One restaurant that’s sorely missed these days is Lolo Dad’s Café on Quirino Avenue, Malate. This was where the multi-awarded chef Ariel Manuel expressed his culinary creativity by serving complex dishes with multiple layers of flavor in a fine-dining atmosphere.
Among the dishes: lobster carpaccio with moluga caviar; rack of lamb crusted with herbes de Provence, served with three-cheese risotto, melted garlic and tomato confit; duck leg in spiced fat, with duck breast, foie gras stirred rice and lavender jus; and frozen mango terrine with beignets, rose syrup and cheese ice cream.
Fortunately for fans of Lolo Dad’s, Manuel has promised to open a new restaurant soon. Already he and his wife Mia have formulated an exciting new concept that’s sure to be as well-loved as Lolo Dad’s was. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to divulge what the concept is; the couple may be keeping their vision close to their hearts. But considering their track record, I can see this new restaurant instantly becoming popular among Manila’s foodies and gourmets.
Meanwhile, the couple is busy doing food catering for private dining. They also accept orders for food, including dishes that have become customer favorites at Lolo Dad’s. (Call Mia at 0908-2713008.)
One such dish is Mediterranean duck rice, a luxurious mélange of saffron-flavored rice into which is folded roasted pine nuts, seared duck liver, strips of duck egg omelet, and a mixture of dried fruits, all topped with seared duck breast and chives, and served with a sweet glaze of wine, honey, grapes and maple syrup.
Manuel not only showed us how to make this dish during his recent cooking demonstration at The Maya Kitchen, he also served it to us at lunch. It was heavenly. Each spoonful was full of rich textures and intricate flavors, both contrasting and complementing one another. I would love to cook it one day, but knowing it would probably take me a week just to buy the ingredients, I instead made chef Ariel promise that he would serve this dish in his new restaurant. And since he nodded, I hope that meant a “yes.”
Meanwhile, here’s another dish that he showed us how to prepare at The Maya Kitchen: salmon fillet sardines served on garlic toast.
Salmon Fillet Sardines on Toast
- 250 g salmon fillet
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 head of garlic, sliced
- ¼ tsp Spanish paprika (pimento)
- 1 bouquet garni (mixture of thyme, parsley, lemon peel, dill and peppercorns, tied together in a piece of cheesecloth)
- For the bread:
- loaf French bread (baguette), cut into 12-14 slices
- 3-4 whole cloves of fresh garlic
- Salt and pepper
- ¼-½ c mixture of diced tomatoes, onions and chives
- Fresh basil for garnish (optional)
Remove the skin from the salmon. Cut the salmon fillets into cubes and season with salt and pepper. In a pan, heat just enough olive oil to cover the surface of the pan. Over low heat, sauté the garlic and paprika. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Pour in the remaining oil and increase the heat to medium. Add the bouquet garni. Lower heat and let the bouquet garni steep in the oil for about 20 minutes.
Strain the oil then pour it immediately over the salmon cubes. Cover the salmon at once with foil. The hot oil will cook the salmon (salmon cooks quickly).
Make the bread:
Bake bread slices to golden brown. While the bread is still hot, rub the surface with whole cloves of garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Top each bread slice with salmon. Spoon some of the tomato-onion-chives mixture on the salmon. If desired, garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Or: Spoon the sardines into shot glasses. Top sardines with tomato-onion-chives mixture. Thread the bread slices into cocktail toothpicks and arrange on top of the sardines. Garnish with basil leaves if desired.
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