A taste of Sanfo-Manila at Hyphy's

The food tripping didn’t end at La Creperie. After checking out some swimsuits for my upcoming trip to Palawan and buying something on impulse, Lenz and I decided to have dinner.  I told her about how popular Bon Chon Chicken is. I kept seeing it on my cousin’s wall in facebook.  I’m curious about the attention this chicken restaurant is getting. I guess it is a bestseller indeed, based on the long line and unavailable seats when we got there.  Compared to the adjacent establishments which were nearly empty, if not altogether empty.  We went back to the Veranda wing and I remembered reading something about Chef Bruce Lim’s new resto.

Hyphy’s  is Chef Bruce Lim’s restaurant.  Chef Bruce Lim is a part of AFC’s roster of celebrity chefs.   His cooking & travel show with Angel Aquino, Tablescapes was my inspiration for naming my food blog.

Hyphy’s is a play on words hype and fly.  The food reflects Chef’s Bruce Lim’s comfort food, a fusion of San Francisco (Frisco) and Pinoy  cuisine.

We were lucky because Chef Bruce Lim arrived shortly  after we came in. Both Lenz & I were starstruck.  I wanted to tell him I’m a fan, but too shy to do so. He smiled at Lenz though.

 



Their best seller was the Calamansi Tuyo pasta.  I saw Malunggay pesto but we weren’t very hungry and decided to share  a pasta dish and a salad.  We ordered the Calamansi Tuyo Pasta to check what the hype is all about.  It was indeed very good.  Local tuyo bits sautéed in olive oil mixed with pasta topped with cheese and sprinkled with calamansi.  The pasta was al dente, the saltiness of the tuyo was balanced by the calamansi juice.

 

 

For the salad, we chose the Cobb salad.  Mixed red & green lettuce, cheese cubes, olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumber cubes topped with grilled chicken.  A refreshing accompaniment to our pasta.  Lenz loved the dressing.  

I’ll definitely come back soon to try the malunggay pesto and their other dishes.  

 

 

Hyphys

The Veranda, Robinson's Galleria

4777611

 

Food Photography 1: backgrounds

If you’ve noticed the backgrounds for my food shots lately, you might think I have 2 wooden tables. How lucky would I be?  But no, I don’t have wooden tables…. Let me rephrase that, I have a wooden dining table, but nothing like those seen in my food shots.  

here are some shots...

Months ago, when I converted our home’s living room into a mini studio, I bought a foldable table.  It’s plain, made of heavy duty easy to clean plastic.  It could easily be covered with cloth or with one of my linen collection when I’m doing food photography.  Sometimes I use big tiles. M has a lot of those samples around.

But I love those distressed, rustic wood tables used in some food photography sites I lurk into. 

In one of our golf driving range sessions at City Golf, I crossed over to Home depot to browse at some laminates that I could use as props.  I saw these wood design laminates (I’m not sure if that’s what they’re really called).  I like the life-like wood grain.  I got two kinds – light and dark colors (I didn’t take note of the kind of wood they’re supposed to be… darn! I should take notes, really).

When I got home, I took the cutter, scissors, a roll of duct tape, & a ruler and cut the laminates into 2 pieces  and taped them together, forming a square piece.  They can be folded if I’m not using it.  They’re easy to clean too.   I spent P1000 for 2 pieces laminates of each kind. 

 Voila!  Instant wooden tables.  ;)

PS...

From time to time, I'll be posting entries of what goes on behind the scene when i do food photography. :)

Today’s Lunch: Linguini with Smoked Italian Sausage & Broccoli.

Laid back Tuesday.   The last day of the 4-day weekend.  Everyone woke up late.

My kids are a bit picky when it comes to eating vegetables.  Of the limited vegetables on their list, my son Gabby loves broccoli.  He likes baby corn, beans & carrots too.   

Broccoli is a good source of potassium, magnesium & calcium that help regulate high blood pressure.  That’s why I always have this in my diet.  

My kids love pasta. M likes sausages.  

So for lunch today, I cooked Linguini with smoked Italian sausage and broccoli.

Linguini with Smoked Italian Sausage and Broccoli

Linguini noodles

2 pieces smoked Italian sausages, cut in half lengthwise and sliced.

4 cloves garlic

5 pieces ripe tomatoes, diced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp pesto sauce*

1 head broccoli, cut into small florets, pre-boiled

Salt & pepper to taste

Cook linguini according to package directions until al dente.

In a saucepan, render Italian sausage until cooked, set aside.  You can discard the rendered  fat or use it for the sauce. It is very flavorful, yet decadent.  My secret: I didn’t throw it away ;)

Saute garlic and tomatoes in olive oil. Add some water used to pre-boil the broccoli.  Add pesto sauce.  Stir.  At this point, you can add the rendered fat.  Season with salt & pepper. 

Add in the cooked pasta. Let cook for a few minutes for the pasta to absorb the flavors.  Add in the Italian sausages and broccoli. Drizzle some more olive oil and pesto sauce.  Serve hot with crusty bread.

Served with my yaya’s pork BBQ

* i used pesto sauce in a jar bought at the grocery.  :)

Monday sans the blues

08.29.11

One of my fb friends posted this  as his shoutout…”wala akong nakitang galet sa monday ngayon so far.”  LOL!  Who would be when it’s a holiday, the 3^rd of a 4 day holiday?

Yesterday, Lenz and I had another girl bonding moment.  We chose to have our coffee date at La Creperie at the Veranda in Robinson’s Galleria.

 

I like the café’s décor – French country style in white, beige, yellow colors.  Ceramic cups and teapots were on display, aside from jars of jam and a selection of teas. Pillows on the long bench seat built in one wall.  Homey and cozy.

As usual, I had a hard time deciding on my crepes…. Savory or sweet?  Sweet or savory…. What goes well with coffee?  



I finally decided on something sweet and chose to customize my crepe.  With the basic crepe, I went with the salted butter caramel, mangoes and strawberries, whipped cream and slivered almonds with more salted butter caramel drizzled on top of the whipped cream.  Sinful isn’t it?   The caramel sauce is homemade, not very sweet.  


Lenz chose the eggplant moussaka. It’s actually eggplant lasagna, said the waiter.  Now why won’t they just name it that way?  Moussaka is greek… kind of out of place in a French café (and so is lasagna :P).  Lenz said it was good, but was a bit disappointed at the serving size. “Bakit sa picture malaki?” 

As for the café Americano,  we were bitin.  A cup wasn’t enough for us. I missed having coffee that much after a week of sipping green tea at home.

Overall, I was happy with my dessert, (I hope Lenz was happy with her food) would have wanted more coffee though. But spending time with a close friend definitely shooed the Monday blues away.    ^_^

 

More banapple cakes

On a recent trip to Katipunan, I can’t help but pass by Banapple to buy desserts.   I got two kinds – a slice each of Shoo Fly pie & Coffee Toffee Roca Pie.

Coffee Toffee Roca Pie got my attention.  The sweetness is just right.

While the Shoo fly pie is annoyingly sweet, but nonetheless yummy.  

I also got the Herbed Cheese & Mushroom Pie and Pipay’s favorite giant chocolate chip cookies.