Pizza may be one of the most popular bar chows in sports bars, but it’s a comfort food anyone can enjoy wherever it’s sold. Most people have their go‑to spot — a default place for lunch or merienda — when they don’t feel like overthinking what to order.
Almost 30 years ago, I wrote about a pizza joint on Visayas Avenue in Quezon City whose origins were in Connecticut and New Jersey. It’s owned by the Ignacio siblings who are behind the popular pares joint, Cocoy’s. À Veneto and its Italian-American offerings became a favorite of family and friends once I convinced them to join me for a slice or three.
We would go there at least once a month and eventually didn’t have to look at the menu anymore. The order was always linguine with olive oil and garlic, and a pizza — half Howie’s special (garlic with double anchovies) and half bacon cheeseburger. We would then ask that the pizza be cut into smaller triangles, 12 slices instead of six thinking it was more bang for the buck.
Within minutes, both orders would be served, piping hot and glistening with oil. We were much younger then and belatedly realized it was good practice to dab our slices with paper towels to soak up the excess grease.
The Visayas avenue branch has since been closed, moving to and reopening last year at 189 Maginhawa street, still in Quezon City. My friends and I still drop by once every two or three months to order “the usual.” The pastas seem to have shrunk in size but the pizzas continue to hit the spot.
As guests of Sunlight Resort in Coron, Palawan earlier this month, we indulged one evening in slabs of pizza and platters of pasta at Gran Italia (10 San Agustin street, Coron town proper). This was followed by Pinoy cocktails at Elevated, a relatively new speakeasy. The medium-sized Italian restaurant was full before 7 p.m., all of them foreigners who ordered and ate an entire pizza per person. Unlike most Pinoy diners who prefer to try several dishes when they eat out instead of one main dish, tourists enjoyed tucking into their plates of pizza, frosty beers within easy reach.
That evening, we started with bruschetta and arancini, savory rice balls filled with gooey cheese and meat. This was followed by a brick-sized portion of lasagna, and a trio of pastas served on one of those ubiquitous black trays that look like granite slabs.
It was the pizza that came next that really blew me away; it was crisp and chewy and had just the right amount of toppings — not too sparse to appear stingy but not too much that you couldn’t hold a slice with one hand.
The gas-fired oven where the pizzas are baked in minutes is overseen by one woman who rolls out the dough, places the toppings, and slides it into the oven using a pizza paddle. By shifting the pizza every few seconds, she ensured the dough was crisp but not scorched. She was a real powerhouse.
After dinner, we walked a few meters to Elevated (09564715903) where bartender Ice is living the dream, mixing up cocktails in the tiny speakeasy he set up with his London-based business partner.
We originally wanted to just do pop-ups on the island, short stints where we got to show off what we could do, but we ended up putting up our own place,” Ice said.
Now, he gets to use locally sourced ingredients like mangosteen, bananas, coconut water, bugnay wine and bukayo for his rather imaginative cocktails.
Back in Manila, I got the chance to sample some of the craft beers at Kauri Taproom (220-B Wilson Street, Greenhills) in San Juan City. The bar and restaurant that opens weekdays at 5 p.m., serves as the showcase of Dea Sayosa, founder and head brewer of Jade’s Temple Brewery.
As one of the country’s few female brewers, Sayosa’s philosophy is simple: every beer should tell a story. That afternoon we tried their regular lager as well as two that had hints of toasted mallows and salted caramel.
In the next few weeks, Jade’s Temple Brewery will be releasing four of their craft beers featuring limited edition labels designed by Filipino artists namely Dante Enage, Mari Zhar, Angelo Roxas, David Kauffman and Pen Medina.