they also carry crystal wares, wine books and tasting diaries for those wine aficionados. 

What primarily sets it apart from other stores is that it only carries high-end wines with Bordeaux being their specialty. Compared to common table wines, I was told that the high-end ones boast of a more complex taste. Their bottles are displayed like how one would display diamond jewelries—showcased in a lighted glass case (bottom photo) which, in their case, also functions as a cellar.

Because their bottles are pricey (if I remember correctly, the least expensive bottle is at Php 5,000), they allow their clients to “preview” some of their selections before settling on a bottle. Their 32-bottle enomatic machines or automatic wine dispensers (top photo) make wine tasting look and feel so high-tech. A small LED panel (above) displays the characteristic of each wine and the prices per glass. For wine enthusiasts and wine newbies alike, this feature also makes it possible to enjoy different wines without spending a fortune.

To complement its high-end identity, the store’s interior, designed by interior designer Nicky Magcase, features top of the line materials and finishes to give the brand an equally luxurious image. -ardel

in good taste: caffe ti-amo

Maybe because of our warm climate, frozen and icy desserts are always a big hit in the country. There were the Magnolia Ice Cream Parlor in the 60s, Slush Puppy of the 80s and 90s (ok, this may just be limited to select schools, hehe) and Zagu and Quickly of the early ’00s.

Right now, the latest in frozen desserts is the fro-yo or frozen yogurt that let’s you indulge in ice cream-like goodness minus the guilt. But the “real thing” is not far behind. Gelato, that creamy italian ice cream, is recently giving fro-yo a good competition.

A couple of weeks ago, after our shoot at Recipes, the df team stumbled upon Caffe Ti-Amo in SM North Annex. With its brick-clad walls (above) that try to simulate the Italian old-world charm, Caffe Ti-Amo’s space looks warm and friendly. However, what really caught our attention was the display of gelato in front of the shop (below).

They all look so good! Because we cannot decide which ones to try, the girl at the counter let us sample their ice cream variants with tiny spoons. After trying 5 flavors, we settled on the very creamy (no exaggeration)dark chocolate gelato and the fruity blueberry gelato.

Another thing we love–their shovel-shaped spoons!

According to the staff, Caffe Ti -Amo is a Korean brand. This shop in SM North is their first in the Philippines.

Caffe Ti-Amo is located at the upper ground floor level of SM North Annex.

in good taste: recipes

The familiar white and concrete interior of Recipes restaurant is now in SM The Block!

The minimalist design has been their signature look even with their first restaurant in SM Megamall (then known as Cafe Metro) which was done in wood and polished concrete. The stark simplicity of their interior creates a sharp contrast against the rich color of their modern Filipino dishes. 

For their other locations, visit their facebook fan page HERE.

in good taste: z bar, cebu

Z Bar was one of my friend’s highly recommended places to visit in Cebu because of its unique and impressive design. Because bars are always dimly lit, their interiors seldom have very detailed designs. But Z Bar is different.

After our first dinner in Cebu, Ana and I went to check the bar together with Ian (our impromptu photographer for the night, with his ever dependable Lumix camera) and our new-found friend Chito (our unofficial sponsor for the night, hehe).

I have seen photos of Z Bar before, but it looks way more amazing in person. Its design is a collaboration between modernist architect Ed Calma and designer Kenneth Cobonpue. Kenneth is internationally known for his organic furniture designs. Z Bar is, if I’m not mistaken, his first design applied on a full-scale interior. From what I gather, the primary motivation for the design was the small size of the space. So, to make the space look bigger, instead of highlighting the walls and ceiling, they were made to sort of disappear!

Those little wishbone-shaped stuff that seem to be floating in mid-air are bamboo twigs tied by hand onto a randomly welded metal frame. It is a blown-up, warped version of Kenneth’s Kris Kros screen which uses the same concept. Down on the floor are lighted onyx (translucent natural stone) tiles whose natural grains complement the overall organic look. This is the same material used for the lighted staircase (first photo). Apart from the lighted floor, there were also hanging accent lamps made from salago fibers, such as the round Moon lamp.

The bar felt and looked like there’s an abyss above you. Actually, I don’t know which is a more fitting association—a galaxy/outer space, an interior of a glowing beehive, or some scene in Avatar. You just have to see it for yourself.

Z Bar is located at the second floor of The Tinder Box, Archbishop Reyes Ave., Banilad, Cebu City.

*Photos courtesy of Ian Santos