The second act of the administration opened with a great tempest, a rabble swarming with unrest at the web of plunder and an increasingly vocal opposition shifting into high gear for 2016.
The wave of nationalism that had galvanized the creative industries, including the idealism of the pro-Filipino chefs and restaurateurs, encountered the blunt edge of financial reality: It was easier to buy a well-known foreign brand and franchise it here than to grow a local brand. It’s true in retail and it’s true in the food industry as well.
That said, there’s a lot of good stuff coming in, but there’s a lot of dross as well. My wife and I recently decided to pay a visit to the newly opened Century City Mall along Kalayaan Avenue. Despite my initial reservations about yet another mall and high-rise in an already congested area, it seemed a nice enough place which wasn’t just another iteration of the same shops and restaurants, with a good mix of local and foreign.
One of the few restaurants that was open was XO46, which I’ve previously recommended in these pages.
Upstairs is a coffee shop called Toby’s that is the opposite of Starbucks: There is almost no seating, no decaf and definitely no iced blended drinks. I like the seriousness of it and I’m more approving than peeved about being uncompromising about not serving decaf.
I like the geekiness of the atmosphere, and most importantly of all, I think they do make a great cup of coffee, though I could only manage a sip or two before wild palpitations started. It is an import, though. Steadfastly purist it might be, but it’s a Brooklyn-based chain.
Glacial service
Another flight upstairs is a restaurant that’s been getting a lot of buzz: CaliBurger, which is touted to be the more dynamic, global version of California’s In-N-Out Burger, famously Julia Child’s favorite food chain.
I’m willing to forgive selling the idea of California in order to sell a burger (lots of photos of bikini-clad bodies on the sand with surfboards), or the long queues or the glacial service. But this is one of the least appetizing burgers I’ve wasted my calories on in recent history.
It’s like Burger Machine went to California for a month and came back with an accent and an attitude. It’s not just that it was devoid of any taste, aroma or texture except that of grease; it scarcely managed to assemble itself into anything remotely resembling a burger.
This is the kind of junk that we really don’t need here. Like anyone with a bit of disposable income to spare, I’m intrigued by delicacies that travelled in from far away. Think cinnamon and nutmeg and pepper that were worth their weight in gold in late medieval and Renaissance times.
Crowding out creativity
But I’ve had better burgers at a carwash, or rather behind one, at a joint called Charlie’s Grind and Grill. And my friends have spoken with lascivious longing of a mystical burger at a place called Snackshack in Quezon City, which I have yet to go to. And Brother’s Burger continues to be reliably tasty.
I have nothing against franchising in itself: for restaurants, it dispenses with the first and most difficult hurdle of being noticed and being desirable, but at its worst it can crowd out creativity with the flashbulb brilliance of international name recognition.
I’m not suggesting the we all wave about our jackets emblazoned with the Philippine flag and avoid anything that’s the least bit tainted by being from abroad, like far-left nationalists. What a grim and dreary life that would be.
But how depressing, too, if our malls became a giant version of the Dubai International Airport waiting lounge, where everything is imported and branded. Our local mall operators can do their bit by giving local restaurants prominent locations and more generous terms; while we as consumers should be willing to pay the prices of “imported” for local goods that are of commensurate quality.
Value for money
As an ironic footnote to this anti-globalism rant, I finally visited Lartizan’s free-standing shop, which is not just a bakery and pastry-shop but a white-tablecloth restaurant in resplendent Francophile glory.
The bread and pastries are as they’ve always been, a close third behind Kayser and Paul but good value for money, but the standout are the Mariage Frères teas. Not only is the selection comprehensive, but they prepare it with fastidiousness and respect, taking the temperature of the water (from an electric samovar, no less) and timing each pot carefully.
These are reasonable prices for a generous pot, and the Mariage Frères are second only to Fortnum and Mason as purveyors of excellent teas from all over the world.
Selling tea back to Asians could be seen as the folly of a developing world’s new moneyed class; or it could be a recognition that the establishments and tastes of the West can still add value to a grassroots product. It’s for your politics and your palate to decide.
CaliBurger is at 5/F, Century City Mall, Makati City. Lartizan is at G/F, Serendra Mall, Bonifacio Global City.