Flashback Friday: PUBLICUS

Healthy and delicious food is sometimes contradictory.  So many places promote wellness and health and actually don't know how to make whole foods taste good.  Publicus in downtown Las Vegas is one of those places that gets healthy and delicious right.  Their daily changing specials and whatever they have on the counter (it could be a quinoa and roasted vegetable salad or an open faced toasted sourdough with cherry tomatoes cheese) is always fresh and flavorful.  It has become a regular weekend place for us in Vegas that when we do go, the manager already knows what the kids want to eat.  I've had a delicious spicy black rice and poached egg bowl with pickled ginger, a simple sourdough and avocado toast and filling brunch plates on the weekends.

Coffee is fantastic (none of those cappuccinos being served in gigantic cups that then makes the ratio of espresso and milk all wrong).  Plus, Publicus is a really nice place to hang out and get a bite or a coffee during the day, be surrounded by mostly locals and feel so far away from the lights, bling and tourists of the Strip.  When you're done, head over to the newish Downtown Container Park - a complex of restaurants and shops made of colorfully painted shipping containers with a large playground deck in the middle for the kids to run around in.

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Publicus

1126 Fremont Street, Las Vegas Nevada 89101

Tel: +1 702 331 5500

Open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Flashback Friday: WILDFLOUR CAFE + BAKERY

On the rare occasions that I fly back home for a visit, I make sure to go to restaurants I haven't been.  It's so easy to go back to my favorites again and again but it's also fun to eat  at the new restaurants that have opened up in Manila recently.

Wildflour actually isn't new, they opened their first cafe and bakery in Bonifacio Global City in 2012.  It's new to me though since I had heard so much about it but had never been.    I finally got my chance when my cool designer friend TC took me there for lunch.  I was so pleasantly surprised and impressed that I went there twice more in the short week that I was home.

What's great about Wildflour is that aside from their massive selection of fresh-baked breads, pastries and cakes, they also have a full all-day dining menu serving breakfasts, soups, sandwiches, salads, pastas and a few main courses. (The menu might be different in each outlet, I have only bent the one in Legaspi Village) For lunch, I've had the moules frites and a chocolate tart.  The next time I went for breakfast and had the bagel and lox with a pot of filter coffee and another time, I stopped by for merienda (snack) of a sticky bun and a  latte.  I always think a place has made it when it becomes my go-to restaurant and Wildflour is just that - a cafe and bakery that is perfect for any time of the day.  You'll know what I mean when you go.

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Wildflour Cafe + Bakery

L.P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati
Phone:+63 2 808 7072
Hours: Monday to Saturday 7AM–10PM

Frabelle Business Center 111 Rada St, Legaspi Village, Makati
Phone:+63 2 833 9799
Hours: Monday to Saturday 7AM–10PM, Sunday 8AM–4PM

Ortigas The Podium, 12 ADB Avenue Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
Phone:+63 2 571 8588
Hours: Daily 7AM–10PM

Ground floor, Net Lima building, 26th St, Taguig (Bonifacio Global City)
Phone:+63 2 856 7600
Hours: Monday to Saturday 7AM–10PM, Sunday 8AM-4PM

Flashback Friday: LES DELICES

Can it already be August?  Here's a flashback Friday post from our Christmas holiday in Punta del Este.

Breakfasts usually involve coffee and the medialunas con dulce de leche (the local version of croissants, slightly sweet and served with a caramel spread) and Les Delices in the town center of Punta del Este (or Punta, as everyone calls it), has been the go to spot for years especially for Argentines on holiday looking for their medialuna fix.

We did the same and had breakfast there bright and early before heading to the beach.  We did the works - fresh orange juice, coffee, toast, scrambled eggs and a bunch of medialunas.  While we ever there, there was a steady stream of patrons buying their breakfast pastries and a few locals quietly enjoying their coffee.

Aside from their large selection of pastries and cakes, they also serve a full lunch and dinner menu and do a good business in takeaway boxes of assorted mini pastries and cookies for afternoon tea.

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Les Delices

29 Las Gaviotas, 20100 Punta del Este, Uruguay
Phone: +598 4244 3640

THE POPULUS COFFEE & FOOD CO.

The Populus Coffee & Food Co (the name's a mouthful) opened around six months ago in a shophouse along Neil road.   The long narrow space has been carefully redesigned using a lot of wood, from the ceiling and wall tiles to the counter, complemented by modern metal accents like the industrial lighting and iron shelving.  The tables look like textured grey fabric, a nice design touch that makes it seem as if there's a table cloth.  Their tableware (plates, bowls, cups, sugar containers) have also been carefully chosen with a minimalistic touch making the space a beautifully-designed spot to hang out and have a coffee.

As soon as you step inside the Populus, you know what they specialize in from the wonderful aroma of roasted coffee beans which come from 2 Degrees North Coffee Co.  Several types of coffee are available - from the usual espresso, cappuccino, latte with both full cream, low fat or soy milk and flavoring, plus bottles of single origin cold drip and a white brew using their three in-house blends: Monolith (comforting & reassuring), Caldera (uplifting & refreshing) and the Duxton Vice (cheeky & adventurous).  Filter coffee is also served with six types to choose from.  For those not so much into coffee, they serve a rich Valrhona chocolate, iced or hot, and a selection of smoothies, fresh juices and botanical soft drinks from Fentiman's.

For a small cafe, the menu is quite large.  I prefer the weekday menu which has a selection of breakfast specials along with healthy grain bowls and donburi plus a few pastas and sandwiches.  There are three ice cream sundaes and a buttermilk waffle for dessert.  The weekend menu has more egg dishes and less of the main courses and since they're usually packed from early morning, some dishes are sold out by early evening.

On my first mid-morning visit, I had their fluffy scrambled eggs with a perfect piccolo latte and a large fresh orange juice.  For lunch recently, I had the teriyaki salmon donburi, a petite portion of teriyaki-glazed salmon served on seasoned Japanese rice, furikake, nanban vegetables and an onsen egg. On another weekend evening, my husband & I shared their avocado superfood green platter (kale, broccoli, avocado and spinach with feta and cottage cheese) and the Portobello mushroom grain bowl with furikake baby corn, red cabbage & apple slaw, roasted zucchini, roasted butternut squash, sautéed cherry tomatoes, L&P mixed mushrooms.   It's a good place for healthy eaters since there's quite a few dishes that are just vegetables and/or grains.  I'm looking forward to my next meal at the Populus since there's still a lot on the menu I haven't tried plus a few several coffee concoctions I'd like to sample.

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The Populus Coffee & Food Co.

146 Neil Road, Singapore
Telephone: +65 6635 8420
email: hello@thepopuluscafe.com

Mon & Wed 09:00 - 19:00
Thu & Fri     09:00 - 22:30
Sat                 09:30 - 22:30
Sun                09:30 - 19:00

THE LOKAL

After two years and a half of living in Singapore, I'm starting to play favorites and have become a regular at a few places.  The Lokal, which opened in 2014 has literally become "my local" since Chinatown is the closest restaurant row off Sentosa island and they're open early for really good breakfasts and strong coffee.  Service is also friendly, although it can be chaotic when it's packed on the weekends, and it's not fancy so it's easy to just drop in for a quick bite.  

Although the menu is limited (only about a dozen dishes), they do have a large selection of mix and match items which they cheekily call "pimp your breakfast", so you can pimp your plate by adding poached, scrambled or fried eggs, baked beans toast, bacon, smoked mackerel or mackerel and several other side vegetables.  The other great thing about this little place is that the Australian chef prepares a lot of ingredients in-house (one of the few that do this in Singapore).  They house-cure their bacon, they smoke their salmon and mackerel over cherry and apple wood chips, they make their own butter, ricotta, and yoghurt and they even make their own jams and peanut butter.  Coffee is from Common Man Coffee Roasters and they surprisingly have decaf and cold brew coffee plus skim, soy and almond milk.  Daily specials are on the board: usually a toastie (sort of a grilled sandwich filled with different fillings per day) and a multi-fruit fresh juice and sometimes a muffin or cookie.  I've been countless times in the last year and a half and it's a firm favorite for a quiet solo (or not) breakfast or for an afternoon treat.  There's a completely different menu for dinner (I've never been) with cocktails and wines and a weekend brunch menu which includes a Sunday roast and a pork sausage burger which isn't available during the week. 

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The Lokal

136 Neil Road
Singapore 088865

Tel: (65) 6423 9918
Email: hello@thelokalsingapore.com

Monday 8am to 5pm
Tuesday to Friday 8am to 10pm
Saturday 9am to 10pm
Sunday 9am to 4pm

Flashback Friday: HONG KONG

When we were growing up, Hong Kong was our weekend getaway.  At just an hour and a half flight, I can't recall how many times we visited with my parents and grandparents over the years. When I moved to Paris in the early nineties, Hong Kong was too far away to visit but when I went back home in 1997, I visited again and even stayed there for longer periods while A was posted there in 1999. Since then, I hadn't been back, and I had heard that the Hong Kong of my childhood had changed - it was bigger, brighter, more crowded - the New York of Southeast Asia.  

Finally, in 2014 I went for a few days with my friend T.  We lucked out on a promotion at the newish Mira Moon designed by Marcel Wanders and you Studio.  In a slim modern tower, on the edge of Wan Chai (which used to be the infamous red light district of Hong Kong), it's near the convention center and to several hip restaurants.  With just 91 rooms, this boutique hotel was perfect for our girl's mini-break.  On each floor, there are only a few rooms.  Our Full Moon Premier Room was much bigger than we expected and the bathroom was huge, with a separate rain shower and a large bathtub with a sliver view of the harbor.  There was a pretty wooden Grey Goose box filled with everything for martinis, intricately-carved cabinet doors, and rabbits everywhere from the ceilings to the glass etchings and the lamp bases.  Even the signs scattered around had rabbits including one that said "Good rabbits don't smoke".  We enjoyed breakfast al fresco at their tiny but well-designed terrace and on one of the evenings, we also managed to have a few after-dinner cocktails.

On our first evening, we explored the little street and had dinner at the more casual and better-priced Hee Kee for their fried crab rather than at the fancier Under Bridge Spicy Crab which was two steps away.  The fried crab was sweet and overloaded with crunchy garlic.  We had it with their salt and pepper squid and a plate of stir-fried greens which was a tasty start for our Hong Kong holiday.

The next day, we wandered around Wan Chai and explored the area near Wing Fung street and had an early lunch at Classified before we crossed over to Pacific Place and some retail therapy.   On another day, we explored the IFC mall and had lunch at Open Kitchen which had long queues at their large deli counter of salads, sandwiches, cakes and pastries.  We continued our shopping at the Landmark were we stopped for a much-needed afternoon espresso at Fuel. 

Our last lunch was at the traditional Maxim's Palace City Hall - an old school classic dining room with large windows all along one side.  We shared an assortment of dim sum -  prawn filled cheong fun (rice paper rolls), flaky char-siu puffs, the usual siew mai and her gao, steamed pork ribs, custard buns, buchi (red bean paste-filled glutinous rice balls) and the standard dan tarts.  As always, the dim sum in Hong Kong didn't disappoint.  I never made it to my childhood haunts - Spring Deer and Yung Kee but now that Hong Kong is just a few hours flight from Singapore, there's no excuse not to visit more often.

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• Mira Moon Hotel

388 Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay

Tel:  +852 2643 8888     Email: enquiry@miramoonhotel.com

• Hong KongHee Kee Fried Crab

Shop 1-4, G/F, 379 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai

Tel: +852 2893 7565, Open daily noon-4.30am

• Fuel Espresso
• Classified
• Open Kitchen
• Maxim's Palace City Hall

PS CAFE PETIT AT MARTIN ROAD

No surprise that we, along with everyone else, have been to PS Cafe countless times.  It's the standard go-to for most locals and expats especially for weekend brunch.  Everyone has their preferred PS Cafe, families love the garden setting at the PS Cafe at Harding Road while others swear by the adults-only PS Cafe at Ann Siang Hill Park, Orchard regulars always end up either at PS Cafe at Paragon  or at PS Cafe at Palais Renaissance (which used to be my favorite). 

The newest version is the PS Cafe Petit which opened first in Tiong Bahru - a smaller self-service spot that has pizzas, sandwiches and takeaway and limited seating and it's this concept that they expanded on for  PS Cafe Petit at Martin road - our new favorite because it's got an all-day dining menu that serves brunch all day, everyday plus a large lunch and dinner menu which includes pizzas and Asian specialties taken from the adjacent Chopsuey Cafe.  There's also a deli counter with breads, cakes, salads and sandwiches to-go plus a large selection of wines.  Like the other PS Cafes, this one is bright and beautiful with the usual modern interiors and ginormous flower arrangements.

On a recent Saturday morning, we stopped by for breakfast while our daughter was at a party at Amped trampoline park just around the corner.   We enjoyed the quiet time with our coffees and delicious breakfast.  I had the egg and bacon bunwich - a fried egg and crisp bacon on a soft bun while A had the poached eggs on sourdough with sautéed spinach and a roasted tomato.  We also shared the homemade toasted muesli  with homemade honey toasted muesli with nuts and seeds over greek yoghurt and berry compote.  We've also been and early for pizza dinner with the kids as well as several lunches.  Service is always courteous and efficient especially when the manager is around (something that seems to be lacking in the other outlets) and more importantly, the food is always good. 

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PS Cafe Petit at Martin Road

38 Martin Road, 239072

Reservations and takeaway: +65 8188 6191

Open daily: Brunch  9:30 to 4, Lunch and Dinner 11 to midnight, Last food order 10:30 pm

ROPPONGI HILLS

My last Tokyo post is all about a whole day in Roppongi Hills, the so-called city within a city of modern skyscrapers, high-end hotels, luxury shops, green spaces, world-class museums, numerous bars and night clubs and lively back streets.

My friend Rumi lived nearby so we decided to meet at the 45th floor lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo for a quick view of the city stretched out below.  We started our walking tour outside Tokyo Midtown where we walked around the park, over the bridge and the tiny brook and by the manicured green areas dotted with park benches to the concrete bunker 21_21 Design Sight off to one side.

From there, we walked several blocks away to the bustling area around Roppongi Hills where the Mori Art Museum and the Eiffel tower lookalike Tokyo Tower are located.  On the way there, we stopped for a takoyaki snack - Japan's street food.  Takoyaki are deep-fried flour balls made with octopus, tempura scraps, green onion and pickled ginger and topped with bonito flakes and Japanese mayonnaise.  Traditionally eaten as an after work bite along with a highball, a shot of whiskey topped up with ice cold soda water served in a large mug like a beer, Rumi knew that it wasn't the right time to eat the takoyaki but she and I decided we wouldn't be able to wait till sundown.  We split a highball and six takoyaki which were delicious and hit the spot for more wandering around the shopping mall nearby passing by the Mori and admiring Maman, Louise Bourgeois' humongous bronze spider sculpture.  We stopped afterwards at the beautiful terrace of The French Kitchen in the Grand Hyatt for a cold drink and some sunshine before walking back and trying to find a simple place for lunch nearby.

We finally stumbled on a small ramen place on a side street.  A vending machine greeted us at the entrance and Rumi dropped the appropriate coins for two bowls of hot ramen topped with roast pork and a medium boiled egg.  As soon as we sat at the counter, we surrendered our tickets to one of the ramen cooks and waited for our order and enjoyed the rhythm and blues music blasting in the restaurant.  I noticed that the place was packed with Japanese men again and we were the only ladies there (just like the other evening at the yakitori place)  and I asked Rumi why it was that Japanese women weren't often seen eating in traditional Japanese restaurants.  She explained that the ladies preferred more sophisticated Western food for lunch than casual Japanese fare.

The ramen noodle soup came with self-serve pitchers of iced tea and the usual condiments of chili oil and seaweed flakes.  We dug in and slurped like the locals and started to sweat from the hot soup and it was only then that we also noticed that all the men having ramen were eating cold ramen to stay cool on such a hot day.  We started to laugh because it seemed like we were in the sweltering American south listening to John Lee Hoooker while enjoying our hot soup and keeping our hair away from the broth.  We finished our ramen and on our way out, we laughed even harder as we realized there were paper bibs and elastic hair ties on top of the vending machine at the front to hold one's hair back from getting into the soup and cover one's clothes from the splatter.  Another dining culture experience shared with my foodie partner Rumi.

We walked lunch off and returned to Tokyo Midtown where we escaped the heat from the streets for a wander around the mall, looking into the Umami boutique (a shop selling umami flavored everything from crackers to sauces to nuts), Toraya (the traditional Japanese tea cake place) and for a quick espresso at Dean and Deluca.

After that, it was a short walk through Hinokicho park to Rumi's neighborhood in Akasaka where we put our feet up and relaxed before heading out to a Yakiniku (Japanese table barbecue) dinner nearby - again filled with Japanese businessmen.  I don't know how we managed to eat several platters of beef and offal with a large green salad tossed in a sesame dressing.  We were both so full that Rumi insisted we go to the local pharmacy for a tiny bottle of an herbal concoction that Japanese drink the night of food or alcohol excess to avoid indigestion and a hangover.  We downed them right then and there while the pharmacist watched us in amusement.  It didn't taste bad, jut like a shot of herbal liqueur without the alcohol.   It was a fun-filled, food-centered, non-stop walking day which gave me a chance to explore a part of town on foot and enjoy the city quirks with a Tokyo native.

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Tokyo Midtown

Tokyo Midtown Design Hub

Roppongi Hills

Mori Art Museum

National Art Center Tokyo

Suntory Museum of Art

Tokyo Tower

GINZA

2014 is definitely the year of travel.  In January we spent a few days in Bali with family rediscovering the island.  In March, a much-awaited return to Moscow (last time I was there was 17 years ago) to show A the new and improved MOCKBA.  This was followed by two weeks in Manila with the kids and a trip to Tokyo in the spring.  As it was my first time to Tokyo, I was lucky that my good friend Rumi had just returned home to Japan after several years abroad which gave me the best food tour guide for my initiation to the amazing gourmet offerings of Tokyo. 

We stayed at the Imperial Hotel, a classic Japanese hotel, located close to the famous luxury  shopping area of Ginza.  On our first evening, we decided to see what the area had to offer.  Close by was a small street parallel to the train tracks lined with restaurants on either side.  A & I meandered along until we found a packed sushi bar towards the end of the road.  I won't even be able to tell you the name as all the signs and menus were in Japanese so we did what tourists usually do and just pointed out something on the menu.  It was a 12-piece sushi platter with  amaebi (sweet shrimp), maguro (tuna), hotate (scallop), ikura gukan (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin), negi toro (chopped tuna with chives), tamago (cooked egg), aji (mackerel), chutoro (fatty tuna belly), hirame (flounder), unagi (grilled eel) and the very strange kazunoko (herring roe) which neither of us ate.  All that plus a side dish of fried egg with mushrooms set us back around US$25 each - a bargain after all those stories about overpriced Tokyo.  We walked around the block a bit to digest our dinner and as we neared the hotel, we witnessed aTokyo phenomenon - hundreds of ladies queued up in several orderly single file rows waiting to greet a stage performer about to exit the theater across the street.  No pushing and shoving, each one waiting patiently with a piece of paper (greetings?) or a bouquet of flowers to offer the star.  The sense of order and respect - that was what my first impression of Tokyo.

The next morning, A set off for work while I had a leisurely breakfast and did my first day exploring Ginza which was several blocks away.  I started off at Hakuhinkan Toy Park, Tokyo's version of Toys R Us, and walked slowly up the street, window shopping and people watching.  By the time I reached  the middle, it was time for lunch so I followed Rumi's advice and went to Mitsukoshi where there are five floors devoted to food - the 11th and 12th for restaurants, the 9th for smaller self-serve counters with a large terrace, B2 for the food court and B3 for grocery items.  I went up to the the 11th floor and walked into the first one that caught my eye - a tonkatsu restaurant which has almost full with mostly Japanese and two solo diners, just like me, who looked like tourists.  I sat at a corner table and chose the tonkatsu and ebikatsu (prawn) set which came with soup, rice and pickles.  The food came quickly with the crunchy but not oily panko-crusted pork cutlet and the equally crispy deep-fried prawn set on a wire rack over a plate with some lemon and tartare sauce served with the brown rice I asked for.   On the table were the two containers of homemade tonkatsu sauce - one sweet and the other spicy along with some implements that I had never seen nor used before. It was basically a shallow corrugated ceramic  bowl and a piece of wood.  I looked around and saw what my neighbors were doing and realized that this was like a mortar and pestle and was being used to hand grind sesame seeds to be added onto the tonkatsu sauce to thicken and flavor it.  The tricky part out of the way, I finally began to eat my delicious lunch and finished it off with the tangy crunchy pickles.  One of the things I enjoy when I'm discovering a city is eating on my own - it gives me chance to concentrate on my food and at the same time observe the locals and their rituals.

After lunch, I walked to Ito-ya - Tokyo's premier stationery shop to have a look and ended up spending hours and lots of yen, ordering embossed leather luggage tags and purchasing cards and stationery.  It was late afternoon by then and my energy was flagging so I went to the nearest coffee shop I saw - Le Cafe Doutor - which was filled with locals sitting alone having mostly iced coffee.  I ordered a black coffee and enjoyed my caffeine for half an hour before walking the roundabout way back to the Imperial. 

The following day while walking around Ginza again, Rumi and I stumbled upon a months-old coffee boutique - Toriba - where they roast their own beans on site and have a small coffee bar where we sampled two types of their funky-named music-influenced blends - Jamaican Dub Mix and the Deep House Mix.   Later on, she also took me to the Bulgari's Il Bar where she made me the typical cold coffee served with sugar syrup and lots of ice.  This being the Bulgari, a tiny bowl of chocolate covered almonds also came with our coffees.  On our last day, after a morning spent at mega-store Muji, A and I had lunch and coffee at the nearby Dean and Deluca in Yurakucho.  For a coffee lover like me, the amazing  selection of coffee and different cafes from the self-serve Doutor to the high-end coffee with a view at the Bulgari, was a pleasure.

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Tokyo Cafes

Le Cafe Doutor

Toriba

Bulgari's Il Bar

Dean and Deluca

MOSCOW RESTAURANTS

To finish off my long-delayed posts on Moscow is a list of a few restaurants I went to that I really enjoyed. Most are located either in the center or just off the garden ring road.  Here they are in no particular order:

Moloko Cafe

Ulitsa Bolshaya Dimitrovka 7/5

Moscow

Telephone: +7495 692 0309

*Open 24 hours daily

Moloko Cafe used to be a state milk store hence the name (moloko means milk in Russian).  Interiors are modern - great velvet chairs line each side of the room with a large bar in the middle.  There's a good crowd of expats and locals and not everyone is dressed to the nines.  We came for lunch on a Sunday and the place was half-full with mostly young Russian couples and their kids.  We shared a starter of smoked mackerel on baby potatoes followed by the sea bass in red curry for me and the beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes for A.  Food was fine and service was friendly, the only downside was the dessert which seemed store-bought.  As it's open 24 hours, I'm sure that there is a pre-club crowd that hangs out for cocktails and a post-clubbing crowd who come for breakfast before heading back home at dawn.

Vogue Cafe

Kuznetsky Most 79

Moscow

Telephone: +7495 623 1701

*Open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. till late, Weekends from noon to midnight

Another concept from the Novikov group, Vogue Cafe is a modern, bright space with a black and white interior with some color brought in with the large framed model shots on the walls and shelves of Vogue magazines.  Food is modern European Russian-style which means Italian or Mediterranean with some sushi and sashimi thrown in.  The combination works though as the place is crowded on most days with fashion-conscious Muscovites enjoying the Euro-inspired menu.  Its' location alongside trendy department store Tsum also helps.  We had a decent mixed salad, a penne arrabbiata and a pappardelle with cepes.

Il Forno

Ulitsa Neglinnaya 8/10

Moscow

Telephone: +8495 621 90 80

*Open weekdays from 8:00 till midnight and weekends from 11:00 a.m. till midnight

Other branches on Ulitsa Ostrozhenka 3/14 and Kutuzovsky Avenue 2/1

We stumbled into Il Forno on a cold windy evening on our first night in Moscow since it was on the same street as our hotel not expecting anything special and we were pleasantly surprised with the pizza and the service.  We had a salad to share and some pizzas on one evening and pasta on another night.  The menu has classic Italian pastas, risottos and pizzas and a few meat and fish main courses.  It's a casual restaurant with a proper brick-oven which makes the pizzas perfect.

Brownie Cafe

Maly Kozinsky Pereulok, 10

Moscow

Telephone: +7916 336 26 33

*Open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily

In hip and happening Patriarch's Pond, Brownie Cafe is a tiny. welcoming place owned by the Friends Forever group, which has a dozen hip cafes specializing in cakes and coffee.  This newest addition which opened in February of this year,  has a retro vibe with it's multi-colored chairs, communal wood tables and large display case filled with all sorts of cakes and sweets.  We shared two - a chocolate raspberry cake and a strawberry shortcake with excellent coffee.  I dare you to enter and not have a slice of cake.

CAFE PUSHKIN

Cafe Pushkin is housed in a newly-built mansion just off Pushkin square whichhas successfully recreates a Russian aristocrat's home from the 1800's from the wood panelling to the heavy furniture, the chandeliers and the candlelit tables, the plaster and moldings on the ceilings and even the waiters dressed in period outfits making it feel like we were having dinner during the time of Anna Karenina.

Opened in 1999, the restaurant is spread out on three floors with the cafe-like Drugstore hall on the ground floor serving more casual fare and the restaurant on the upper floors called the Library hall with a more extensive and pricier menu.

Our good friends Farina and Satesh invited us to dinner there since they really wanted me to experience Cafe Pushkin and see what Moscow became right after I left in 1997.    They went all out to welcome A and I and we did a classic Russian dinner starting out with Russky Standard vodka with beluga caviar and blinis.  The first bite of the salty black pearls popping in my mouth with the warm pillowy blinis and cold smetana (sour cream) brought me back to the Russia I fell in love with and the ice-cold shot of vodka that followed reminded me of when I was young and adventurous.  As a start to a Moscow meal, nothing beats that.

We shared a few hot appetizers - julienne, the classic white mushrooms baked in sour cream made more luxurious with the addition of chanterelles followed by piroshki, traditional meat pies.  Four our main courses - Farina and I shared large plate of pelmenis - meat and mushroom filled dumplings served with a bit of broth, sour cream and vinegar, Satesh had the roast chicken and A had the kotlety pozharski - a breaded veal cutlet stuffed with mushrooms served with fried potatoes which we enjoyed with a bottle of Carmenere.  Dinner was delicious and it was definitely the best Russian food we had in Moscow and the company of Farina and Satesh helped made the evening memorable.  Even the weather cooperated to give us a full Russian experience as the streets were covered in fresh white snow when we left the restaurant.

Cafe Pushkin

Tverskoy Bulvar 26A

Moscow

Telephone: +7495 739 0033

*Open 24 hours daily

MOSCOW MUSTS

The Kremlin is the center of it all.  Recently, they implemented an online system for buying tickets and it's first weekend trial was when we there but we did it the old way - get in line and try and snag a ticket as the entries are limited and scheduled.  You can do full-priced ticket which includes the Armory museum, the three cathedrals (Annunciation, Assumption and Archangels), Ivan the great's bell tower, the Patriarch's Palace or opt for several cheaper ticket options which is just for the grounds and Cathedral square usually bought by Russians or locals who like to walk around the Kremlin drink the weekends.  The ticket for the diamond exhibit, which is also in the Armory, is sold separately inside the museum. Be patient as the ticket seller is a babushka who hardly speaks English and there are hardly any signs in English so use sign language and figure it out.  My rusty Russian helped a bit but not much.  Ticket booths open at 9:30 for the first entry at 10:00.  Once you have your ticket, get in the long line and wait until the Kremlin gates open - this took about 45 minutes to an hour.  Once inside, head straight to the armory which is filled with Russian state regalia, ceremonial vestments and crowns and all the precious metals from jeweled crowns to state silver service which should take about an hour.  After that, we walked out towards Cathedral square which gives one a 360 degree view of the three cathedrals and Ivan the great's bell tower.  After a short wander around, we exited towards Manezhnaya Ploshad (Manezh square) to the cobblestoned red square and walked towards the Kremlin clock tower and the iconic St. Basil's cathedral.

It was about time for lunch so after a short tour of red square, we escaped the cold (3C) and entered GUM - the State department store, now fully renovated and filled with high-end boutiques.  When I left in 1997, GUM was just starting to be renovated and was still a mix of Benetton (one of the first Western labels present in Russia) and Russian style shops.  Now, it's a bright, modern shopping mall housed in an architectural marvel from the 1890's filled with upwardly mobile Russians and a few tourists.  We went up to the second floor where we got in another line (remnants of Communist times) to have lunch at Stolovaya No.57 -  a retro Russian-style self-serve cafeteria complete with white lab coat uniformed counter staff dishing out potato salad and smoked fish, borscht and chicken Kiev, pierogi and black bread.  Even the drinks are authentic - from an ice-cold piva (beer) to a kitschy vending machine dispensing super fizzy Russian sparkling water by the glass.  I had the classic chicken Kiev with mashed potatoes while A had a slab of roast pork with cranberry sauce and a beet and smoked fish salad.

From there, we continued our walk around the center and headed towards Tversakaya street, known by its' former name as Gorky street.  Just like GUM, this busy street is now home to luxury hotels and shops but still retains something of the old Moscow.  We visited Yeliseyevsky Gastronom (Yeliseyevsky food store) which used to allow access only to Communist party elite.  This food hall was always a gastronomic mecca but more so today that the shelves are filled to the brim with everything from fresh raspberries to French lentils as well as a large glass case stacked with tins and tins of edible black pearls, caviar.

Another day should be devoted to the Pushkin museum - housed in three buildings - the main one on (Volkhonka street 12) in the center for ancient artifacts, sculpture and 18th century European art, the smaller one on the right (Volkhonka street 10) for private collections and the adjacent one on the left (Volkhonka street 14) for 19th and 20th century art.  We visited the main building on one day and I returned another day with N to visit the Impressionists which was a visual pleasure - rooms and rooms of Monets, Renoirs, Pissarros, Degas, Gaugins and Van Goghs.  

Just in front is the gigantic gold-domed Christ the Saviour cathedral, reconstructed in the late nineties then continue onwards to the pedestrian bridge to cross the Moscow river to the other embankment and walk around what used to be the Krasny Oktyabr (Red October) Chocolate Factory - converted into an urban center with cafes and restaurants, design offices and the Lumiere Brothers Photo gallery showcasing Soviet-era photographs with a cafe and an interesting gift shop, sorely lacking at the Pushkin museum and the Kremlin.

Last but not least the Bolshoi is essential, preferably to watch a ballet in the historical stage or an opera at the new stage or at the very least a tour.  After a six year renovation, the theater which opened in 1856 has retained the gold rococo interiors and red velvet seats but the sound system and acoustics have been updated.  We were able to get tickets for the premier of Alexandre Dumas'  La Dame aux Camellias - a ballet in three acts on the historical stage.   The experience of an evening at the Bolshoi should not be missed and was the best way to spend our last evening in Moscow.

WATERCRESS CAFE

I'm playing catch up as I've abandoned my blog for months now since we moved to Singapore and have just had several hours straight to sit down at my desk to blog.  Although we went back to Bali in January of this year for a long weekend (haven't been since we left in March 2012), I am only posting this recent find now.  Watercress Cafe is a charming cafe on Batu Belig street, an up and coming area right by Seminyak in neighboring Kerobokan which is on the twisty rice field flanked road towards the surfing beaches of Canggu.

A brick-walled light-filled interior serving breakfast all-day with a lots of other yummy, healthy dishes especially for vegetarians or those looking for gluten-free items.  I was so impressed with Watercress that I went twice while we were in Bali - once for breakfast and another time for a late lunch (recently, they have also started serving dinner).  Their bread is from Bali's French bakery Monsieur Spoon and coffee specialist Revolver Espresso.  Drinks are made up of fresh fruit smoothies, lassis and juices and a selection of iced teas.  The menu is simple but with so many good things, it's hard to make up one's mind with what to order.  Some menu items can also be ordered in half-size portions which is convenient and unusual for Bali.

For breakfast, I had the Two Crispy Sweet Corn Fritters - two poached eggs over corn fritters and a chunky avocado and tomato salsa.  I ordered it as part of the breakfast set which comes with a bowl of fresh tropical fruit topped with crushed peanuts and grated coconut and a creamy cappuccino.

At lunchtime, there are loads of salads, a few burgers (Mahi-Mahi, crispy Tempeh or chicken sate) and several open sandwiches served either on sourdough or gluten-free bread. I had the Bruschetta topped with vine-ripened tomatoes, Feta and arugula followed by a Roasted Pumpkin Salad -  a large bowl of caramelized pumpkin, watercress, arugula with a basil pesto dressing.  Watercress Malam (the dinner menu) is more substantial with small plates as starters, salads and grilled items with assorted side dishes.

It's been a long time since I've loved a restaurant from start to finish.  Watercress Cafe is going straight on my favorites list. If you're going to Bali, you should add it to yours too.

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Watercress Cafe

Jalan Batu Belig 21A

Kerobokan, Bali

tel: +62 361 780 8030

LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN

Our last trip in 2013 before our move to Singapore was to Buenos Aires to visit family.  It was the tail end of winter in the Southern hemisphere and although the sun was shining on most days, it was still chilly so we lucked out on a nearby cafe which was two blocks away from where we were staying.  Le Pain Quotidien has been a favorite for years.  I remember spending so much time there in the late 90's when my stepsister was living in New York.  The Madison avenue branch was our local cafe and we whiled away hours with our bowls of cafe au lait reliving our Paris days.  Since then, Le Pain Quotidien has become a global brand recreating their bleached wood interiors with the standard communal table and their selection of amazing bread all over the world. 

We were pleasantly surprised with the Buenos Aires outpost - same bleached wood interiors, a large oval communal table, the usual open-faced tartines (sandwiches), the big bowls (not cups) of milky coffee, the daily blackboard menu and the same friendly service.  We had breakfast there almost every day and since it was located in the mostly residential neighborhood of Palermo chico, it was superb for people watching and hanging out.  As they say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

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Le Pain Quotidien

Jerónimo Salguero 3075
Buenos Aires, Capital Federal, Argentina
+54 11 2073-1866

*Open all-day daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

*Other branches in Palermo Viejo and Belgrano

FILIPINO FOOD FIESTA

In early April I left for the Philippines to visit my ailing 94-year old grandmother (who has since sadly, passed away) and spent several days in Manila with my sisters having a taste of home.  As we were all jet lagged and awake at dawn, we were all dressed and ready to go for breakfast very early in the morning.  Most days we just crossed the street to One Rockwell where we usually ate either at UCC Cafe Terrace, Apartment 1B (more on that later) or our old favorite Pancake House. 

UCC is a Japanese coffee franchise that uses the siphon method to make their specialty coffees.  The place isn't fancy but the coffee is very good and the Filipino breakfasts are fine.  We tried most of the "si-log" combinations (meaning SInangag, Filipino for garlic fried rice and itLOG, Filipino for egg) with tapa (marinated beef), longanisa (local pork sausage), bangus (milk fish) and tocino (marinated pork).  I liked the longanisang hubad (naked longanisa) best - when they split open the pork sausage skin and take out all the sausage meat, fry it till it's nice and crisp like corned beef hash, then place it on top of the garlic fried rice and serve it with a sunny side up egg - a Filipino breakfast of champions.

On another evening, after a log day spent at the hospital, we decided to have some Filipino food to go from my friend Malu's Milky Way Cafe on Pasay Road.  We ordered the usual classics: kare-kare (oxtail stew made with peanut-flavored sauce), inihaw na liempo (char-grilled pork belly), adobong sugpo (prawns cooked adobo-style in crab roe) and a crispy pata lechon de leche (deep-fried suckling pig knuckle) with a home-made vegetable dish of pinakbet (long beans, bitter melon, okra and eggplant cooked in shrimp paste).  The food came with rice, appropriate sauces (spicy vinegar, bagoong - shrimp paste and chili soy sauce) plus banana leaves that we used to line the serving plates.  Fantastic Filipino food that we enjoyed at home.

When my Lola (grandmother) was brought back home for her last days, we all gathered around the table once more for our traditional lunch which we spent at my Lola's house every weekend when we were growing up.  On this occasion, we had two versions of crab - sauteed in garlic and deep-fried in butter - both of which I hadn't eaten in a long time and probably last enjoyed at one of my lola's weekend lunches.

We also had the traditional summer heat quencher - halo-halo (literally meaning mix-mix of sweetened fruit and beans topped with leche flan, and ube ice cream with milk and lots and lots of finely shaved ice).  We did the classic Via Mare version and the superior Milky Way version which was better because it was filled with more goodies and the ice was so finely shaved that it never made our halo-halo watery.

Last but not least was my dinner with J and N who very nicely picked me up at home and drove me to get my Filipino food craving and took me to Greenbelt's Mesa Filipino Moderne where we had a delicious dinner of deep-fried inside out tilapia where the crispy fish was prepared in bite-sized chunks ready for dipping into the four sauces - spicy, sweet, salty or sour, a prawn and pomelo salad with crispy shredded coconut, grilled pork belly, mixed vegetables in garlic sauce and something I had never tried before: sauteed sigarilyas (wing beans) in coconut milk with chili and shrimp.  For dessert, we shared the leche flan turron (a flan-stuffed spring roll) and the refreshing pandan and coconut jelly.  As you can imagine, it was a Filipino food fiesta.

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UCC Cafe 
Ground Floor, One Rockwell West Tower, Makati
Telephone: +63 2 896 3951

Milky Way Cafe
2nd Floor, 900 A. Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road), Makati
Telephone: +63 2 843 4124

Cafe Via Mare
Ground floor, Rockwell Center, Makati
Telephone: +63 2 898 1305

Mesa Filipino Moderne  
Greenbelt 5, Makati
Telephone: +63 2 728 0886