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.

____________________

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: CAFE CONSTANT

It's been raining almost every day for a week here in Singapore and the dark, dreary weather reminds me of Paris in the winter, without the cold of course.  This type of weather makes me feel like having hearty simple food that feeds the hunger and warms the body.  Flashback then to a simple dinner we had in Paris at Cafe Constant - the casual neighborhood bistro on rue Saint Dominique, a mostly residential area in the 7th arrondissement.  One of the restaurants owned by ex-Crillon chef Christian Constant and the most casual of the five.

Cafe Constant has a zinc-topped bar, mosaic floor, rickety wooden chairs and tables set elbow to elbow which makes for a typical Parisian dinner.  There's a selection of wines by the glass, a blackboard prix-fixe and a separate la carte menu of bistro classics which are all reasonably-priced and served with a smile.  Convivial, cozy and delicious - the kind of place I wish we had here but seems to only work in Paris.

_____________________________

Cafe Constant

139 rue Saint Dominique, 75007 Paris

Tel: +33 1 47 53 73 54

No reservations.  Open daily for breakfast 7-11 a.m., non-stop service from 12h -23h

Flashback Friday: MINI PALAIS

For all the bistros and scuffed tiles in the numerous bistros and cafes in Paris, therehas been a proliferation of non-hotel restaurants still serving bistro classics but in much more sophisticated setting yet still offering prix-fixe menus.  One of these is the beautiful high-ceiling dining room of the Mini Palais, located in the back corner of the Grand Palais right smack in the middle of the famed triangle d'or (golden triangle) of the 8th arrondissement.  Helmed by chef Eric Frechon (from the 3-star Michelin Hotel Bristol), the food is faultless, the atmosphere refined, the service unobtrusive and the crowd more bourgeois than bohemian.

_______________________________

Mini Palais

Grand Palais,  Avenue Winston Churchill  75008 Paris

Tel : +33 1 42 56 42 42

Flashback Friday: PUNTA DEL ESTE

Panoramic view of Playa Mansa from the terrace.

Punta del Este is known for being the South America's summer playground and aside from sun, sand and sea, there isn't much to keep one occupied which is why it's worth a visit to the Museo Taller Carlos Páez Vilaró

Carlos Páez Vilaró was an Uruguayan autodidact who grew up in Buenos Aires where his works of  graphic art began. He was later influenced by his many travels to Brazil and all over the African continent.  His numerous works include paintings, sculpture, mural art, ceramics, books and even music and he has left his mark in many works from Buenos Aires to Beijing, Cairo to Washington DC.

He returned often to Uruguay and in 1969, he built his summer home by the sea in Punta del Este.  Casapueblo is found in Punta Ballena at the end of a winding road with expansive views of the sea.  This home was conceptualized with his own architectural design audit was here that he works to fill this all-white curvy stone house on a cliff with his final works of art, from the graphic tiles inlaid into the walls to the murals he painted on the terraces.  His sculptures are also scattered around the home along with his many ceramic creations.  He continued to live abroad - in Argentina, the United States and Brazil but eventually moved back to Punta del Este.  It was in this home that he spent rest of his days, painting and working until he died in February 2014 with Casapubelo becoming his final work of art.

Museo – Taller de Casapueblo

Punta Ballena, Uruguay
C.P. 20003

Tel/Fax: +(598) 4257 8041

Tel/Fax: +(598) 4257 9121

Open to the public daily from 10 a.m. till sunset.  

Entry fee for 12 years old and above Uruguayan $240

Flashback Friday: BRASSERIE LIPP

It's a hazy Friday in Singapore and it looks like we're going to have a rainy weekend up ahead which is why I decided to do a "Flashback Friday" post which I'll try to do weekly to help me catch up on all the other restaurants I haven't been able to write about.

Today's post goes back to Paris on another dark gloomy November Friday when A and I went back to this Saint-Germain-des-Pres institution - Brasserie Lipp.  The Lipp is a classic Alsatian brasserie opened in 1880 and has since been a classic on the busy boulevard.  The art-deco interiors of yellow tiles, floral Belle Epoque ceramics and smoke-stained mirrors have been the same since 1926, and if those walls could talk, they would speak of presidents and politicians, writers and actors, starving artists and con artists and le gratin (upper crust) of Paris who have, at one time or another, made chez Lipp their local hangout.

When I used to live in Paris in the early nineties, Brasserie Lipp was a treat since I was on a student budget and meals there were usually had when the parents were visiting or with friends on expense accounts. Later on, after A and I met, Brasserie Lipp was where we'd go for lunch while we walked around our favorite Parisian arrondissement, always crossing our fingers that the white-haired manager would seat us in one of the coveted ground floor tables (VVIP's usually get the front room), and not upstairs in restaurant Siberia.  We arrived at the peak of lunch hour and were led to the crowded back room to a banquette (yes!) where we could sit side by side - always an issue because both A and I love the more comfortable banquette and always take dibs on who gets it first. Our cozy table afforded us a view of the full room for perfect people watching which is always half the fun.

The menu at Lipp is simple - it's always been a single yellow cardboard with the food in one long list - oysters and caviar, hors d'oeuvres, plats du jour, specials listed in red, Friday plats du jour, an additional hand-written special, cheeses and desserts.  The food is classic Alsatian brasserie fare, nothing fancy, so don't expect gourmet cuisine.  It's just food done right or correct as the French say.

We started off with celeri remoulade (€9.50) - grated celery root tossed in a mustardy dressing and filets de harengs pomme a l'huile (€12.50) - A's favorite of vinegary herring filets with boiled potatoes drizzled in olive oil - both classic brasserie starters which we shared.  Before our next course was brought out, the professional white-jacketed waiter started to clear our starters when A asked if he could leave the unfinished celery on the table, a major French dining faux-pas,  and the waiter was surprised but agreed.  Our main dishes, my confit de cuisse de canard (€22.50) - duck leg confit with roast new potatoes and the Friday plat du jour for A of raie au beurre (€24) - skate wing sautéed in butter, were served soon after.  We took our time with lunch, enjoying our meal amidst the noise of a bustling restaurant where everyone seemed to be having fun while the waiters were rushing around balancing trays and dishes through the crowded room.  It was only when the place started to quiet down and the midday crowd left to go back to work, that we finally finished.

We couldn't resist sharing a dessert and debated between the popular millefeuille or another favorite, the ile flottante (€9.50) and finally settled for the latter.  Before the waiter cleared the plates, he asked with a smile if A wanted to have the rest of the celery with the dessert which showed that he wasn't that serious and had a sense of humor after all.  We all had a good laugh then polished off the large caramelized sugar-domed meringue floating in a bowlful of vanilla flavored custard cream (hence it's floating island name).  After our long leisurely lunch, we meandered the twenty blocks back from Saint-Germain-des-pres to the adjacent 7th arrondissement - just a couple of flâneurs taking our time to appreciate the beauty of Paris.

_____________________________________________

Brasserie Lipp 

151 Blvd. Saint Germain 75006, Paris

*Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.   

*No reservations